Estate Planning & Trusts

Estate Planning is a very general term for accounting and legal services that deal with life, death and planning for the transfer of wealth and assets.

Estate planning provides reassurance and comfort because it can involve:

• creating a plan to protect your estate and earnings
• maximizing earnings and Capital Gains exemptions using tax strategies
• providing for your loved ones and/or future generations
• planning a tax efficient way to disperse your estate while you are living or after
• ensuring complex administrative, legal, and tax compliance requirements (like probate) are taken care of in a timely and professional manner to minimize penalties and costs

If you are in any of the following situations, you might benefit from estate planning services:

• You’re a business owner with revenues of $300,000+ and
  • you want to “wind up” your business in a tax efficient way
  • you want to sell your business in 5 years
  • you want to pass your business to the next generation or to others (succession planning)
• You may have future capital gains tax exemptions from selling your business, home, or stock options.
• You have stock options, RSU’s
• You have significant “self-directed” investments (2M+)
• You are not working with an investment banker. For example, you’re using a Robo Advisor or Wealth Simple.
• You want to decrease future probate costs for your family or a loved one.

The Trust and Estate Practitioner designation ensures you are dealing with a highly trained and experienced professional when it comes to crucial services for your and your family’s inheritance, estate and business succession.

Joe Gervasi and Adam Morke are Stern Cohen’s Tax Partners. Both Joe and Adam are designated Trust and Estate Practitioners (TEP). The TEP designation is recognized worldwide as a way to formally distinguish qualified practitioners from non-specialists who only occasionally deal with trusts and estates. So when it comes to selecting an estate planning specialist, Joe and Adam are excellent choices.

Tax is a very complex field requiring constant study due to ever changing legislation around tax law. Complex tax matters and tax planning require detailed background information on each client and careful consideration of available options and the client’s objectives. While most accountants do basic tax, they are not tax specialists. At Stern Cohen, our Tax Partners are tax specialists and they lead a team of tax practitioners. Our tax team focuses exclusively on tax and estate planning. They also work with trusted lawyers who can assist with legal matters like your will. Most lawyers recognize the importance of working with a tax specialist (not a general accountant) for corporate tax and estate planning.

Business owner transition planning should be carried out 3 to 5 years in advance of retirement (anything less than 18 months can be problematic).