Estate Planning
Unique needs demand extraordinary dedication. One size never fits all when it comes to wills, trusts and business succession plans. For that reason, we tailor our legal services for each individual to ensure the effective control, maintenance and disposition of their assets during life and after death.
On issues ranging from tax planning and asset preservation to business exit strategies, our estate planning attorneys in Minneapolis and Greater Minnesota develop customized plans that meet each client’s unique goals in order to guide through the implementation of plans.
A will may meet the needs of many individuals, but for clients whose needs are best met through trusts, our lawyers have extensive experience in crafting a variety of solutions, including:
- Charitable lead trusts: May reduce beneficiaries’ taxes by having the trust contribute to charity for a specified period of time, with the trust assets returning to the trustor or heirs.
- Charitable remainder trusts: Designed to provide income – and, in many cases, tax savings – to the trustor and spouse, with the assets remaining after death passing to designated charities.
- Grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs): After providing a donor with an annuity for a fixed time, assets pass to the beneficiaries (who must be family members).
- Irrevocable life insurance trusts: Enable life insurance policy holders to avoid estate taxes on policy benefits.
- Qualified personal residence trusts: Used to transfer a grantor’s residence out of the grantor’s estate in a tax-advantageous manner.
- Revocable living trusts: Often used to avoid probate and plan for future mental incompetency and disability while an individual is alive.
- Supplemental needs trusts: Preferred vehicle to meet the needs of disabled children.
- Testamentary trusts: Created to provide for minor children.
- Trust and Estate Administration: Representation of trust and estate beneficiaries and fiduciaries (i.e. Trustees and Personal Representatives).
Our Minneapolis and Greater Minnesota estate planning attorneys handle estates of all sizes, representing individuals as well as business owners.
News Items
- Hellmuth & Johnson Names Samantha J. Graf as Partner
- Attorney Kelley Scrocca Joins Hellmuth & Johnson
- Attorney Gregory Westerhaus Joins Hellmuth & Johnson
- Jeremy Stier Featured in Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal Estate Planning Table of Experts Panel Discussion
- Mark Balzarini Discusses Grantor-Retained Annuity Trusts with Farm Progress
- Hellmuth & Johnson Attorneys Named to Best Lawyers in America® 2023 Lists
- Mark Balzarini Discusses Retirement Accounts with Farm Progress
- Hellmuth & Johnson Attorneys Named to 2022 Minnesota Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars List
- Mark Balzarini Discusses Maintaining Succession Plans with Farm Progress
- Michael Redden Article “The Use of Formula Clauses to Value Gifts” Published in Trusts & Estates Magazine
Thought Leadership
- Have You Thought Through Your Retirement Plans?
- Pros and Cons of a Family Limited Partnership
- Tax Free Gifts
- Is a Defect a Good Thing? Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts in Estate Planning
- 5 Reasons Estate Planning is not only for the Wealthy
- Attorney Spotlight: Robyn Ingber
- Three Celebrity Probate Disasters and Tragic Lessons
- Powerful Provisions in Your Financial Power of Attorney
- Can a Trust Own My Business after I Die?
- What is Probate?
Past Seminars
- Legal & Business Issues Affecting Contractors 2020
- 2019 Community Association Fall Seminar
- CLE: Millennials and Gen Xers Are in Your Jury – Are You Ready?
- 2019 Community Association Spring Seminar
- 2019 Community Association Spring Seminar
- Legal and Business Issues Affecting Contractors 2019
- Community Association Seminar Fall 2018
- Divorce Litigation from Start to Finish
- New Overtime Rules Seminar 2016
- Second Saturday Divorce Seminar
- Community Association Seminar Fall 2016
- Revocable Living Trusts from Start to Finish
- Entertainment Law
- Revocable Trusts from A to Z
- Business Decisions You Can Bank On
- Cyberliability Insurance Session
- Intellectual Property – Armor for Entrepreneurs
- Small Business Series: Wage and Hour Issues
- Mastering Fiduciary Accounting Income
- Small Business Series: Succession Planning
- Drafting IRA Trusts
- Proactive vs. Reactive: Charitable Giving Seminar
- 2017 Women’s Entrepreneurship Conference
- Small Business Series: Intellectual Property
- Community Association Seminar Spring 2017
- Trusts From A to Z
- 2017 Probate & Trust Law Conference
- What Can You Do With Property Nobody Wants?
- How Not to Get Sued
- Estate Planning: The Ultimate Guide
- How To Get It Done: A Homeowners Guide
- Accommodation Requests Under the Fair Housing Act
- Small Business Series: Business Banking
- Legal and Business Issues Affecting Contractors 2017
- Commercial RE Seminar: Environmental Due Diligence
- ABA Property Insurance Law Spring CLE Conference
- Community Association Seminar Spring 2018
- Preventative Maintenance & Const. Defect Claims
- Single Member LLCs
- Revocable Living Trusts 101
- Trust Taxation: The Ultimate Guide
- Legal and Business Issues Affecting Contractors 2018
- Intellectual Property: Start to Finish
- 2017 Greater Mankato MHA Conference and Trade Show
- Community Association Seminar Fall 2017
- Drafting IRA Trusts
- Small Business Series: Non-Competes & More
- Rochester Community Association Seminar 2017
- What’s Your End Game? Succession Planning
- Handling the Sale of a Business
- “Guilty Until Proven Innocent” Flooring Seminar