Taxes are a structural problem
The New York estate tax cliff does not forgive oversight. We build the trusts and gifting structures that legally dismantle tax exposure.
PRACTICE · ESTATE PLANNING
Generational Wealth & Legacy Planning
Wealth without structure is fragile. True legacy planning moves far beyond the baseline drafting of a will; it requires the meticulous orchestration of family offices, private foundations, and the seamless transition of operating businesses. We conduct exhaustive audits of existing estate plans—frequently uncovering devastating tax cliffs and outdated formula clauses—and rebuild them into robust architectures capable of carrying assets, relationships, and family values safely across decades of uncertainty.
- Discipline
- Estate Planning
- Engagement
- Per matter or retainer
- Counsel
- Christopher Moye
ESTATE PLANNING
Taxes are a structural problem
The New York estate tax cliff does not forgive oversight.
Principles · 01
How we work.
Every engagement is composed against these commitments. They shape the agreements we draft, the protections we add, and the questions we ask before signing.
Operating businesses must transition
A closely held company is the most fragile asset in an estate. We draft the buy-sell agreements that ensure continuity when a founder passes.
Philanthropy requires architecture
Charitable intent is meaningless without the right vehicle. We establish the private foundations and DAFs that execute your vision permanently.
What we watch · 02
The considerations.
Where attention concentrates during the engagement — the structures, terms, and protections that decide whether the agreement holds when tested.
PATRIARCHHNW
The Estate Audit & NY Tax Cliffs
Stress-testing decades-old planning documents to expose and neutralize critical vulnerabilities, particularly those triggered by the aggressive New York estate tax cliff.
FAMILY OFFICESTEWARD
Family Governance & Philanthropy
Structuring the sophisticated tax-exempt vehicles—from private family foundations to Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs)—that formalize a family’s multi-generational charitable intent.
FOUNDEREXECUTIVE
Business Succession
Drafting the buy-sell agreements, voting trusts, and closely held corporate transitions required to protect an operating company from the chaos of sudden incapacitation or death.
The work · 03
Four steps. One engagement.
Each step is concrete; each step has a deliverable. No magic, no vapor — just enforceable documents and considered counsel.
- 01
Comprehensive Audit
We tear down your existing estate plan, looking for outdated tax formulas, missing fiduciaries, and misaligned asset titling.
- 02
Architectural Design
We propose a new, integrated structure involving revocable trusts, dynasty trusts, and specialized corporate entities.
- 03
Document Drafting
We write the precise legal instruments that encode your wishes and protect the assets from creditors and taxes.
- 04
Funding & Titling
A trust is useless if it is empty. We oversee the painstaking process of transferring your real and intellectual property into the new structures.
Where this connects · 02
Disciplines often used here.
This practice area sits inside one primary discipline and touches others. Each card describes the cross-discipline connection in concrete terms.
SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION
Audit your estate plan.
Diagnose the vulnerabilities in your existing documents before a tax cliff or succession crisis occurs.
Initiate the engagement