Estate, Trust & Wealth Transfer

The attorneys and paralegals in the Estate, Trust & Wealth Transfer Group are dedicated to providing the full range of trust and estate, planning and administration services for families, professionals and executives, business owners, charities and fiduciaries.

We have helped countless families, from Virginia Beach to Richmond and beyond, preserve their wealth for future generations. Many times we have had the privilege of counseling two, three or even more generations of the same family, assisting them with every aspect of their estate planning and administration needs. Our clients can rest assured knowing we have helped them sort through the complicated issues associated with planning for the future and implementing a holistic plan. And we are there to ensure the plan is then fully administered and our clients’ wishes are carried out.

Our attorneys also focus exclusively on helping business owners with the difficult task of transferring ownership and control of their companies. We know how important it is to our clients that assets are divided fairly between family members and to make sure that their business will operate effectively after they pass on. We have the knowledge to help all forms of family-owned businesses plan for the future under all kinds of scenarios.

For our clients, we are often asked to prepare and be responsible for the required federal and state estate and gift tax returns and related estate and trust income tax returns. We have a key team of experienced paralegals that help in all areas of estate & trust planning and administration and especially with our tax filings.

Clients trust us to handle the very intimate details of planning for the future, and we take that responsibility seriously. Whether needing a single will or the most complicated trust, at Kaufman & Canoles, we know that every client has different goals and objectives. That’s why we offer a personalized approach to estate planning that is tailored to meet your goals and desires. We excel at finding innovative solutions and avoiding a “cookie cutter” approach. We’re able to do this effectively because we listen carefully to our clients, and develop a plan that is unique to their vision. We work hard to earn your confidence and trust. We are local lawyers, committed to our communities and intimately involved with its civic life and institutions.

Because there are so many sophisticated tools and options available in the estate planning area, helping you understand the appropriate alternatives is crucial. It is essential for you to have the information you need to make the best choices and create a plan with which you are completely comfortable.

One of our priorities in estate planning is to minimize taxes for you and your heirs. We carefully consider the impact of federal income, estate, gift and generation-skipping taxes on the passage of wealth. Our attorneys also have the skills and resources to assist you in the tax aspects of investment planning that will position you and your family for financial security. We coordinate with outside professionals such as accountants, business and investment advisors and insurance agents to ensure that you have a comprehensive plan and that it is implemented.

Most importantly, we think and reflect. We are not here just to produce a document or put numbers on a tax return. We are actively engaged as we plan and administer, looking to take advantage of planning opportunities, tax breaks, synergies and other advantages created by the combination of your particular facts. This produces a more tailored and efficient plan and can also often lead to significant tax savings, savings that are often not available for those who deal with estates reactively as opposed to planning proactively.

We also have an active practice in front of the Internal Revenue Service for audits on estate and gift tax items and related income tax returns.

• Represented surviving entities in family business split-ups
• Assisted transition of family businesses to the next generation
• Implemented wealth transition plans with family values
• Financial and business advice in connection with most matters

The Estate, Trust & Wealth Transfer Group at Kaufman & Canoles is composed of attorneys and paralegals who focus on helping you plan for the future.

Created out of the legacy and example of tax attorneys Charles Kaufman and Leroy Canoles, our group has decades of experience representing families, physicians, professionals and executives, investors, business owners, charities and fiduciaries. Attorneys in the group include those who are Certified Public Accountants or have advanced legal degrees in Taxation, backgrounds that give them a deeper understanding of financial and tax matters, including the taxation of estates and trusts, generation-skipping taxes and charitable giving.

Four of our attorneys serve as Commissioners of Accounts, giving us particular depth and insight into the Virginia probate and estate administration process. Our team also includes four experienced trial lawyers who practice estate litigation, as well as attorneys knowledgeable in many aspects of business law and commercial practice.

As part of our service to the bar and keeping intimately involved with ever-evolving laws, we hold or have held leadership positions in professional organizations at the state and local levels, including: Virginia State Bar Trusts & Estates and Taxation Sections; Virginia Bar Association Committee on Wills, Trusts & Estates; Hampton Roads and Peninsula Estate Planning Councils; Hampton Roads Tax Forum; and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.

Among our group are those who have membership in ACTEC, the American College of Trusts & Estate Counsel, the premier designation for trusts & estates attorneys, and are regularly selected for Best Lawyers in America, Virginia’s Legal Elite, etc.

We teach across Virginia and nationally, both in law schools and at lawyer and CPA continuing education seminars on taxation topics.

Since we offer the full range of Estate Planning and Administration services, we have the experience of working with families in our community who have some of the most difficult estate, business succession and tax problems. Our more sophisticated planning experience and available tools include:

• Life Insurance Trusts
• Family Gift and Loan Planning
• Generation-Skipping and Dynasty Trusts
• Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRAT)
• Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts
• Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRT)
• Private Annuities and Self Cancelling Installment Notes (SCIN)
• Private Split Dollar and Captive Insurance Companies
• Family Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies
• Stock Redemption and Cross Purchase Agreements
• Charitable Remainder and Lead Trusts (CRT & CLT)
• Private and Public Foundations
• Community Foundations and Donor Advised Funds
• Pension Plan Distribution Analysis
• Trust and Estate Litigation
• Planning for Resident and Non-resident Aliens

• Credit Union

• Evolve or Dissolve – How Charitable Organizations Address Change
• 2021 Retirement Plan Limitations
• Private Client Services Update – Relief for Student Debt Because the Government CARES (Act)
• Fiduciary Income Tax Update
• 2018 Tax Reform – Understanding the New Rules
• Private Client Services Update – 2018 Virginia Legislative Update
• Private Client Services Update – Estate Planning During Divorce
• Private Client Services Update – Decanting: Not Just for Wine Anymore – Virginia’s Adoption of the Uniform Trust Decanting Act
• Kaufman & Canoles Named to 2018 Edition of US News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms”
• Private Client Services Update – Portability Election Simplified
• Private Client Services Update – 2017 Virginia Legislative Update – Trusts, Estates, and Elder Law Changes
• Private Client Services Update – Trump is President and Republicans Control Both Chambers of Congress…
• Private Client Services Update – All is Not Lost When a Will is Lost – Redux
• Private Client Services Update – A Guide to Making Gifts for Parents and Grandparents
• Private Client Services Update – A Taxing Campaign: Clinton and Trump’s Individual, Estate, and Gift Tax Plans
• Private Client Services Update – IRS Proposed Regulations Could Impact Family Owned Entities
• Private Client Services Update – Switch It, Change It, Re-arrange It: The Modification and Termination of Charitable Trusts
• Private Client Services Update – Length of Marriage Now a Consideration for Surviving Spouse’s Rights Under Virginia Law
• Private Client Services Update – Hindsight is 20-20: Simple Estate Planning Steps We Wish Clients Would Take Before Death
• Private Client Services Update – But My Tax Expert Told Me****
• Private Client Services Update – All is Not Lost: Copy of Will Lost by Corporate Fiduciary Admitted to Probate
• Private Client Services Update – Estate Planning for Digital Assets and Digital Access: Bill Proposes to Adopt the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act in Virginia
• Private Client Services Update – Transfer of Residence to Living Trusts: Insurance Issues
• The Newfound Flexibility of Virginia Trusts
• Private Client Services Update – Foreign Asset Disclosure, Financial Reporting and Tax Planning in a Complex World
• Private Client Services Update – 2014 Virginia Legislative Update – Trusts & Estates Law Changes
• Private Client Services Update – Estate Planning With Small Captive Insurance Companies
• Private Client Services Update – Trust Directors & Family-Business Succession: New Virginia Laws Warrant Careful Planning
• Private Client Services Update – LLCs – Why Don’t You Have One?
• Private Client Services Update – Long Term Care Insurance… Is it Here for the Long Haul?
• Private Client Services Update – Good News for Professional Service Providers
• Transfer on Death Deeds: Additional Probate Avoidance Planning
• Private Client Services Update – What Really is Inherited with a Limited Liability Company Interest?
• Private Client Services Update – Collaborative Divorce Process: Your Client Should Know This Alternative to Divorce Litigation
• Private Client Services Update – Virginia Has Authorized Asset Protection Trusts – But Do They Work?
• Private Client Services Update – Minimizing the Impact of the New 3.8% Medicare Surtax on Trust Income
• Private Client Services Update – 2013 Virginia Legislative Update – Trusts & Estates Law
• Private Client Services Update – U.S. Supreme Court Vindicates Virginia Supreme Court’s “Minority Position” On Federally Governed Death Benefits
• Private Client Services Update – Dotting Your I’s and Crossing Your T’s in Charitable Giving
• Private Client Services Update – Estate Planning Considerations for Non-Citizens
• Private Client Services Update – Alternatives for Waiver of Testamentary Trust Accountings
• Private Client Services Update – It’s Not Set in Stone: Reciprocal Wills Do Not Automatically Create an Irrevocable Estate Plan
• Private Client Services Update – The New Shift Away from Estate Tax Driven Planning in Private Client Legal Services
• Private Client Services Update – Taxation of Corporate-Owned Life Insurance: Traps for the Unwary
• Private Client Services Update – Stuff Happens
• Private Client Services Update – 2012 Virginia Legislative Update – Trusts & Estates Law
• Private Client Services Update – Interference with Inheritance: A Novel Legal Theory
• Private Client Services Update – Self-Settled Spendthrift Trusts
• Private Client Services Update – Decanting: A New Tool in the Trustee’s Arsenal
• Private Client Services Update – Protecting Your Most Precious Assets…Your Children
• Private Client Services Update – Adding Value as Trustee of a Life Insurance Trust
• Private Client Services Update – Use of Small Estate Affidavits to Clean Up After Probate Avoidance Trusts
• Private Client Services Update – IRS Has Two Smash Hits and Releases Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program III
• Private Client Services Update – Special Attention for Special Needs
• Private Client Services Update – Portability – Is It Time to Throw Traditional Estate Tax Planning Out the Window?
• Private Client Services Update – Issues with Real Estate in a Decedent’s Estate
• Private Client Services Update – Asset Protection-Domestic Asset Protection Trusts (DAPTs) Take a Hit
• Private Client Services Update – Benefit Corporations – A New Business Entity for the Socially Minded Entrepreneur
• Private Client Services Update – Capacity and Undue Influence Issues in Estate Planning – Incapacity for One Purpose Does Not Mean Incapacity for Another
• Private Client Services Update – Boilerplate Wills and Trusts Can Cause Unintended Consequences
• Private Client Services Update – Use of LLCs to Own Buy-Sell Insurance
• Private Client Services Update – Careful Planning by Corporate Fiduciary Avoids Liability for Breach of Fiduciary Duty
• Private Client Services Update – A Case Study for Use of §1031 Exchange in an Estate Planning Context
• Private Client Services Update – The FBAR and OVDI are not health foods . . . but you should know what they are and why the August 31, 2011 expiration date matters
• Private Client Services Update – 2011 Virginia Legislative Update – Trusts & Estates Law
• Private Client Services Update – Keeping Them Honest – Curbing Abuse by Agents Appointed in Powers of Attorney
• Private Client Services Update – Protecting Your Estate Planning Documents and Ensuring They are Accessible When Needed
• Private Client Services Update – Advance Medical Directives: One Caveat with the New Virginia Form
• Private Client Services Update – General Assembly Makes Changes to the Conservation Tax Credit Application Process
• Private Client Services Update – Lifetime Funding of Revocable Trusts for Couples: Avoiding Probate While Maintaining Creditor Protection
• Private Client Services Update – Succession Planning for Family Vacation Properties
• Private Client Services Update – Practical Considerations When Navigating the New Modified Carryover Basis Rules
• Private Client Services Update – Coping with Capacity Issues in Parents
• Private Client Services Update – Family Business Succession Planning (Beyond Taxes and Trusts)
• Private Client Services Update – Practical Preparations for Clients Prudently Planning for the Risk of Incapacity
• Private Client Services Update – What’s the Latest on Estate Taxation?
• Private Client Services Update – Incapacity Can Be Expensive in More Ways Than One
• Private Client Services Update – No Longer a Need to Rush to the Funeral Home
• Private Client Services Update – Revoking Irrevocable Trusts
• Private Client Services Update – The Special Opportunities for Disclaimers in 2010
• Private Client Services Update – It’s For the Kids: Creation of a Children’s Trust
• Private Client Services Update – 2010 Virginia Legislative Update
• Private Client Services Update – Virginia Adopts Uniform Power of Attorney Act
• Private Client Services Update – Some Charitable Giving Thoughts Under Tax Laws Past, Present and Future
• Private Client Services Update – Incapacitated Without a Power of Attorney . . . Where Do We Go From Here?
• Information for Kaufman & Canoles Clients in Light of Estate Tax Repeal
• Private Client Services Update – Asset Protection
• Private Client Services Update – No Federal Estate or GST Tax! Are These the Best of Tax Times or the Worst of Tax Times?
• Private Client Services Update – Uncertainty Surrounds Imminent Estate Tax Repeal
• Private Client Services Update – Three Roth Conversion Planning Opportunities
• Private Client Services Update – Virginia Commissioners of Accounts and the Updated Manual for Commissioners
• Private Client Services Update – The Roth Business Ownership Plan
• Private Client Services Update – Minority & Marketability Discounts & Asset Protection
• Private Client Services – 2009 Virginia Legislative Update
• Private Client Services Update – Important Reminder for “Small” Charitable Organizations
• Private Client Services – Minority & Marketability Discounts & Asset Protection