Tax & Estate Planning

Estate Planning

Our Tax Group provides estate planning advice and other services, which include careful planning for the management and disposition of assets to meet the client’s objectives while minimizing taxes, family disagreements and lawsuits.

Our tax planners employ a number of techniques and strategies, including:

• Creating limited liability corporations and other entities to achieve such goals as shifting wealth to younger generations and insulation from liability;
• Revocable or living trusts;
• Generation-skipping trusts;
• Gifting programs designed to avoid or minimize gift and estate taxes; and
• Life insurance planning, including irrevocable life insurance trusts.

In addition to being highly skilled in the drafting of instruments such as revocable trusts, wills, durable general powers of attorney and other estate planning documents, our Tax Group attorneys have experience and expertise in all aspects of probate practice, guardianships, preparation of federal and state estate tax returns, and assistance in handling postmortem matters such as income tax issues, disclaimers of estate and non-estate assets, special use valuations of farms and closely-held businesses, and other related matters.

Tax Controversy and Procedure

Our tax practice and procedure attorneys have extensive experience representing clients before the Internal Revenue Service, the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, and courts having jurisdiction over tax matters. This experience, involving a broad range of substantive tax issues allows us to bring practical and innovative approaches to resolving tax disputes at all levels. This perspective allows us to represent taxpayers in a way that proactively manages the matter. In addition to handing disputes arising from substantive areas that are the primary focus of planning transactions and business structures, our practice and procedure attorneys have special expertise in areas that commonly generate disputes such as: practice and procedure, business deductions, accounting methods, employment taxes and penalties.

Tax-Advantaged Activities

Our Tax Group has expertise related to tax-advantaged activities and regularly counsel clients regarding planning and compliance matters. In addition to expertise related to business organizations and tax planning for businesses, our attorneys advise taxpayers in the areas of business incentives, federal deductions and tax credits, and state deductions and tax credits.

Transaction Taxation

Our Tax Group routinely analyzes the tax aspects inherent in a wide range of transactions, reflecting the varied needs of a diverse client base. Our attorneys address local, state and federal tax matters for corporations, general and limited partnerships, estate, trusts and individuals, and provide advice and assistance in connection with all forms of commercial and private transactions, including reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, property transaction, like-kind exchanges, installment sales, excise taxes, and state tax issues.