Families, Individuals and Estates: Trusts and Estates

Fulbright & Jaworski helps clients manage trust and estate issues ranging from succession planning to guiding executors and trustees through the probate and administration process to establishing nonprofit and family foundations. Our Trusts and Estates lawyers are recognized leaders in their field and include:

• Fellows of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel    
• Past chairmen of the American Bar Association Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law sections

Estate planning

These services include preparing documents and advising and representing clients in matters related to:

• Wills and trusts detailing the wealth transfer during life and after death    
• Tax planning, i.e., income, estate, gift, and generation-skipping taxes    
• Lifetime and testamentary charitable giving    
• Inter vivos gifts, insurance planning, "estate freezing" techniques and charitable gift planning   
• Estate and gift tax matters before the Internal Revenue Service

Estate administration

We represent executors in probating decedents' wills and provide legal services relating to transactions during estate administration. Our practice also involves estate and income tax planning for surviving spouses and beneficiaries of estates, in addition to decedents' estates.

Trust administration

Fulbright's trust and estate practitioners advise trustees on proper actions and provide income tax planning for trusts and their beneficiaries. This work includes modifying and reforming trusts as laws and circumstances change.

Additional services

Fulbright provides complete representation, documentation and counseling relating to:

• Administration of closely-held entities, family limited partnerships, limited liability companies and corporations, including buy-sell agreements and employee benefit planning    
• Will contests, construction suits and other lawsuits involving executors, trustees and beneficiaries    
• Settlement of estates and trusts    
• Trust administration and termination