Practice Areas

Estate Planning

Our Trusts and Estates attorneys provide a full range of Estate Planning services to individuals and families ranging from those of modest means to those of substantial wealth. Estate Planning starts with an analysis of your assets and liabilities, your tax and non-tax concerns including family considerations and a review of your overall objectives. It also includes planning for management of your personal and financial affairs in the event of incapacitation. Your estate planning documents should include a will or trust that addresses your tax and non-tax concerns, a general durable power of attorney and an advance directive or health care proxy (medical power of attorney and living will). This is also a good time to consider the impact upon your family and estate of long term health care costs and, in particular, care in a custodial nursing home.

Once you have completed your Basic Estate Planning and you have in place wills or a trust appropriate to your circumstances, General Durable Powers of Attorney and Advance Directives or Living Wills, it is time to turn your attention to more advanced planning techniques to minimize or even eliminate estate and inheritance taxes that remain. Your choices range from doing nothing and simply paying any tax that may come due, through implementing complex and often cutting-edge tax reduction techniques.

The laws that apply to many of the available estate planning techniques are constantly changing. An attorney who focuses his practice in this area will help you and your family implement a comprehensive plan.

Probate and Estate Administration

Probate and Estate Administration are required at a very difficult time in our client's life. Our attorneys are experienced in the procedures required to smoothly probate an estate and complete the administration of an estate from beginning to end and we strive to do that with compassion and sensitivity to what our client is going through at the time. Probate is the procedure of presenting a decedent's will to the surrogate of the county where the decedent resided and asking the surrogate to declare the will valid, admit it to probate and qualify a personal representative (i.e. an executor). In New Jersey, this process generally takes less than fifteen minutes and costs less than $500. In other states such as New York, Florida, Texas and California, the probate process is court-supervised and can take a lot more time and cost a lot more money. In those states, individuals often take steps to avoid the probate process but that is generally not necessary in states with systems similar to New Jersey's.

If someone dies without a will (i.e., intestate), his or her estate is subject to administration. This process also starts at the county surrogate's office or court. In this case, the personal representative is known as an administrator. In either case, some degree of estate administration will be required. Administration includes the process of gathering together the decedent's assets and liabilities, satisfying all debts and expenses, filing death tax returns if necessary, paying the taxes, if any, and distributing the remainder of the estate in accordance with the decedent's will or, in the case of an intestacy, according to the applicable statutes.

In the course of administering an estate, several tax and non-tax decisions will have to be made. An experienced attorney can help you understand the law and make the decisions that are most appropriate for you and your family.

Probate Litigation

Nobody enjoys litigation. Sometimes, however, the only way to achieve a desired result is to proceed in court. We make it our business to make the litigation process as efficient and satisfying as can reasonably be expected.

We represent executors, trustees and beneficiaries of estates and trusts to insure that their interests in an estate or trust administration are properly protected. When necessary, we litigate probate matters on behalf of personal representatives (executors, administrators, trustees) and beneficiaries.

Adoptions and Guardianships

Adoptions and guardianships are particularly satisfying procedures in which we help families bring home a child or provide aid and comfort to a friend or family member who would otherwise be alone and vulnerable. As with any court proceedings, the process can be confusing and cumbersome. We endeavor to make it as easy as possible.

Business Succession Planning

Most people are aware of the statistics about family owned business that are never passed on to second, let alone third, generations. As with any type of planning, the sooner one addresses business succession planning, the more options are available. Our experienced attorneys guide a family through an honest evaluation of the ability of second and third generations to work together for the overall benefit of the family business. Equally important is planning for the possibility that members of the family will decide, for any number of reasons, to separate in the future. Exit planning can ease the transition and minimize if not eliminate the animosity that often surfaces under these circumstances. In our experience, the counsel of our experienced attorneys helps to bring the process to a satisfactory conclusion in the best interest of all concerned.

Business Formation and Transactions

Counseling business clients of all sizes begins with helping you choose the correct business entity for your company. Depending on your needs and objectives, you may want to do business as a sole proprietor, a partnership (general or limited), a limited liability company or a corporation. There are many reasons for choosing one entity form over another and, together with your accountant and other professional advisors, we regularly advise our clients about the business, legal and tax consequences of each.

How the owners of a business will relate to one another and how the business will be operated must be set forth in clear, accurate and complete terms. By-laws, partnership agreements, operating agreements and shareholder agreements will provide a “roadmap” for your business. Documenting these details with the guidance of competent legal counsel will often enable a business to withstand difficult times and circumstances that may not have been anticipated.

Business Transactions

All businesses, small and large, will be involved in one type of contract transaction or another. For example, companies lease the premises where they operate and enter into agreements with their clients, customers and vendors. Owners buy and sell interests in their company. Companies enter into both simple and complex financing transactions including lines of credit, mortgage arrangements and other credit facilities.

Today, documentation of what may seem to be the simplest transaction demands an understanding of the transaction and precise drafting. Our partners and associate attorneys bring years of experience to each transaction and can guide the company through the negotiation and documentation of each transaction.

Commercial and Residential Real Estate Transactions

Buying and selling real estate, leasing commercial space and financing these transactions require an understanding of real estate law, contract negotiation, documentation, and residential and commercial financing arrangements. Every stage of each transaction—the contract, the financing arrangements, title protection and closing—requires the guidance of a knowledgeable and experienced advisor.

Often, the purchase of a home is the largest single investment an individual will make in his lifetime. The experience should be a positive one from beginning to end. A commercial real estate transaction is no less important to the buyer and the seller. Again, it is the experienced attorney who will enable the parties to complete the transaction as efficiently as possible.

We have over thirty years of experience in commercial and residential real estate transactions. We have negotiated contracts, arranged financing, reviewed title reports and documented closings. In fact, we have reviewed hundreds of mortgage documents on behalf of both buyers and banks. There is no substitute for this kind of experience and expertise.

Commercial Litigation

In addition to our probate litigation services and as part of our comprehensive business and commercial practice, we represent businesses and individuals in litigation as well as alternative dispute processes such as mediation and/or arbitration. It is our goal to develop through communication with our clients proactive, cost-effective strategies to resolve legal disputes. Our Commercial Litigation services include actions involving breach of contract, creditor actions (for both plaintiffs and defendants), lease agreement disputes, ownership, partnership and shareholder disputes, real estate disputes, specific performance actions, quiet title actions, commercial contract disputes involving secured transactions and construction contractor disputes.