Poyner & Spruill LLP offers a full range of estate planning services. With eight attorneys in four offices across the state, we provide experienced advice, plan and prepare documents and administer estates and trusts.

We represent a wide variety of estate planning clients including owners of closely held businesses, corporate executives, tax-exempt organizations, professionals and individuals with special needs. We also represent many tax-exempt organizations including a number of health care organizations and church-affiliated foundations.

Our services include: preparation of testamentary documents; intervivos trusts; planning for business succession; planning for ownership in closely held businesses including S corporations, partnership and limited liability companies; life insurance planning, including preparation of life insurance trusts and split dollar agreements; and charitable giving, including use of charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts and private foundations. A number of our attorneys also are certified public accountants or have graduate degrees in taxation and four belong to the American College of Trusts and Estate Counsel.

In addition to direct legal services, Poyner & Spruill LLP attorneys provide:

• Client newsletters that track recent developments in the field of estate planning
• Estate planning seminars, available by appointment for small groups

Major Practice Areas:

• Complex estate tax planning
• Business succession planning
• Life insurance planning
• Lifetime giving
• Charitable giving
• Estate administration
• Tax planning for distributions from qualified retirement plans and IRAs
• Tax planning for stock options
• Tax-exempt organizations

Description of the Estate Planning Process

We advise clients concerning the optimal use of the marital deduction, the applicable credit and planning for avoidance of generation-skipping transfer taxes. Recent illustrative experiences include:

• Estate planning for a real estate developer including the transfer of interest in a family LLC to a grantor trust
• Establishment of charitable lead trust and qualified personal residence trust for a widow
• Planning for the transfer of stock options as part of an estate plan
• Generation-skipping transfer tax planning for a client through the use of multiple testamentary trusts
• Design of an estate plan involving use of a net-income make-up charitable unitrust
• Tax planning for a major intervivos gift to charity

We advise owners of closely held businesses, including C corporations, S corporations, general and limited partnerships and limited liability companies about management succession, lifetime transfers of interests and use of discount valuations for gift tax purposes. Recent illustrative experiences include:

• Participation in a year-long series of meetings with client and financial advisors to plan for succession management of retail company, including issues of managerial control, cash flow and minimization of estate taxes
• Organization of a family LLC providing for children to participate in management
• Organization of a private foundation to allow children to participate as members of the board of directors
• Planning for valuation issues in organization of a family LLC
• Design of exit strategies for owners of both closely held and publicly traded stock

Our services include advice on acquisition of life insurance including single insured and second-to-die policies, use of irrevocable life insurance trusts and advice concerning split dollar financing arrangements. Recent illustrative experiences include:

• Preparation of life insurance trusts
• Preparation of split dollar agreements to fund life insurance trusts
• Organization of partnership to hold life insurance and other assets
• Planning for generation-skipping transfer taxes through a life insurance trust

We advise clients concerning methods to reduce potential estate taxes through lifetime transfers including gifts to minors, effective use of annual gift tax exclusions, qualified personal residence trusts, grantor retained annuity and unitrusts, sales to intentionally defective grantor trusts and gifts of real estate using fractional discounts. Recent illustrative experiences include:

• Use of charitable remainder trust, qualified personal residence trust and charitable lead trust for a widow
• Planning for use of annual exclusion for both gift taxes and generation-skipping taxes for a client
• Planning for gifts of non-qualified stock options in a publicly traded corporation by a client
• Planning for valuation issues in a large gift to a client's child

Our attorneys have a wealth of experience in preparing split-interest gifts such as charitable remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts. We have substantial experience in organizing private family foundations as well as gifts to community foundations through donor-advised funds. Recent illustrative experiences include:

• Organization of a private foundation and transfer of assets to the foundation
• Organization of a private foundation for a major bank
• Substantial intervivos gift to a major museum
• Planning for use of donor-advised fund by a client
• Preparation of net income make-up charitable remainder trusts to be funded with publicly traded stock

Our attorneys and staff have wide experience in preparing and filing required inventories and accountings for the probate of estates, planning for distribution of assets and post-mortem planning, including the use of disclaimers and family settlement agreements. Recent illustrative experiences include:

• Representation of an estate holding more than 60 real estate parcels that was subject to an IRS audit
• Representation of an estate holding a large closely held business that was subject to an IRS audit
• Preparation of family settlement agreements among the heirs of an estate
• Preparation of a disclaimer of retirement benefits for a surviving spouse

Our attorneys advise clients concerning compliance with minimum distribution rules applicable to qualified retirement plans and IRAs and methods to postpone taxation of benefits. We also advise clients concerning selection of beneficiaries, including the use of trusts. Recent illustrative experiences include:

• Planning for elections to receive distributions from a qualified retirement plan over the longest possible distribution period
• Planning for designation of a charity as the beneficiary of an IRA
• Negotiating with IRA custodians concerning the use of custom beneficiary designation forms, permissible distribution methods, separation of retirement accounts into sub-accounts for beneficiaries and trustee-to-trustee transfers
• Ensuring estate planning documents contemplate the receipt of qualified retirement assets
• Drafting custom beneficiary designation forms to preserve maximum distribution periods in case custodial agreements do not contemplate all planning opportunities
• Planning for potential disclaimer of qualified retirement accounts in beneficiary designation forms

Our attorneys advise executives and owners of both public and closely held businesses on estate planning for incentive stock options, nonqualified stock options and lifetime transfers of nonqualified stock options. In addition, our firm's Employee Benefits practice group also advises clients with regard to planning and installing stock option plans. Recent illustrative experiences include:

• Advising clients on tax effects of a lifetime gift of non-qualified stock options and income tax effects of exercise by a donee
• Planning with respect to bequests of stock options

Our attorneys have substantial experience in the formation and management of tax-exempt entities. Our clients include large non-profit corporations in health care, major foundations, community-based non-profits and private foundations. Recent illustrative experiences include:

• Advice to a major non-profit entity on organization of affiliate non-profit entities
• Advice to a large non-profit on the sale of its assets
• Organization of private foundations
• Organization and planning for charitable remainder trusts
• Tax advice on IRS audits of non-profit entities

Members of Estates, Trusts and Exempt Organizations Section:

William T. Belcher