Dudnick Detwiler Rivin & Stikker LLP offers a broad range of services relating to estate planning and the administration of trusts and estates. Our trust and estate partners, Tom Stikker, Jeff Antonchuk and Francisco Silva, have substantial expertise in the areas of income and transfer (estate, gift, and generation-skipping) tax planning for individuals and families.

Rejecting any “canned” or standardized approach, we address each client’s circumstances in a fresh and innovative manner, tailoring our services to a particular client’s personal goals and wishes. Our role is to assist clients in accomplishing significant tax savings in connection with the transfer of property to family members, providing financial security for family members both before and after the death of a client, selecting the appropriate persons or institutions to serve as fiduciaries (executors, trustees, guardians and conservators), preserving and transferring business and other unique assets in a fair and efficient manner, reducing the costs and expenses of transferring property both during lifetime and at death, and reducing or eliminating the family strife and conflict which often arises in the context of trusts and estates.

We assist our clients with the following:

• Core Estate Planning: A core estate plan includes revocable trusts, wills and durable powers of attorney for health care and asset management, and advice and services regarding disability and life insurance coverage and various tax-advantageous methods to structure employment and retirement benefits.
• Advanced Planning: Our advanced estate planning services include the use of sophisticated wealth transfer vehicles such as intentionally defective grantor trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts and irrevocable life insurance trusts, strategies for the preservation and orderly transfer of closely-held business interests, planning for developmentally disabled family members or other individuals with special needs, and preparing pre- and post-marital property agreements, as well as similar agreements between domestic partners and unmarried individuals.
• Estate and Trust Administration: The firm’s extensive estate and trust administration practice includes representing personal representatives, corporate fiduciaries, trustees and beneficiaries in both probate and non-probate proceedings and preparing and filing federal estate tax returns.
• Contested Matters: We frequently represent interested parties in contested matters involving estates and trusts and in tax controversies and litigation.