Estate and Trust Administration
Our firm provides the full range of trust and estate administration services. Administration of a decedent’s estate generally involves the determination and valuation of assets, probate of a will, satisfaction of outstanding debts, payment of income and death taxes, and finally distribution of assets to heirs, often in the manner specified in the decedent’s will or trust. Our attorneys provide invaluable guidance to executors and trustees of both large and small estates in the proper execution of their fiduciary responsibilities to heirs. Many of our estate administration clients reside in other regions of the country and rely on us to properly help them administer an estate or trust in New Jersey or Pennsylvania.
Due to the frequent and complex changes in the federal and state death tax laws, estate administration has become incredibly complex and subject to traps for the unwary executor. Our attorneys use their considerable experience to assist executors and trustees to navigate the many tax elections, post mortem planning decisions, and tax filings necessary to complete administration process. Our expertise often allows clients to avoid pitfalls which may otherwise prevent a smooth, uneventful estate or trust administration. The process even for many seemingly simple estates can be easily derailed by a missed deadline, unfound assets, forgotten tax elections, late filings, and lack of communication with heirs, all of which can serve to turn a simple estate into a complex, messy one ripe for unnecessary litigation. Our vast experience in this area ensures that the goals of the deceased individual are carried out as planned and at the least tax and administrative cost to heirs.
Finally, the death of a loved one is often the case in many of the estates we handle, and for many of our clients this proves not to be an easy process. We pride ourselves on guiding clients to bring the administration to a successful conclusion efficiently and without undue delay, but with the compassion and understanding which is deserved.
Estate and Trust Administration services include:
Federal Estate Tax Return
New Jersey Estate Tax Return
New Jersey Inheritance Tax Return
Pennsylvania Inheritance Return