• Ann Arbor
    201 S. Division Street
    Suite 400
    Ann Arbor, MI 48104
    T 734-761-3780
  • Detroit
    1901 St. Antoine Street
    6th Floor at Ford Field
    Detroit, MI 48226
    T 313-259-7777
  • Grand Rapids
    99 Monroe Avenue NW
    Suite 300
    Grand Rapids, MI 49503
    T 616-205-4330
  • Troy
    201 W. Big Beaver Road
    Suite 500
    Troy, MI 48084
    T 248-743-6000
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High Net Worth

Obtain Sterling Service
Overview

We focus on providing comprehensive and highly personal legal services to affluent individuals and families and their closely held companies. We are best known for helping solve the unique and challenging problems they and their businesses face.

Our clients include some of Michigan’s most well-known families, as well as business owners, executives, athletes, and other professionals seeking to minimize the tax burden on their heirs, make significant charitable donations, or complete complex personal transactions.

We have decades of experience handling virtually all aspects of estate planning. This includes: estate, gift, and income tax; probate, trusts, and trust disputes; the purchase and sale of real estate; and personal and business transactions where tax considerations are paramount. We take pride in our ability to structure these transactions for the maximum benefit of our clients without having to resort to the added expense of relying on outside attorneys or other professionals.

We are especially aware of our clients’ desires to preserve and transfer wealth through the careful administration of their trusts and estates. We optimize every tax advantage to that end. Where litigation is required to settle a claim against a trust or estate, we are able to provide the most experienced attorneys to deal with a breach of fiduciary duties, interpretations of wills and trusts, and disputes involving accountings.

We assist clients with highly personal matters, including the purchase and sale of art collections, personal aircraft, and large watercraft, always cognizant of the tax implications of any transaction. We also offer our services in the formation and administration of family offices.

 

Services

We assist individual clients and business owners with:

  • Estate, gift and income taxes
  • Estate planning and probate matters
  • Significant personal and business transactions
  • Trusts and trust disputes
  • Sales and purchases of real estate
  • Transactions concerning personal art and jewelry collections
  • Purchases and sales of aircraft (including fractional ownership interests) and watercraft, along with all related tax aspects
  • The formation and administration of family offices
  • The creation and operation of private trust companies
  • Acquiring interests in and operating professional sports franchises

 

Representative Matters
  • Establishment of Grantor-Retained Annuity Trusts for High Net Worth Families

    We have helped individual clients make millions in lifetime transfers to their children free of estate, gift or income tax through grantor-retained annuity trusts.

  • Acquisition and Disposition of Aircraft and Watercraft

    We have helped dozens of clients acquire or sell millions of dollars in full or fractional interests in private jets and custom-built yachts.

  • Clients Establish Private Foundations

    We have helped clients structure and maintain dozens of private foundations; foundations we helped establish gave more than $100 million in one year for the betterment of the communities where we and our clients live and work.

  • Detroit Institute of Arts Receives Gift of a Picasso Work Valued at $20 Million

    We assisted a client in arranging a gift of a $20 million Picasso to the Detroit Institute of Arts.

  • Client Acquires Minority Interest in Major League Sports Franchise

    We assisted a client in acquiring a minority interest in a major league sports franchise.

  • Oakland University’s Meadowbrook Hall Receives $7 Million from Private Foundation for Restoration

    We helped a private foundation donate $7 million to rebuild historic Meadowbrook Hall on the campus of Oakland University.

  • Client Makes the Largest Donation Ever Made to a Private College in Michigan

    We helped a client structure several significant charitable bequests, including the largest donation ever made to a private college in Michigan.

  • Clients Sell Jewelry and Artwork via International Auction Houses

    We have assisted clients in selling artworks and jewelry valued in the millions of dollars at international auction houses.

  • Client Establishes Family Microbrewery

    We helped a client establish a family-owned microbrewery business from its inception, including real estate acquisition, contract negotiations, tax and employment matters, and complying with state and federal liquor licensing and regulatory requirements.