Our services include the following, some of which are
described in greater detail below:
• Estate (Wills and Trusts) and Disability Planning
• Probate, Trust and Estate Administration
• Guardianships and Conservatorships
• Business Succession Planning
• Asset Protection Planning
• Special Needs Trusts
• Business Succession Planning
• Charitable Planning
• Family Limited Partnerships
• Gift and Estate Tax Planning
Estate and Disability Planning. The design and implementation of estate and wealth-transfer plans is an essential component of the firm's practice. In addition to comprehensive wills and management trust vehicles crafted to meet client's goals regarding the testamentary disposition of property and minimize the exposure of assets to estate, gift, income, and generation-skipping transfer taxes at death, the Law Office of Nicole C. Morris, P.A. gives consideration to both the non-tax and tax concerns and employs various tools, such as revocable and irrevocable trusts, life insurance trusts, grantor trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, generation-skipping trusts, special needs trusts and beneficiary designation planning for IRAs, qualified plans, and other employee benefit plans in order to maximize the value of assets that can be transferred to successive generations; the firm also assists in the preparation of ancillary documents to its estate planning, including deeds and premarital agreements.
The Law Office of Nicole C. Morris, P.A. also provides clients with the peace of mind that comes from proper disability planning. The reality is that, as the average life expectancy is longer, many of us can expect to spend some part of our lives unable to manage our own affairs. Therefore, no estate plan is complete without disability planning. We regularly prepare financial and medical powers of attorney and other related documents that allow for the smooth transition and continued management of a client's affairs in the event of a disability without having to resort to the appointment of a guardian or conservator.
Probate, Trust, and Estate Administration. The firm's probate, trust, and estate administration practice encompasses all aspects of administration of decedents' and fiduciary estates. The firm's probate practice involves submitting wills to the court for probate or assisting the decedent's family with alternative heirship proceedings when the decedent died without a will. Once the will is probated, or heirs are determined, the Law Office of Nicole C. Morris, P.A. assists the family with administrative matters such as gathering, inventorying, and valuing assets in the estate, and preparing federal estate tax returns, state death tax returns, and state and federal gift or generation-skipping transfer tax returns.
Estate administration can be a daunting task, one that clients who have just lost a loved one may not be up to meeting. The Law Office of Nicole C. Morris, P.A. provides thoughtful, competent assistance in meeting court filing deadlines and federal tax filing deadlines, thereby making a difficult time much easier to endure. The firm's trust and estate administration practice involves advising fiduciaries on the legal and practical aspects of the administration of trusts, decedent's estates, and the estates of minors and incapacitated persons. We also represent beneficiaries of estates in negotiating settlements of estates, protecting beneficiaries' rights with regard to monitoring costs of administration, and advising in contested matters.
Tax and Entity Planning. A complete understanding of tax and entity issues is essential to an effective estate planning practice and the Law Office of Nicole C. Morris, P.A. understands the intricacies and nuances of federal income tax, estate and gift tax as well as the various charitable tax regimes, and work with clients to define their goals, and to design and implement creative strategies to achieve those goals, while at the same time working toward the optimum tax results. We use our understanding of tax issues to meet each client's individual needs. This also includes the tax aspects of the use of alternative structures for the ownership of business and investment property, as well as in the formation and taxation of pass-through entities, such as trusts and family limited partnerships. When helping a client choose the proper entity through which to conduct their business or hold investments, we tailor the entity to the client by considering such factors as (1) the client's personal preferences, (2) the level of control desired to be maintained over the business operation, (3) the degree of liability protection needed, (4) the desired federal income tax treatment (e.g., separate corporate taxation, flow-through tax treatment, or disregarded entity treatment), (5) the preferred entity form based on the type of business or investment operations, and (6) the appropriate state law jurisdiction (e.g., Florida or Delaware). By taking into account each of these factors, the entity, whether a corporation, limited partnership, or limited liability company, is tailored to fit each client's needs and, after initial set up, the Law Office of Nicole C. Morris, P.A. is further able to assist clients in the proper administration of the entity though its familiarity with tax filing requirements and experience in the preparation of various federal and informational tax returns as well as by structuring succession planning to ensure the longevity of the business beyond the client's involvement.
Charitable Planning and Administration. Charitable planning can play an integral role in a client's overall estate plan. Whether a client is motivated by potential tax savings or has purely philanthropic goals, the Law Office of Nicole C. Morris can advise and structure a number of means by which its clients can make charitable gifts, such as charitable lead or remainder trusts, testamentary charitable trusts, private foundations, private operating foundations, supporting organizations, and dedicated funds at community foundations. We not only help clients determine which tool will best meet a client's objectives, but assist with the documentation necessary to create and implement the new trust or non-profit corporation and, where necessary, prepare and file the required forms with the Internal Revenue Service and situs jurisdiction to have the new entity recognized as being tax exempt. In addition thereto, the Law Office of Nicole C. Morris is available to assist its clients with the administration of such structures (e.g., preparation and filing of applicable tax returns, documentation necessary to maintain proper records required by law). When requested, the firm may also assist clients in identifying and selecting permissible public charities to whom charitable grants might be made, as well as the paperwork required to properly select and document such grants.
Other Services. The Law Office of Nicole C. Morris, P.A. takes a holistic approach to client representation and assists its clients with the administrative responsibilities that logically flow from the planning and administration of the above described vehicles. To that end, the firm offers further administrative support services to its clients, tailored to meet each client's specific needs; such services may include tax reporting; reporting to local administrative bodies; liaison services with trustees, protectors, asset managers, and custodians; maintenance of corporate or partnership books and records; facilitating contributions to or withdrawals from structures, and general transactional assistance.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). ADR can play an essential role in successfully resolving disputes involving estates, probates, trusts, marital property, charitable organizations, and estate, gift, and generation skipping transfer tax issues. To that end, when there is a conflict among family members, economic disparity among heirs, mentally or physically challenged children, divorce and multiple marriages, entrepreneurial or closely held business, or any other scenario that lends itself to future litigation, the Law Offices of Nicole C. Morris, P.A. encourages and assists its clients to use mediation or other means of dispute resolution to resolve the highly emotional, often contentious, conflicts that may arise among individuals, distributees, heirs, beneficiaries, fiduciaries, and/or taxpayers. In so doing, the firm seeks to avoid or reduce the significant economic and personal costs incurred by the parties to such disputes that result in litigation.
