Estate Planning

McGuireWoods serves clients who seek to transfer assets efficiently to their chosen beneficiaries. We listen to our clients to understand who their beneficiaries are and what their desires as to how property should pass to their beneficiaries during life and at death.

We help high-net worth individuals provide for the special needs of family members, and make appropriate decisions relating to premarital agreements and marital dissolution planning. We also advise executors and trustees with respect to the administration of estates and trusts and guide them in all aspects of fulfilling their fiduciary responsibilities, including the taxation of estates and trusts, gifts and generation-skipping transfers, among other issues.

Our experienced estate planning lawyers assist our business clients in planning and executing transfers of ownership and control of their enterprises and holdings. We regularly employ strategies such as restrictive shareholder and partnership agreements, reorganizations of corporations, and limited liability companies (LLCs). To help achieve tax savings, we offer advice on establishing trusts for the benefit of family members that range from the simple to the complex and the many forms of charitable giving that may reduce tax liabilities. We also represent clients in interpreting wills and trusts, as well as resolving related disputes and litigation.