Estate & Business Planning

Overview

At the heart of estate and succession planning are close relationships and the desire to leave a legacy behind for family members. Although estate planning crosses several complex legal disciplines, including wills and trusts, estate and gift taxes, real estate transfers, charitable giving and elder law, we use our common-sense approach to see clients’ needs holistically.

Business owners need trusted legal counsel with whom they can have open and honest discussions about a company’s future, its legacy and the other individuals impacted by both.

Turner Padget’s Estate & Business Planning Practice is as deeply invested in our clients as they are in securing their heirs’ future. The death or retirement of the principal of a business can be challenging, so we provide a high-touch level of client service to devise legal and business strategies that minimize any interruption to an organization.

Our team includes professionals with advanced degrees in taxation or certifications in estate planning / probate law and taxation from the South Carolina Supreme Court. Other members of our team are actively involved in reviewing and suggesting changes to the state’s Probate Code, and one of our attorneys, a former probate judge, serves as the chair of the committee.

Experience

Assisted a large contractor in designing and implementing a comprehensive estate and asset preservation plan using family limited partnerships, limited liability companies and a Delaware Trust to which family assets were transferred. A later suit against the client as guarantor of a bank note was successfully settled without any recourse to the family property.
Designed and implemented a wealth protection plan to safeguard significant wealth accumulated by the spouse of a physician who was engaged in a high-risk specialty practice. The plan consisted of the creation of a Delaware limited liability company and a domestic asset protection trust (organized under Delaware law) and the funding of the plan with selected real property and liquid assets.
Worked with numerous clients to re-title assets to utilize protected forms of ownership.
Represented individual and corporate fiduciaries and beneficiaries in will contests and disputes over administration of estates and trusts.
Represented fiduciaries in connection with estate tax and gift tax audits.