SE HABLA ESPAÑOL
SE HABLA ESPAÑOL
For taxable estates • Estate tax reduction
Based in Coral Gables, we offer bilingual private client planning for Florida families managing estates of $15M to $250M+. Our engagements are defined by a fixed-scope model, providing the clarity and technical precision that high-net-worth founders and operators expect.
For taxable estates • Estate tax reduction
Based in Coral Gables, we offer bilingual private client planning for Florida families managing estates of $15M to $250M+. Our engagements are defined by a fixed-scope model, providing the clarity and technical precision that high-net-worth founders and operators expect.
The window closed on January 1, and most attorneys are not telling their clients the truth about it.
The federal estate and gift tax exemption was cut roughly in half at the beginning of 2026. What used to shelter almost $14 million per person now shelters far less. If your estate is over the new threshold, every dollar above it is exposed to a 40 percent federal transfer tax. On a $30 million estate, that is the difference between leaving your children a business and forcing them to sell it to pay the IRS.
Most South Florida attorneys are still drafting revocable trusts and calling it estate planning. A revocable trust does not reduce a single dollar of estate tax. It avoids probate. That is a different problem, solved by a different instrument.
If you are reading this because your CPA, your financial advisor, or your private banker told you that you have an exposure problem, they are right. The question is no longer whether to act. It is which instruments fit your facts, in what order, and how fast.
Preparing for a liquidity event in the next 12 to 36 months.
and developers with substantial Florida and out-of-state holdings
Physicians and surgeons with taxable estates and creditor exposure
with U.S. situs assets, U.S.-resident children, or mixed-citizenship marriages
inheriting concentrated positions
We don’t lead with the tool; we lead with your balance sheet and your vision for the future. We select the instruments that effectively shift exposure off your statement while keeping your family’s lifestyle intact.
Moves significant assets out of your taxable estate while preserving indirect access through your spouse. The most common starting point for married couples acting on the compressed exemption.
Transfers the future appreciation of a concentrated position, pre-liquidity equity, or growth asset to your heirs at near-zero gift tax cost. Built for assets you expect to appreciate fast.
Sells appreciating assets to a trust for the benefit of your children in exchange for a promissory note, freezing the value in your estate and shifting all future growth out of it. Often paired with a discount entity for additional leverage.
Removes a primary or vacation home from your taxable estate at a fraction of its current value while letting you continue to live in it for a defined term.
Pays a charity first and your heirs after, generating a present-value deduction and transferring the remainder to family at a deeply discounted gift tax cost.We handle cross-border planning routinely, including QDOT structures for non-citizen spouses and U.S. situs analysis for foreign nationals with U.S. property, business interests, or U.S.-resident children.
Florida allows trusts to last up to 360 years. A properly structured dynasty trust shelters assets from estate tax, creditor claims, and divorce exposure across multiple generations.
Holds a life insurance policy outside your estate so the death benefit is not itself taxed, often used to provide the liquidity that pays whatever estate tax remains.
A deep-dive analysis of your specific balance sheet against current 2026 exemption levels.
A plain-English roadmap outlining our recommended structure.
Sophisticated trust instruments and all supporting legal documentation.
We coordinate your team to ensure your plan is fully funded and correctly titled.
We operate on a defined calendar, not "open-ended legal drift."
A written guide so your family and trustees understand how the plan works.
A deep-dive analysis of your specific balance sheet against current 2026 exemption levels.
A plain-English roadmap outlining our recommended structure.
Sophisticated trust instruments and all supporting legal documentation.
We coordinate your team to ensure your plan is fully funded and correctly titled.
We operate on a defined calendar, not "open-ended legal drift."
A written guide so your family and trustees understand how the plan works.
The questions HNI clients ask
before they hire us
A standard taxable estate engagement runs 60 to 120 days from intake to fully executed structure. Faster if a liquidity event is imminent.
Engagements are quoted as fixed scope, fixed fee after the discovery call. We do not bill in six-minute increments for planning work. You will know the number before you sign.
If your estate is taxable, no. A revocable trust solves probate. It does not solve transfer tax. The two problems require different instruments.
Good. We work with them, not around them. We will run the coordination so you do not have to.
We handle cross-border planning routinely, including QDOT structures for non-citizen spouses and U.S. situs analysis for foreign nationals with U.S. property, business interests, or U.S.-resident children.
Book a private planning discovery call. We’ll look at your situation and be remarkably candid: if we can add significant value, we’ll show you how. If your current plan is sufficient, we’ll tell you that too.
Partner · Estate Planning & Asset Protection.
Leslie focuses on estate planning, asset protection, and corporate transactions for domestic and foreign families.
FIU Law J.D. 2009 · Florida Bar · S.D. Fla. · USPTO Reg. 62,918
Tax Counsel · Cross-Border Tax
Francoise advises high net worth foreign and domestic clients on U.S. federal income, gift, and estate tax matters.
UF LL.M. Taxation · St. Thomas J.D. cum laude · U.S. Tax Court