Mr. Freideman works with individuals and families to plan estates of all sizes and prepares documents needed to implement these plans, including wills, trusts and powers of attorney. His planning activities focus on two principal goals: (1) ensuring that, at death, his clients’ assets pass as desired and in as tax-advantageous a manner as possible and (2) ensuring that his clients’ assets will continue to be managed as they desire should they, during their lifetimes, become incapacitated.

Given the current uncertainty regarding the future of federal and state estate and gift taxation – and the possibility that estate tax legislation may have adverse capital gains consequences – Mr. Freideman emphasizes flexibility in his estate plans, including techniques to preserve for married couples additional tax planning opportunities after the death of the first spouse. He emphasizes the need to periodically review existing plans to ensure that they continue to reflect the client’s wishes and to ensure that provisions therein are adjusted as required to reflect new tax legislation. His practice includes estate planning and probate of estates of non-US citizens.

Mr. Freideman is experienced in the use of various vehicles to reduce estate and gift taxes by lifetime giving to individuals and exempt organizations. These include use of the gift tax annual exclusion and the exclusion for direct tuition and medical expense transfers, trusts for children and charitable transfers through tax-favored trusts and other deferred giving vehicles. He has assisted in the formation of and provides general counseling, tax planning and return preparation to trusts, both revocable and irrevocable, including credit shelter (bypass) trusts, life insurance trusts, and trusts for the education and support of children or individuals with special needs.

During the probate of an estate, Mr. Freideman assists executors and estate beneficiaries with evaluating the various probate, income tax and estate tax elections and alternatives available to reduce or defer income and estate taxation.

Regarding planning for incapacity, Mr. Freideman works with individuals and families to ensure that their assets can be preserved and managed without the need for restrictive, court-supervised guardianships and conservatorships through the use of such vehicles as durable powers of attorney for financial, real estate and health care matters and, where desired and advisable, the use of trusts established during the client’s lifetime.