Estate Planning, Succession Planning and Personal Tax
Miller Thomson LLP provides a complete range of estate planning and personal tax services for clients with domestic, cross-border or off-shore requirements. Our lawyers have extensive experience in all aspects of estate planning from the conception and implementation of the estate plan to the eventual administration of the estate.
Many clients of the firm are private or family business enterprises, both large and small. As a result, our estate planning lawyers are well aware of the needs of the owner-entrepreneur. We are very experienced in current tax planning and future succession planning for family and private businesses, and work closely with our clients to achieve their objectives. We also have extensive experience addressing the unique needs of families with inherited wealth. Core practitioners are assisted by lawyers experienced in related areas of practice such as corporate, family law, real estate and litigation.
Our areas of expertise include:
- Using tax-planned trusts and wills to achieve wealth distribution objectives while minimizing tax consequences
- Developing succession plans to transfer family businesses from one generation to the next in a way that achieves a successful transition of the business while maintaining family harmony
- Creating custom designed estate freeze and income-splitting arrangements
- Practical planning to reduce probate taxes
- Advising on the appropriate use of life insurance
- Cross-border will and trust planning for clients with dual residence, U.S. citizenship or cross-border property issues
- Assisting immigrants to Canada to establish trusts to take advantage of the five year Canadian tax holiday
- Advising on charitable giving including the use of private charitable foundations
- Advising charitable and non-profit organizations on corporate, trust and tax matters
- Assisting clients with marriage contracts and family law planning