Estate Planning & Trust Administration

Henderson Franklin’s Estate Planning and Trust Administration team pride themselves on finding innovative solutions for their clients’ wealth transfer goals. With a roster of Board Certified Attorneys, and holding advanced degrees in taxation and estate planning, our lawyers harmonize our clients’ personal and financial objectives with federal tax obligations. Their work minimizes our clients’ total obligations while safeguarding their wealth for generations to come.

Partnering with our clients throughout the life cycle of their wealth strategy, we work diligently to ensure our clients’ confidential information is handled discreetly. Our clients place the utmost confidence in our ability to handle their estate plan with integrity and professionalism. Working collaboratively with the firm’s roster of attorneys, we are able to offer a full-service solution for a diverse array of clients.

Our Services

Estate planning a dynamic process that is best executed when attorneys offer personal attention and care throughout the lifecycle of a client’s estate planning. Offering holistic counsel to a wide range of clients, including high net worth individuals, individual and corporate trustees, business owners, personal representatives and litigants in estate controversies, our work spans the gamut of estate and trust administration. Our services include:

• Estate Planning
• Wills and Trusts
• Durable Powers of Attorney
• Living Wills
• Designations of Health Care Surrogate
• Estate and Gift Tax
• Charitable Gifting
• Generation Skipping Trusts
• International Estate Planning
• Life Insurance Planning
• Estate Administration
• Fiduciary and Beneficiary Representation
• Trust Administration
• Probate
• Wills and Trust Litigation
• Business Succession Planning
• Estate and Gift Tax Returns
• Guardianships

With a particular focus on trust and probate administration, estate and gift tax returns and guardianships, our work encompasses the following areas of expertise.

Trust Administration

Our attorneys help personal representatives, trustees and guardians navigate complex legal duties and obligations under an estate plan. We address their personal and professional concerns and assist with dispute resolution should issues arise. 

Probate Administration

Known as the process of transferring property upon our clients’ death, our attorneys handle this often complicated transaction efficiently and without incident. Our services include all aspects of probate estate administration, including full formal probate proceedings, summary administration, homestead determinations and ancillary estate administration for out-of-state residents who own property in Florida.

Estate and Gift Tax Returns

Our services include the preparation, filing, processing, and defense of federal estate and gift returns. We work with the taxing authorities to minimize delays and controversies.

Guardianships

Because there are complex requirements for the appointment of a guardian and the subsequent reporting and court supervision, it’s best to enlist an attorney to navigate guardianships for minors, disabled persons or elders. 

Our Approach

With over 130 years of combined experience, our estate and trust administration attorneys approach each client’s estate with innate sensitivity. Our ultimate goal is to protect and enhance our clients’ wealth, implementing a variety of strategies to minimize our clients’ total tax obligations upon transfer of their estate. With a deep bench and robust knowledge of the latest developments in domestic and international tax law, our attorneys are able to promptly turn their clients’ ideas into proactive estate solutions.