Trusts, Estates & Private Client Group

The Private Clients Group provides creative personal, financial, charitable and tax planning to individual clients and family companies emphasizing the preservation of wealth by minimization of estate taxes and income taxes. We handle all issues regarding the management of income, gifts and estate taxes, generation skipping transfer taxes and fiduciary income taxes.

Succession Planning

We respond to clients’ needs by crafting estate plans using structures and entities such as private and charitable trusts, domestic and foreign limited partnerships, limited liability companies and grantor retained annuity trusts.

Benefits Planning

We analyze and design insurance programs and insurance trusts to save taxes. Also, we advise both our corporate clients and high net worth individuals on employer-provided pension, profit sharing and stock options as well as other forms of compensation.

International Planning

Working in cooperation with the firm’s tax practice, our trusts and estates attorneys have developed particular expertise in the area of estate planning for non-U.S. citizens and offshore residents. These services include the establishment and administration of tax-saving trusts in various countries and the structuring of asset sales and investments in the United States to achieve the client’s objectives. We also analyze the interrelationship of the laws of foreign jurisdictions with those of the United States. As a result of our extensive activities in this area, we are well known to many institutions and leading families in foreign jurisdictions.

Trusts & Probate

Satterlee regularly represents fiduciaries, beneficiaries and other parties in connection with the probate and settlement of estates and litigation involving wills, trusts and family rights. We also establish private foundations for clients and prepare the annual tax reports for such foundations. Each year we administer more than 100 trusts and estates for our U.S.-based and offshore clients utilizing state-of-the-art software programs for fiduciary accounting and tax return preparation.

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