Estate planning has been the hallmark of Culp Elliott & Carpenter’s legal practice for over thirty years. Our highly-trained attorneys, many of whom hold CPA designations or advanced law degrees in taxation or estate planning, have deep knowledge and experience across all aspects of estate planning. We place a heavy emphasis on minimizing gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer taxes, as well as income, capital gains, and net investment income taxes.
At Culp Elliott & Carpenter, estate planning permeates everything we do. Our clients are entrepreneurs, business owners, affluent families, and family offices who value our ability to recognize their business transactions, investment changes, and life events as opportunities to minimize taxes and protect wealth for the benefit of current and future family members. Trust structures can be used in conjunction with the sale of a business or other valuable asset to produce unparalleled estate tax savings and protection of wealth. Commercial real estate investments and transactions provide opportunities to structure a client’s partnership or LLC entities to protect real estate assets from estate taxes and claims of future creditors. Succession planning offers an occasion to thoughtfully navigate the tax, legal, family, and emotional issues associated with successfully transitioning a family business to the next generation.
We provide advice and counsel to clients in the following areas:
- Wills and Revocable Trusts, including advice and structures to avoid probate, minimize controversy, protect assets, and guard against costly disputes in the event of incompetency
- Business Succession Planning
- Irrevocable Gift Trusts
- Irrevocable Generation Skipping Trusts
- Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs)
- Family Limited Liability Company (LLC) Structures
- Valuation Discount Planning
- Sales of Assets to Grantor Trusts
- Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs)
- Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs)
- Charitable Remainder Trusts and Charitable Lead Trusts
- Pre-marital and Post-marital Agreements
- Trust Administration (link to estate planning page) matters ranging from the routine to the highly sophisticated