Trusts and Estates

The Trusts and Estates Practice at Katten is nearly 50 attorneys strong, making it one of the largest in the United States. With attorneys in four offices—Charlotte, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York—Katten offers an integrated network of trust and estate practitioners that enables us to service local, national and international clients most efficiently. We provide creative and comprehensive representation in all areas of private client services, including personal and tax-driven estate planning for both the domestic and international client, business succession and charitable planning, probate, complex estate and trust administration, estate and trust litigation and charitable organization representation. The attorneys in our Trusts and Estates Practice have years of practical experience and are published practitioners, accomplished lecturers, seasoned litigators, skilled negotiators, experienced administrators and thoughtful, practical and creative planners and advisors.

Katten represents high net worth individuals, entire families, family offices, banks, trust companies, wealth management advisors and nonprofit entities of all sizes. Our individual clients include entrepreneurs, corporate executives, hedge fund managers, philanthropists, real estate investors and developers, accountants, medical professionals, artists, collectors, authors, composers and musicians. We also represent banks and trust companies in connection with their administration of both estates and trusts, and advise nonprofit entities and their managers at every stage of operation, from formation to administration to dissolution.

Comprehensive Estate Planning: Estate, Gift and Generation-Skipping Tax Planning, Planning for Business Succession and Charitable Planning

Katten attorneys prepare wills and trusts that enable our clients to avoid the need for probate, appoint guardians for their minor children, protect assets from creditors, ensure that children do not receive too much before an appropriate age, and minimize the taxes incurred when transferring wealth to successive generations. We are committed to advising clients on how to plan in light of a rapidly changing tax and economic climate. In this role, our group seeks not only to advise clients of changes in the law, but also to develop planning strategies that enable clients to take full advantage of those changes for the benefit of themselves and their families.

International Considerations

Comprehensive planning requires that we consider and address domestic as well as international issues. Our attorneys counsel foreign and domestic clients on all manner of tax and estate planning issues relating to their multinational holdings.

Litigation Services

Unfortunately, despite the best laid estate plans, disputes often arise among beneficiaries and between beneficiaries and fiduciaries. Our talented team of trust and estate litigators offers the full panoply of litigation services.

Administration of Trusts and Estates

Our attorneys also assist with the post-death administration and distribution of our clients’ estates and trusts and represent both beneficiaries and fiduciaries in all trust- and estate-related matters.

Representation of Nonprofit Organizations

We have extensive experience involving the establishment and maintenance of charitable and other nonprofit entities. We represent clients both privately and before taxing and regulatory authorities, including both the IRS and the relevant attorney general or consumer protection agency.

Professionals