John H Burson

/Home/Probate & Estate Attorneys: Toledo OH

Estate Planning Practice

Our firm has extensive expertise in the estate planning area. Our attorneys practice in all areas of personal succession, business succession, insurance and asset protection planning. Thus we are able to provide a full range of expert estate planning services at a very reasonable cost to individuals and families who have "typical" assets and family goals as well as to the business owner who has assets that include a family business and consequently difficult transfer and succession tax issues. We also have several attorneys who specialize in the charitable aspect of estate planning and can assist in integrating charitable giving into a client's estate plan to achieve tax savings and to fulfill the client's philanthropic objectives. Our attorneys work with accountants, financial planners and other advisors to develop and implement comprehensive strategies to achieve our clients' diverse goals.

Business succession planning includes numerous techniques of passing control and ownership of a business from one owner or group of owners to the next generation of owners. Many of our business estate planning clients own "family" businesses where proper planning can affect the financial welfare of several generations. A proper plan is essential to the continued financial stability of a family business. The tax laws involved in this area of planning are numerous and complicated and require expert analysis.

Insurance planning includes the difficult issues of identifying insurance needs and structuring life insurance ownership to meet those needs. Our attorneys, in addition to assisting and advising the client on insurance issues, have a wide range of experts to draw upon to consult with the client.

Asset protection planning is a diverse area of estate planning. Family limited partnerships and limited liability companies can be used to protect a client's assets from spurious lifetime claims and liabilities and to assist in the transfer of those assets to a younger generation.

Our extensive experience in charitable estate planning encompasses the spectrum from outright gifts to the many charitable planned gifts and deferred giving options now available under current tax laws. This planning enables a client to make meaningful lifetime or testamentary gifts to selected charities while enjoying the resulting personal and tax benefits. Our experience in this area has allowed us to serve on many local foundations and to represent a number of local charities.

Estate planning is a complex area that often involves many related areas of the law. Our clients frequently face complicated real estate, tax, corporate and pension planning issues that have an significant impact on their estate plans. The skills of our estate planners and their ability to draw upon the expertise of specialists in other departments of our firm ensure that our clients will have a comprehensive, effective estate plan to meet their particular needs and wishes.

Trust and Estate Administration Practice

Our Trusts and Estates Department provides a full range of estate planning and estate administration services. We have a number of attorneys who practice exclusively in this area. We keep up-to-date on all of the latest estate planning tools and techniques and regularly present estate planning seminars. We advise our clients on a broad range of estate planning matters, including complex and sophisticated estate planning strategies like generation-skipping transfers, charitable giving, insurance planning, business succession planning and wealth transfer planning.

The department has a very active estate administration practice. We administer a broad range of estates from those that are fairly small and simple to those that are very large and complicated. We believe strongly in the team approach to the administration of estates, which greatly enhances our ability to serve our clients most efficiently and effectively. Our attorneys work closely with and supervise our legal assistants who work closely with both our clients and the responsible attorney to ensure a smooth continuing estate administration. We also work closely with our clients and their advisors, including trust officers, accountants and financial advisors.

For a variety of reasons, some estate administrations become more involved. If estate or gift tax returns are audited, our attorneys have the experience to deal directly with Internal Revenue Service agents and state taxing authorities, and, if necessary, to help litigate those issues that are not resolved. We also work closely with our trial lawyers in litigating claims that relate to an estate or that need to be brought by an estate.

We also provide substantial support in the administration of our clients’ trusts after death. We advise trust fiduciaries regarding their fiduciary duties. We prepare trust income tax returns. We also serve as advisor or co-advisor in situations where it is appropriate and beneficial to our clients and their families.

We have attorneys who are experienced in conducting private placement adoptions and in finalizing agency adoptions. We represent birth parents and adoptive parents and assist in the surrender or termination of parental rights, filing of the adoption petition, and finalization of the adoption. Our practice includes local and interstate placements. We assist clients to qualify for international placement adoptions and to obtain United States recognition of international adoptions completed in foreign jurisdictions.

Our firm’s presence in multiple states dramatically increases our ability to service our clients’ estate planning and estate administration needs. We have offices in Ohio, Florida, and North Carolina, and have attorneys who are licensed to practice in Michigan, Florida, South Carolina and many other states. We frequently assist our clients with two or more residences to analyze the state of domicile that is most appropriate and tax-efficient for them.

John H Burson
Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP
1000 Jackson St
Toledo OH 43624
Tel: 419 321-1258
Fax: 419 241-6894
E-mail: jburson@slk-law.com

Accredited Estate Planner - National Association of Estate Planners & Councils

PRACTICE AREAS
* Corporate Law/Business Organizations Practice
* Estate Planning Practice
* Taxation Practice
* Trust and Estate Administration Practice

JOHN H. BURSON is a partner in the estate and trust and corporate practice groups in the Toledo, Ohio office of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP. His principal areas of practice are estate planning, corporate and taxation law.

Mr. Burson has extensive experience in representing closely-held family businesses with respect to sophisticated business tax planning, mergers and acquisitions, benefit planning, trust and estate planning and charitable gift planning. He serves on the board of directors of numerous family businesses and serves as counsel to private family foundations. He has substantial experience in representing clients before the appellate division of the IRS, and with respect to corporate taxation, estate taxation and valuation issues, before The Tax Court of the United States, the Sixth Circuit of Appeals, the United States Court of Claims and the State of Ohio Board of Tax Appeals.

Mr. Burson is certified as an Accredited Estate Planner.

In the trusts and estates law category, Mr. Burson has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® and in Ohio Super Lawyers®. He has lectured nationally on estate planning to estate planning councils and national business organizations and writes articles for national trusts and estates publications.