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.
Beginning in 2026, the federal estate and gift tax exemption increased to $15 million per individual.
Families approaching or exceeding that amount should nevertheless evaluate anticipated appreciation, prior taxable gifts, life insurance, business interests, generation- skipping transfer-tax exposure, and the preservation of both spouses’ available exemptions.
A family with a gross estate of approximately $15 million does not necessarily have a taxableestate. The analysis may be affected by marital and charitable deductions, prior gifts, asset ownership, valuation, citizenship, insurance, and other circumstances.
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 law permits certain trusts created on or after July 1, 2022, to continue for up to 1,000 years, subject to the governing instrument and applicable law. Different periods may apply to trusts created before that date.
Authority: Section 689.225, Florida Statutes
An irrevocable life insurance trust may own a life insurance policy so that the proceeds are not included in the insured’s taxable estate, provided the trust is properly structured, funded, and administered. Additional considerations, including the federal three-year inclusion rule, may apply when an existing policy is transferred to the trust.
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 fee and scope before you sign. If your needs or circumstances change, additional services may require a supplemental scope and fee, agreed upon before the work begins.
A properly drafted and funded revocable trust can avoid probate for assets transferred to it. Assets remaining in an individual’s name without an effective beneficiary designation, survivorship feature, or other nonprobate transfer mechanism may still require probate.
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