Specialty Areas

• Estate planning to reduce taxes, ranging from simple and basic to the most sophisticated complex tax planning situations, including: federal estate tax, gift tax, generation-skipping transfer tax, and interrelated income taxes. Tax planning tools include: structuring wills with bypass trusts for the unified credit exemption amounts, marital bequests and marital ("QTIP") trusts for the marital deduction; life insurance trusts; qualified personal residence trusts ("QPRT"); integration of retirement plan distribution requirements, beneficiary designations and minimization of taxation; charitable trusts and foundations; family limited partnerships; analysis of assets with titling and beneficiary recommendations; "Crummey" trusts for annual tax exclusion gifts; generation-skipping transfer trusts; and many others.
  
• Estate planning, ranging from simple to very involved. There is no set minimum or maximum size estate. Personal planning tools include: wills (last will and testament); revocable living trusts (when appropriate); testamentary trusts; irrevocable trusts; elder law; advice concerning selection of fiduciaries such as guardians for minor children, personal representatives (executors), and trustees; trusts for minors and for disabled persons.
  
• Estate and trust administration involves after-death administration of an estate, including probate, dealings with the Register of Wills Office and the Orphans' Court; preparation of federal and state estate tax returns and forms; preparation of fiduciary income tax returns; representation on audit with IRS; trust administration and record keeping.
  
• Powers of attorney and advance directives comprise discussion and preparation of durable general power of attorney (including "springing" power of attorney) for legal and financial matters; preparation of durable health care power of attorney and advance directive (living will).

• Closely held business planning encompasses formation of a closely held business through succession planning to transfer a business to the next generation with minimal tax and transition consequences. Formation includes discussion of form of entity: incorporation, limited liability company, limited and general partnership, sole proprietorship; taxation; and planning documents, including stockholders ("buy-sell") agreements.

Practice Areas

• Estate Planning
• Estates and Trust
• Wills
• Probate
• Taxation
• Business Planning
• Specialty Areas

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Chris A. Owens
Jensen, Hassani & Focas, P.A.
22 W. Pennsylvania Ave.
Suite 606
Towson, Maryland 21204
Main: 410-339-7313
Direct Dial: 410-321-9349
Chris@OwensLaw.com

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