Practice Areas

Estate Planning and Wealth Transfer Planning

At Sharpe Law Group, we dedicate ourselves to offering comprehensive estate planning and wealth transfer solutions for our clients and their families.

Estate planning requires an appreciation of the current and future needs of our clients. Multi-generational planning demands cutting-edge legal and tax planning techniques and an appreciation of the dynamics involved in intra-family relationships.

The various strategies and techniques often utilized for estate planning, wealth transfer, and tax optimization include:

Traditional Estate Planning

A traditional estate plan consists of a Will, revocable trust, and incompetency documents, which include a medical power of attorney, durable power of attorney, directive to physicians, and HIPAA authorization. A Will and revocable trust ensure your wishes are carried out at death regarding who receives your assets and who controls your assets. Incompetency documents set forth the individuals who have decision-making authority if you are incompetent.
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Estate and Gift Tax Returns

Individuals who pass away with a certain level of wealth require an estate tax return, which is filed with the IRS. An estate tax return is separate and apart from an individual’s income tax return. Gift tax returns are required for gifts that are more than a certain amount in any given year.
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Marital Property Agreements

Marital property agreements can take the form of a Prenuptial Agreement, if entered into before marriage, or a Postnuptial Agreement, if entered into after marriage. These types of agreements describe a couple’s wishes with respect to their separate property and their community property during and after marriage. Read More

Complex Trust Planning

In addition to a traditional estate plan, other complex trust planning may be appropriate in order to reduce estate taxes, gift assets, carry out charitable giving, or modify an existing trust.
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Business Planning

Business planning begins with creating an appropriate entity structure and implementing rules and policies. After creation, planning then may include strategies to maximize income tax savings and best practices for recordkeeping.
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What is an Estate Plan?

An estate plan describes your wishes and legally allows those wishes to be carried out either upon death or incompetency.

Do I Need an Estate Plan?

Absolutely. Without an estate plan, assets pass pursuant to Texas law at death, which may not be in line with your wishes. Also, without incompetency documents, decisions are difficult and often require court involvement to provide someone with legal authority to make decisions on your behalf.

Minimizing Estate and Income Taxes

Individuals with certain levels of wealth will owe estate taxes upon death, which is in addition to income taxes. There are various ways to reduce estate taxes and plan for estate tax payments.