Practice Area

Advanced Estate Planning

California Advanced Estate Planning

Protecting Your Legacy with Customized Solutions for Complex Estates and Families

Advanced estate planning is required for individuals who have either complex asset structures or complex family structures. Our adept San Jose complex estate planning attorneys work to preserve business interests, valuable collections, real estate portfolios, and other complex assets for heirs and beneficiaries. We accomplish asset preservation and succession while helping clients minimize estate taxes, avoid probate, and ensure the right trustee is appointed to manage those complex assets. From charitable remainder trusts to qualified personal residence trusts, we counsel our clients on the needs of basic vs. advanced estate planning. 

At the foundation of our work, Ferguson Law Group works efficiently to allow you as much time as possible with loved ones. The FLG trust lawyers offer irrevocable trusts, family limited partnerships, or California limited liability companies (LLCs) for advanced estate planning in San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, and within California. An irrevocable trust is created by the settlor, which cannot be revoked once created. Often, the purpose of an irrevocable trust is tax reduction and the transfer of assets.

We also offer:

A California estate planning lawyer at Ferguson Law Group can prepare various irrevocable trusts, including:

Charitable Remainder and 
Charitable Lead Trusts

A charitable trust is an arrangement that donates assets to a charity or nonprofit organization. Donors can avoid capital gains taxes by donating appreciated assets (stocks, mutual funds, or ETFs) to charitable trusts. Donors may also receive income from the trust during their lifetime or for a specified period of time. 

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Children’s Trusts

A children’s trust is a fund that can be created in a will or a revocable living trust that manages a child’s assets until they are old enough to manage themselves. A trusted adult – the trustee – is appointed to control the assets and make decisions on behalf of the child until the child is of age. This fund can be used to avoid probate and reduce taxes.

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Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts

An irrevocable life insurance trust is a legal arrangement with a life insurance policy, the proceeds of which are distributed after the insured’s death. ILITs are designed to reduce the insured’s estate tax burden and to ensure the policy’s benefits are used as intended.

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Intentionally Defective
Grantor Trusts

IDGTs are a type of trust that allows the grantor to keep the income tax liability for the trust’s assets while removing them from their estate. This can be used to reduce estate taxes, especially when the trust assets are expected to have taxable income, such as business holdings, financial instruments, and real estate.

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Qualified Personal Residence Trusts

A QPRT is an irrevocable trust that enables the grantor to remove a personal home from their estate to reduce the amount of gift and estate taxes owed upon transfer to a beneficiary. 

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Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts

A GRAT enables assets to be transferred to a trust while the trustor retains the right to receive payments from it. GRATs are often used to reduce estate taxes and make large gifts to family members without incurring gift taxes.

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Our estate planning attorneys can also help craft Special Needs Trusts (also referred to as Supplemental Needs Trusts), Credit Shelter Trusts, QTIP Trusts, Family Limited Partnerships, and more. 

Businesses or entrepreneurs planning to safeguard their legacy through succession planning may require legal counsel to craft a business estate plan. The San Jose business succession estate planning attorneys at Ferguson Law Group represent clients seeking guidance from our competent and caring trusted advisors on the array of challenges and opportunities they might encounter throughout the business life cycle.

For additional information about Ferguson Law Group’s Advanced Estate Planning practice, please contact: 408-296-3700

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