Miller Johnson’s estate planning attorneys excel at sophisticated estate planning for families and their businesses. We provide private counsel on all aspects of personal and financial planning. Our clients range from young couples starting families to senior citizens enjoying retirement, from new entrepreneurs to established business owners, from minor children to incapacitated adults, from those with standard planning needs to those with unusual and difficult problems.

Death is an inevitability for all of us. Disability is a possibility for many of us. Taxes affect almost everything we do. We help our clients plan for all of these with astute counseling and expert management of assets through our knowledge and application of current estate planning laws.

Estate Planning

During the estate planning process, we identify the client’s goals, analyze the client’s personal and financial situation, explain options, and implement a course of action by drafting documents and/or retitling assets. Every plan is different, but in planning for life changes common goals often emerge. We help clients:

• Protect minor children by designating guardians and managing assets through custodianships or trusts
• Preserve governmental benefits for elderly or disabled persons by using discretionary trusts and maximizing exemptions
• Coordinate life insurance and retirement plans with their total estate plan
• Accomplish charitable goals in the most tax advantageous way without jeopardizing family goals
• Minimize, defer, or eliminate death, gift, and income taxes
• Plan for the orderly transition of a family business
• Plan for succession and operation of family cottages and other types of shared vacation property

Chambers High Net Worth, a publication dedicated to providing an independent ranking of the world’s high net worth advisers, ranked Miller Johnson’s estate planning group with the highest ranking (Band 1 of 5) for the 6th consecutive year (2016-2021) with these client testimonials:

“The complexity they can offer is very impressive.”

“The level of communication, attention to detail, expertise and client advocacy is exceptional. The long-standing respect and understanding of the client’s needs is evident in each and every communication.”