The Private Clients Group provides advice to individual and corporate fiduciaries, including executors, administrators, personal representatives, trustees, custodians, guardians and attorneys-in-fact, in connection with the interpretation of wills, trust agreements, powers of attorney and court orders, and the administration, management and distribution of the property for which such fiduciaries are responsible.

The Group handles all aspects of estate administration, including:

• probating wills
• obtaining appraisals
• collecting, analyzing, distributing and selling assets
• paying debts, legacies, taxes and expenses
• preparing and filing estate tax returns
• defending such returns on audit

Lawyers in the Group also assist clients with income tax planning for estates, trusts and their beneficiaries, including reviewing and filing fiduciary income tax returns, and post-mortem planning through the use of disclaimers and various elections available to estates, trusts and beneficiaries.

The Private Clients Group is frequently called upon to review and settle voluntary and involuntary accounts of individual and corporate fiduciaries and to represent fiduciaries and beneficiaries in will contests, will construction and reformation proceedings, and intra-family disputes. Lawyers in the Private Clients Group serve as executors, personal representatives and trustees of a significant number of estates and trusts.