Tax & Estate Planning
Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP is a leader in the area of federal and state tax planning for persons and entities involved in real estate transactions, whether as owners, lenders, developers, foreign investors, or users. We are also recognized for our expertise in estate planning and probate and trust administration.
Tax Counseling. Our specialized tax attorneys provide advice in virtually every transaction that we handle, including:
General tax planning for partnerships, limited liability companies, corporations, and individuals, including the structuring of tax-advantaged investments, real estate joint ventures, real estate investment trusts (REITs), S corporations, private foundations, pension trusts, and other entities
Tax analysis and planning in connection with all types of corporate, securities and commercial business transactions and business operations
Tax analysis and planning in connection with the issuance, retirement, restructure, and modification of debt instruments and hybrid instruments
Advising tax-exempt organizations on unrelated business income matters
Preparation and processing of private-letter ruling requests to the Internal Revenue Service
Representation of clients in dealings with the Internal Revenue Service and the California Franchise Tax Board and before the Tax Court and the State Board of Equalization
Representation of clients on matters relating to California property taxes, assessments and appeals
Estate Planning. Our highly experienced estate planning attorneys concentrate their efforts in the following areas:
Family partnerships, joint ventures, and limited liability companies to develop and operate real estate or other business projects, substantially reducing the family's potential income and estate tax while preserving control
The creation of business structures to maximize deferral of estate taxes and the implementation of "buy-out" agreements and insurance programs to ensure that sufficient liquid assets will be available to pay taxes
Living trusts, which provide for the disposition of a client's assets at death in a tax-efficient and probate-free manner, and also for the management of property during the client's lifetime in case of disability
Wills, testamentary trusts, and similar arrangements, which provide security for the client's heirs, minimize income taxes and maximize administrative efficiency
Support and educational trusts for children and other family members designed to minimize income taxes while providing the assurance that resources will be available to beneficiaries for estate purposes
Planning and negotiating prenuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements, and other arrangements to protect assets and earnings from potential claims of ex-spouses or others
Planning and negotiating specialized marital settlement agreements to provide for the continued unified operation and control of a family business and investment properties following a divorce
We are fortunate to have an extensive concentration of expertise regarding wills, trusts, and post-death administration. Estate and personal financial planning are of critical importance to our clients, many of whom are entrepreneurs or heads of large public or closely held businesses.
We are accustomed to providing timely, practical, effective, and high-quality legal services. Over the years, we have developed and implemented sophisticated plans designed to carry out the personal and family objectives of our clients in a sensitive manner while minimizing estate and income taxes. In our view, personal, financial, and estate planning should focus not only on the disposition of a client's property at death but also should take into account opportunities that occur during the person's lifetime.
In addition to the planning aspect of our practice, we have developed strong capabilities in the probate and trust administrative areas. These include planning, preparation and audit of estate tax returns, representation of fiduciaries in administrative matters, representation of clients in will contests and other intrafamily disputes, and representation of beneficiaries against fiduciaries who are alleged to have breached their fiduciary duties.
Because of the breadth of experience of our attorneys, we are familiar with virtually all techniques currently being applied in the estate planning area. We believe that our implementation of such techniques reflects our individual and collective commitment and ability to achieve our client’s individual goals.
