Lagerlof, LLP’s Private Wealth & Fiduciary Team has extensive experience in the transfer of wealth, the administration of private trusts and estates, “family office” services, and the special challenges facing those who have been selected by others to make sound decisions about managing an estate.

PRIVATE FIDUCIARY

Our attorneys are skilled in counseling those trustees, executors and administrators so they can do that job professionally and efficiently. We develop a careful and thorough understanding of your family and your goals, and then employ our skills in helping you and your professional team to produce strategic plans that align with your family’s needs, your financial vision and your desired outcomes. In this process, we often will conduct one or more “family meetings,” designed to discuss the family’s vision of the future, where we bring all generations together to discuss and plan for that future.

In many instances, we serve as the administrative staff for private fiduciaries, who were selected because of their special relationship with those who create the trust or estate, and who are trusted to implement the plan as intended.  In special and limited cases, our lawyers agree to serve as fiduciaries themselves – with the consent of family members.  In those instances, we are focused on implementation of the plan as it was designed, with a professional “back office” staff behind us.

FAMILY OFFICE

Our “family office” team understands the desire to build a legacy and foundation for multi-generational wealth. We believe in building strong relationships with families to support them in business, finance, family, and philanthropic endeavors. We have worked with some families for as many as four generations, so relationships are important to us.

Our family office services team manages your financial landscape, giving you the opportunity to live your life knowing that your affairs are taken care of with the deepest understanding of your family goals and legacy in mind. We work hard to understand family vision, dynamics, communication styles, and future goals.

We also can assist with planning, accounting, monitoring, administration, compliance, and legal counsel. We offer full-service, personalized management. Our fiduciaries work diligently and discreetly exercising sound judgement to manage all your family office needs with exceptional care.

Our areas of Private Fiduciary expertise are as follows: 

• Annual, biennial and triennial accountings 
• Event-driven accountings and accounting to the court
• Beneficiary ages and evaluation of discretionary distributions 
• Death of a trustee or beneficiary 
• Resignation/removal of trustee 
• Special-needs trusts 
• Guardianships 
• Conservatorships 
• Court-ordered trust administration
• Charitable trusts and foundations 
• Tax reporting and consultation
• Sales of assets
• Selecting and evaluating outside investment management
• Duties and liabilities of trustees and administrators 
• Risk management
• Bank acquisitions and consolidations 
• Disgruntled beneficiaries  
• Actions by a prior trustee 
• Accounting evaluation and analysis 

Our areas of Family Office services expertise are as follows:

• Tax planning
• Financial structure and compensation planning
• Asset protection, management and transfer
• Estate planning
• Succession planning
• Cash management
• Banking
• Cash flow and budgeting
• Financial statements
• Bill payment
• Payroll
• Brokerage reconciliations
• Investment recording
• Entity selection
• Charitable giving
• Trusts and foundations
• Document and record management
• Trust administration
• Foundation administration
• Insurance filings
• Trust & Estate compliance
• Foundation compliance
• Payroll compliance