Estate planning and administration services above and beyond the ordinary. We have the breadth of knowledge and depth of experience to help our clients accomplish their estate planning goals. Our trusts and estates lawyers provide comprehensive estate planning for individuals, couples, families, and family businesses. Each of our senior estate planning attorneys brings decades of experience to wealth transfer planning, offering a coordinated approach that goes well beyond simply drafting legal documents.
We give special attention to real estate interests, closely held businesses and other enterprises. We combine tax expertise, business knowledge and common sense to help protect and preserve wealth for generations to come. Many of our clients have done well and are interested in giving back through charitable contributions. We counsel our clients as to the most effective and tax-efficient ways to benefit charitable organizations. We have significant expertise in establishing private foundations, assisting with the creation of donor-advised funds, and forming charitable trusts of all kinds.
We are attuned to the need to protect and preserve assets so that our clients’ hard-earned resources can be distributed as they wish. We regularly counsel clients on the best ways to avoid unneccessarily exposing assets to claims of creditors. Using trusts and other legal arrangements, we provide for the protection of assets from claims in divorce. We also counsel clients about appropriate arrangements to benefit a family member who is unable to manage his or her own affairs, including the use of special needs trusts. The ever-changing estate tax laws present both challenges and opportunities. We keep abreast of federal and state estate and gift tax developments so that we can employ the most up-to-date tax planning strategies.
We are experienced in working with all kinds of families, including blended families, domestic partners, and same-sex couples. We work closely with our clients’ other advisors to insure that their overall plans are well-coordinated.
There are a host of matters that require attention after the death of a family member. The deceased person’s will must be probated. The personal representative of the estate must identify and value the assets of the estate and evaluate claims of creditors. A trust may need to be administered or wound up. There may be claims for life insurance or retirement benefits.
Our experienced attorneys, along with our five probate paralegals, handle all aspects of estate administration, including the preparation of estate tax returns and, when necessary, estate tax audits. We work closely with our clients’ accountants to coordinate the preparation of all required income tax returns.
We know that the period just after a family member’s death can be stressful. Many people find the process daunting. We explain and coordinate the process and we keep our clients informed about what the next step is going to be, each step of the way. We assist the fiduciary to carry out his or her obligations, advising as to the legal requirements for administering the estate or trust. Our services include advising fiduciaries about their legal obligations regarding managing an estate’s assets and paying its creditors.
The President signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the “OBBBA”) into law on July 4, 2025. The OBBBA extends certain tax provisions implemented by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “TCJA”) and amends others. Various provisions of the OBBBA add certainty to existing estate planning methods and create new opportunities.
Many practitioners have spent the past few years planning with uncertainty because several provisions of the TCJA were scheduled to sunset on December 31, 2025. The OBBBA provides a greater degree of certainty, which will impact tax and estate planning. Additionally, new provisions have been introduced that may provide planning opportunities. Below are brief explanations of some of the provisions of the OBBBA that will affect how estate planners advise clients… MORE >
The legal profession stands at a pivotal moment as the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) prepares to roll out the NextGen Bar Exam beginning July 2026. For those engaged in trusts and estates, the ramifications of this shift extend well beyond the confines of legal education—they touch the very pipeline of practitioners and, ultimately, the public’s access to competent counsel in this vital area.
The Changing Landscape of Bar Examination
Historically, the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) has required substantive knowledge of trusts and estates, tested primarily through the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE). This structure incentivized law students to pursue coursework in the field, ensuring a baseline of competency among new attorneys. The NextGen Bar Exam, however, will reduce both the duration of testing and… MORE >
FILING REQUIREMENT REVISED PER INTERIM FINAL RULE
FinCEN has issued an interim final rule clarifying its position with respect to enforcement of the CTA. U.S. domestic reporting companies and U.S. domestic persons are not required to file, though international reporting companies are so required and new deadlines have been set for them. The interim final rule follows U.S. Treasury’s March 2, 2025 announcement.
How did we get here?
The Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) took effect on January 1, 2024, requiring certain small- and medium-sized corporations, LPs, LLCs, and similar closely held entities “reporting companies” to report certain company information and beneficial ownership information reports (BOIRs) to the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”).
On December 3, 2024, a federal district court in Texas… MORE >
Linda Ravdin has retired from the practice of law at the end of 2024 after a 50-year career. She hung out a shingle (not literally; she worked from the lawyers’ lounge at D.C. Superior Court) as soon as she passed the bar and began taking court-appointed criminal defense work. Later she switched to family law. After 22 years with Pasternak & Fidis in our Domestic and Family Law Group, countless accolades from local magazines, and a major treatise under her belt, Linda will hang up her law license but retain her honorific as the Grande Dame of Prenups. Linda was an early adopter of alternative dispute resolution in domestic cases: she encouraged clients into the collaborative process or mediation where possible, and she acted as… MORE >
Marital agreements – premarital, postmarital, and marital separation agreements – generally provide for the rights of a surviving spouse and, in many cases, for the rights of a surviving former spouse. Parties negotiating such an agreement may find it useful to incorporate provisions for a trust to hold assets for the benefit of a surviving spouse or former spouse. Parties in a blended family may want to balance the economic needs of a spouse, whether the marriage ends at death or dissolution, with the wish to pass wealth to their children. A wealthy party may want to ensure that property he/she inherited from parents or grandparents stays in his/her bloodline and may not want it to end up in the hands of a surviving spouse’s… MORE >
Many states provide tools for changing an “irrevocable” trust, and with the enactment of the Maryland Trust Decanting Act, Maryland lawmakers have provided another tool to improve irrevocable trusts in Maryland, but not without limitations.
I. What does it mean to “decant”?
Just as one might filter out impurities in wine via decanting, a trustee may correct errors or omit problematic trust terms by decanting (or distributing) assets of an existing trust (the “first trust”) to one or more new trusts with different, more favorable terms (the “second trust”). Trust decanting may be expressly authorized in the trust instrument or by state statute.
After the second trust, having the preferred terms, has been established by agreement or declaration, the trustee will direct that the assets… MORE >
The federal estate/gift tax exemption amount and the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption amount are both $13.61 million for 2024 (a $5 million base exemption, doubled in 2017 to $10 million and indexed for inflation). Under current law, this figure will become $13,990,000 on January 1, 2025, but it is scheduled to drop significantly on January 1, 2026, when the 2017 law that doubled the base exemption sunsets.
Now, however, we know the election results, and they portend a shift of power in both houses of Congress and the White House. Gridlock in Congress would have meant that the sunset would happen by default, but now extension of the higher exemption levels beyond the January 1, 2026 sunset date appears more likely. This may alleviate… MORE >
Micah Snitzer became a partner in the firm’s Estate Planning and Administration Group in early 2024, having joined the firm as an associate in 2014. He handles a wide range of estate planning matters, working with individuals and families to prepare wills, trusts, healthcare directives, and powers of attorney. He particularly likes the advisory role, working closely with clients to understand and achieve their estate planning objectives.
Micah grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis and earned his undergraduate degree from Colorado College, where he enjoyed the nurturing academic environment during the week and snowboarding on the weekends. He returned to Minneapolis to work as a legal assistant following graduation to gain insight into the legal profession, discovering that he truly enjoyed the work. Micah… MORE >
Congratulations to Anne Coventry, Stephanie Perry, and Linda Ravdin for making Washingtonian Magazine list of 2024’s Top Lawyers!
BY BETTINA RISTAU, PROBATE PARALEGAL
When someone dies, getting down to the business of administering the estate (or trust) can seem like a herculean task, especially while grieving. Below are observations made by the probate paralegal team here at Pasternak & Fidis in response to common client assumptions that we share in hopes of easing that burden for your loved ones when the time comes.
My estate documents are signed – I am all set!
Estate planning does not end when the will and trust instrument have been signed. Your estate planning attorney has created a customized plan for you and your family after considering your family structure, assets, values, and tax planning objectives. Your estate plan is, in effect, a roadmap to ensure that… MORE >
