At Borakove Osman, LLC, our Wisconsin estate planning attorneys have the knowledge and skill to help all of our clients create estate plans that address their specific needs, goals, and dreams for the future. Because we have a diverse clientele, we always make it a point to zero in on each client’s distinct characteristics. This is certainly true for our high-net-worth clients who are faced with challenges, such as probate avoidance, estate tax strategies, and legacy preservation, that typically do not affect our other clients.
Recognizing that particular needs require innovative strategies and customized guidance, our attorneys have designed specialized approaches for our high-net-worth clients. We realize that, while your accumulated assets may be partially inherited, hard-earned in an executive, corporate position or cultivated while managing a family farm or other small business, our legal team understands the complexities you’re dealing with.
We are well prepared to help you cope with the estate planning issues that affect you most so that you can feel confident that your wealth and loved ones are protected and your Wisconsin legacy remains intact.
How Is High-Net-Worth Defined?
While years ago, “millionaire” meant extreme wealth, inflation has altered definitions. According to a 2024 issue of Forbes, high-net-worth people or households are now described as those who own liquid assets valued between $1 million and $5 million.
Areas of Concern for High-Net-Worth Individuals
As noted, high-net-worth individuals have many concerns more moderately wealthy people do not. You can count on Borakove Osman attorneys to be tuned in to these concerns on your behalf and to be ready to guide you to proven estate planning techniques that will help you:
Avoid Probate
Probate is a matter of public record; for some people, this fact alone makes it undesirable since it reveals private financial information. In addition, for those with estates of high net worth, probate can be lengthy and expensive, delaying inheritance for beneficiaries and, at times, significantly diminishing its amount. Our attorneys can help you avoid probate by putting most or all of your assets in a revocable living trust or transferring assets outside of probate as gifts or through beneficiary designations.
Reduce Estate Taxes
Estate taxes can significantly diminish the value of an estate passed on to heirs. Effective strategies for Wisconsin residents include leveraging exemptions, gifting strategies, and establishing irrevocable trusts designed to minimize tax liabilities while fulfilling estate planning goals.
Protect Assets for Future Generations
Preserving wealth for future generations involves strategic planning to safeguard assets against potential risks such as creditors, divorce, lawsuits, and irresponsible spending. Trust structures, such as generation-skipping trusts or dynasty trusts, can provide long-term asset protection and ensure that beneficiaries receive their full inheritance.
Maintain the Integrity of Your Legacy
Maintaining the integrity of your legacy involves two things:
1. Exercising Control Over the Distribution of Your Wealth
High-net-worth individuals often want to dictate how their wealth will be distributed among heirs and beneficiaries. Trusts can be structured with specific provisions to control timing, amounts, and conditions of distributions, ensuring that beneficiaries receive assets according to the values and principles f the estate holder.
2. Preparing for Generous Charitable Giving
For some, philanthropy is both a benefit and a duty for wealthy individuals. If you are in this category, we will help you support causes close to your heart while also getting tax benefits. Strategies like establishing charitable trusts or foundations can facilitate ongoing charitable contributions while maximizing tax efficiencies under Wisconsin law.
Other Recommendations for High-Net-Worth Clients
In addition to the above-mentioned tips on how to confront some of the issues that trouble our high-net-worth clients, we may also recommend:
Carefully Handling Titling and Ownership
Joint tenancy, tenancy in common, or community property arrangements can impact how assets are transferred upon death, as can designating beneficiaries on a life insurance policy or retirement plan. Such ownership arrangements should align with your other estate planning strategies.
Creating Trusts for Various Purposes
Trusts are versatile tools that can serve multiple purposes, including asset protection, tax minimization, and specific instructions for asset distribution. In Wisconsin, trusts such as irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs), charitable remainder trusts (CRTs), and special needs trusts (SNTs) trusts can various diverse needs while providing flexibility and control.
Using Gift-Giving Strategies
Strategic gifting during your lifetime can reduce your taxable estate, benefiting your loved ones and the charities you support. Wisconsin’s annual and lifetime gift tax exemptions in 2024 leverage the benefits of gift tax exclusions, allowing high-net-worth individuals to transfer $18,000 in assets to as many people as they wish.
Setting Up an FLLC or FLP
Establishing a Family Limited Liability Company (FLLC) or Family Limited Partnership (FLP) can provide asset protection both during your lifetime and after you pass away. It may also provide some tax advantages.
Planning for Business Succession
It is common for our high-net-worth clients to own businesses. If this is true in your case, business succession is likely to be an area that demands attention. By helping you to create an effective business succession plan, our lawyers will ensure that your your business interests will be efficiently transferred to your heirs when you retire, become incapacitated, or pass away.
Contact Our Experienced High-Net-Worth Attorneys Today
The attorneys of Borakove Osman are highly trained in the ins and outs of estate planning, particularly when it comes to handling issues critical to growing and maintaining an estate of exceptional value. Contact us now for invaluable information and wise advice from accomplished professionals.