Estate Planning, Probate & Trust Law Group

ESTATE PLANNING, PROBATE & TRUST LAW GROUP

Nordman Cormany Hair & Compton LLP
1000 Town Center Drive
Sixth Floor
Oxnard, California 93036

[T] (805) 485-1000
[F] (805) 988-8387

Overview

Our Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law Group attorneys assist individuals in meeting their estate planning goals. Generations of Ventura County families have benefited from the skilled counsel of our Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law Group attorneys.

Our expertise is varied to meet the diverse needs of our clients. We have significant experience in the fields of probate, trust administration, conservatorship, guardianship, and estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax planning. We tailor estate plans that not only eliminate the need for court supervision of clients' affairs following their incapacity or death, but that offer privacy and minimize the impact of estate taxes. We also offer sophisticated tax counsel to individuals in connection with multi-generational transfers of wealth, business succession planning, meeting charitable or philanthropic goals, preserving family-owned farms or businesses and making lifetime transfers.

We have earned a reputation for outstanding representation of clients before the courts of Ventura County and other jurisdictions. We are experienced in all facets of probate and trust litigation and have successfully handled trust and will contests of significant magnitude in an efficient and effective manner.

Services Offered

Estate and Tax Planning

  • Personalized estate planning for small and large estates, including the preparation of wills, trusts and financial powers of attorney
  • Health care planning, including the preparation of advanced health care directives
  • Specialized estate planning for the preservation and transfer of family-owned farms and businesses and the preservation and transfer of wealth to younger generations
  • Planning to avoid or minimize reassessment for real property tax purposes
  • Life insurance planning, including preparation of irrevocable life insurance trusts
  • Planning for the preservation of family assets in the face of catastrophic illness or incapacity
  • Planning for retirement plan assets

Back to Top

Lifetime Transfers

  • Advising clients regarding the tax consequences of lifetime giving
  • Planning for gifts to minimize estate taxes and transfer wealth
  • Counseling clients on the estate and income tax ramifications of charitable giving, including the preparation of charitable remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts
  • Counseling clients regarding the advantages and disadvantages of establishing a qualified personal residence trust
  • Forming private foundations
  • Establishing family limited partnerships and limited liability companies to reduce estate taxes and retain family wealth

Back to Top

Non-Probate Transfers

  • Collecting "small" estates
  • Preparing and filing spousal property petitions
  • Coordinating transfers of interests in pension plans, IRAs, 401(k) plans and other qualified and non-qualified retirement plans
  • Representing trustees and beneficiaries in the non-probate administration of decedents' trusts

Back to Top

Probate Proceedings

  • Representing executors, administrators, conservators and guardians in probate matters
  • Representing trustees and beneficiaries in trust administration matters

Back to Top

Federal Estate Tax Returns

  • Preparing and filing federal estate tax returns
  • Reviewing returns prepared by other practitioners
  • Representing trustees/executors at federal estate tax audits

Back to Top

Trust and Will Contests/Litigation

  • Representing claimants, contestants, trustees and objectors in litigation involving estates, trusts, conservatorships and guardianships, including will contests and trust contests
  • Representing fiduciaries in estate and gift tax litigation with state and federal tax authorities

Back to Top