Nicholas Hulwi practices in the areas of estate planning and estate and gift taxation. He prepares wills, revocable trusts, powers of attorney and health care directives. Additionally, Nicholas works with his clients to minimize potential estate and gift tax exposure, often implementing strategies involving various types of irrevocable trusts (e.g., IDGTs, QPRTs, and GRATs). Nicholas also prepares and files Federal estate and gift tax returns, and Minnesota estate tax returns.
Nicholas is certified to perform business valuations by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts® (NACVA) as a Certified Valuation Analyst® (CVA®). NACVA’s CVA® designation is the world’s premiere valuation credential and is the only valuation credential accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies® (NCAA®), the accreditation body of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence™ (ICE™), and the ANSI National Accreditation Board® (ANAB®).
Nicholas has also earned his Certified Kingdom Advisor® (CKA®) designation granted by Kingdom Advisors®. Kingdom Advisors® exists to serve the public by creating a recognized and credible specialty of Christian financial, legal, and accounting professionals within the financial services industry. The CKA® designation is granted to individuals who have demonstrated themselves to be, among others, ethical, of integrity, and technically competent in their specialty.
After earning a Juris Doctor degree and an LLM in Taxation, Nicholas joined the U.S. Department of the Treasury – Internal Revenue Service, as an Estate and Gift Tax attorney. While with the IRS, Nicholas examined countless estate and gift tax returns, analyzed intricate testamentary documents, and performed extensive computations to determine each taxpayer’s correct tax liability.
After nearly six years with the IRS, Nicholas joined a mid-size law firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as an attorney focused on estate planning and estate and gift tax minimization. Nicholas prepared wills, revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, and estate and gift tax returns. Nicholas also assisted his clients with the estate and trust administration process.
To gain further knowledge and experience planning for high-net worth individuals, Nicholas and his family relocated to San Diego, California, where Nicholas joined the estate planning department of a well-established law firm in San Diego. While there, Nicholas worked with many of the firm’s clients to strategically develop estate plans to minimize exposure to the federal estate and gift tax.
With 15 years of estate planning and estate and gift tax experience, Nicholas joined Hellmuth & Johnson’s Trusts & Estates practice group. Here, Nicholas creates individualized estate plans for his clients to meet each client’s goals and objectives. Nicholas educates his clients in tax minimization and creditor protection planning strategies, implementing appropriate plans involving IDGTs, DAPTs, QPRTs, GRATS, ILITs, and CRTs. As a Certified Valuation Analyst, Nicholas also prepares business valuation reports for his clients to expedite the planning process to ensure the execution of an efficient and effective estate plan.