Estate Planning
Estate Planning for High Net Worth Individuals
“We’re life planning partners for most of our clients. Their estate plan isn’t a one and done proposition. We’re their lifelong trusts and estates attorneys who are there for them throughout all the varied stages of life, and we’re ready to handle it all and grow your estate plan right alongside you.”
Jubilee Menzies | Trusts & Estates Managing Associate
First, the good news: American high net worth individuals are significantly more likely to save their money and the majority of high net worth individuals do have an estate plan. And now the bad news: despite being disciplined when it comes to growing wealth, nearly a quarter of all high net worth Americans still don’t have an estate plan though it could cost their heirs hundreds of thousands of dollars in probate. And then there’s the estrangement that frequently occurs between family members over inheritance issues.
Jubilee Menzies is a high net worth estate planning attorney at Laughlin Legal Divorce & Family Law Group in Silicon Valley. This is a conversation she has with alarming regularity and she explains that false assumptions about estate plans have a lot to do with it. Here are Ms. Menzies’ answers to just a few of the questions she regularly fields.
Q How is estate planning for high-net-worth individuals different from a standard estate plan?
Simply put, there’s more at stake. You stand to lose more or gain more. And it’s more complex. Creating an effective high net worth estate plan often extends beyond the work of a single advisor and requires thoughtful coordination among a trusts and estates attorney, tax advisors, investment professionals, wealth managers and other trusted advisors. Sometimes a professional trustee is needed for a sophisticated plan with complex asset holdings or beneficiaries with highly specialized needs. We have cultivated a strong network of professionals and can help assemble the right team and facilitate collaboration to ensure that the various components of your wealth and estate plan work together as intended. So it’s easy to start with us, and we can guide you through the process.
Sometimes clients hold significant retirement funds in their asset profile, and we can look at their goals and apply specific planning strategies for retirement accounts. For example, if you’re charitably minded, it’s often better to use a retirement account to make those charitable gifts. A high net worth estate planning attorney can advise you on that and help you understand which type of asset may be best suited for meeting the types of goals you have.
Maybe it’s a childfree individual or a couple, and they want to pass down assets to nieces or nephews. We need to consider the generation-skipping transfer(GST) tax, and also perhaps a retirement account may not be the asset best suited for that wealth transfer if the intended beneficiaries won’t qualify as eligible designated beneficiaries who can take advantage of tax benefits. But if the client is charitably minded, those types of accounts may be very well suited for charities, or even for creating a charitable remainder trust, things like that. All of that can come into play.
Q What defines the difference between estate planning attorney for high net worth clients and ultra high net worth estate planning?
There is no formal legal or tax classification to define high net worth or ultra high net worth. The dividing line varies among industry professionals, and often the more useful distinction is the complexity of the asset profile, planning objectives, and beneficiary needs, rather than a particular net worth number. That said, when we talk about high net worth in estate planning, we’re typically talking about a taxable estate, and that number is determined by the estate tax limit.
The good news is that, for California residents, estate tax is currently strictly federal because California does not impose its own state estate tax. At the federal level, the estate and gift tax systems are unified, meaning the same exemption applies to both taxable gifts made during one’s lifetime and transfers at death. In 2026, the basic exclusion amount is $15 million per person, which can be applied to lifetime gifts and transfers at death. While there is no universal definition of high net worth, when we use that term, we’re typically talking about individuals who are approaching that amount of $15 million per person, whereas ultra high net worth estate planning is used for highly complex estates and values in the range of tens of millions and beyond.
Q At what point should someone seek out a high net worth estate planning lawyer?
Someone who already has a taxable estate or an estate that is large enough today that it will likely grow large enough during their lifetime to be taxed under federal estate tax laws needs a high net worth estate planning lawyer. Someone who anticipates a large wealth event, large growth also needs a high net worth estate planning lawyer. It’s good to get out in front of those types of wealth events with planning prior to an increase. Why?
Let’s take the AI boom, for example, there are people who are part of a company that’s expected to go public. And there’s an anticipated big net worth change. We can do planning in advance of that to protect those assets and potentially pass them to younger generations with fewer tax consequences. So someone who has a taxable estate or someone who anticipates having a taxable estate would both need a high net worth estate planning attorney.
Q What’s the downside to not working with a high net worth estate planning lawyer if you’re approaching the federal estate tax limit?
The downside to not working with a high net worth estate planner isn’t necessarily that a foundational estate plan will be inadequate to transfer the assets it contemplates. Instead, the greater risk is that as wealth and complexity of assets and goals increase, it’s more common that important issues are overlooked or poor coordination among advisors results in an estate plan that conflicts with the client’s financial, tax, business, or investment planning because the estate planner worked in isolation.
Other potential pitfalls are missed tax planning opportunities, sometimes to the tune of millions of dollars, and business succession and real estate issues being overlooked. Specialized planning is often needed to address ownership structures, succession, buy-sell arrangements, and transfers of closely held business. Overall, high net worth planning needs to be a coordinated effort because lifetime gifting, estate tax, GST tax, charitable planning, business succession planning and retirement-account strategies can interact in ways that aren’t apparent when each is considered in isolation. You need to see the whole puzzle together. And again, it’s important to work with a high net worth planner before your estate absolutely requires it because you’re still in the time frame where you can do some mitigation strategies and preservation strategies before you’ve even reached the taxable estate size.
Q What’s uniquely challenging about estate planning for wealthy families?
In a word, complexity. The complexity of the estate and its assets. Oftentimes, it’s not just a house, a brokerage account or two, and a 401k or IRA. There’s often different varied assets, and it’s important to handle them appropriately based on the type of asset. Many times there’s some sort of business interest, and so we’re looking at business succession planning as an important part of your overall planning. Alternative compensation sources are frequently another layer of complexity among wealthy families. Deferred compensation packages are more common at the higher levels of net worth and higher levels of planning.
Another factor in estate planning for wealthy families is wealth that can last for multiple generations. It’s important to both protect and provide flexibility for the next generations that are yet to be seen because the goals across generations can vary.
Q Can I expect a high net worth estate planning attorney to provide estate tax and gift tax planning?
An experienced attorney can advise you with respect to both types of taxes. Gift tax and estate tax fall under a federal unified tax credit, so if you make taxable gifts of X amount during life, that’s counted against the basic exclusion, as are any transfers at death. Estate tax and gift tax are interrelated, and it’s important to use strategies that are going to take advantage of the best timing for gifting. Sometimes it’s better to gift during life for certain types of assets or things where anticipated appreciation is taken into consideration, and sometimes it’s better to wait and pass things after death. A high net worth estate planning attorney can help you navigate the timing of gifts so that your unified tax credit is best used or best utilized.
Q Can I expect a high net worth estate planning attorney to provide family business succession planning and charitable planning?
Business succession planning is frequently interwoven and interrelated with your estate plan. I’d go so far as to say you should make sure you get your business succession planning, and your estate plan, and your wealth preservation plan integrated into a thoughtful, cohesive plan that works together. And we can often handle all of it. Sometimes it’s a one-stop shop, and sometimes there are complexities where we’ll work with other appropriate professionals, like an M&A business attorney specializing in buying or selling a business, or a high net worth private wealth CPA who handles complex charitable gift tax, for example.
Q Can a high net worth trust attorney also function as a wealth preservation estate planning lawyer? Explain.
Yes. Estate planning and wealth preservation go hand in hand, and for mid-wealth and high net worth individuals, overwhelmingly it will be very beneficial to work with a trust lawyer and create a comprehensive estate plan with a revocable trust. And while we won’t advise on the best investment strategy for particular assets because we’re not financial managers, wealth preservation is definitely part of estate planning. We’re a great place to start for that because we have a very robust network of competent, highly skilled professionals to draw upon. So whatever you need, just ask. We can always refer you to someone within our extraordinary network. Even though you may not know everybody you need, we do.
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MEET OUR BAY AREA ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEYS
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- Wills, Trust & Estate, Conservatorship, Probate, Premarital Agreements and Post-Marital Agreements
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Terminology
A legal document spelling out the wishes of a person after they die: who they’d like to care for their minor children, how their property and assets should be liquidated and/or distributed, and who should be in charge of following through on the instructions in the will.
A person who is identified in the will to administer the estate of the deceased person, including marshaling their assets, paying their debts, liquidating and/or distributing their assets to their assigned beneficiaries, and closing their estate.
The court-supervised legal process to administer a deceased person’s estate, including validating their will, appointing an executor or administrator, paying their final debts, and distributing their remaining property to beneficiaries.
A person or an organization who agrees to be legally and ethically obligated to act in the best interest of another person.
A legal document identifying someone who is trusted – the “agent” – to act on behalf of the person granting the power – the “principal”-and identifying the powers granted.
The person who initiates and owns a trust.
The person assigned to be the manager of the property or assets in a trust.
The person(s) or charity/charities who are designated in a will or a trust to receive property or other assets upon the passing of the owner.
A legal agreement that creates a fiduciary relationship among a trustor, trustee, and beneficiary and that can be amended or revoked during the trustor’s lifetime.
A legal agreement that creates a fiduciary relationship among a trustor, trustee, and beneficiary, but that cannot be amended or revoked without either a court order or permission from the beneficiaries.
Case Story
An
Estate Planning
Attorney on a
Surviving Spouse's
Estate Plan
A recent client of ours had previously been half of a married couple who had multiple real estate investments, several small business interests, and two grown children. One of the adult children experienced mental health struggles and resided in one of the family properties without paying rent or upkeep and relied heavily on my client for day-to-day needs and coordination of complex health care services. When her husband passed, my client realized that he had been the one who chose their prior estate planner and that she never felt particularly informed or encouraged to participate in the planning process or financial management. Now she was in charge of everything. She had spent her life as a stay-at-home mom and felt marginalized by their estate planner. Now that she needed to manage the finances and future planning decisions by herself, she didn’t want to go back and try to forge a relationship with a lawyer who never actually talked to her or expressed any interest in her opinions before.
So she found us through another client who referred her. We sat down with her and thoroughly reviewed her existing estate plan and, not surprisingly, found that it was dated and was not designed to meet her current goals and needs, as they had changed significantly over the years. Her plan was missing a critical component to provide a consistent level of continued care for their dependent adult child after both parents had passed, and that was her top concern. We helped her put together a solid team of professionals who will not only be able to manage her finances if and when the time comes, but also to step in and help with potential care management roles for her dependent adult child after her passing, all the while making sure her other self-sufficient child receives an equitable inheritance that will take advantage of tax planning strategies to benefit him most in the ways that will support the life he’s built.
This story of the surviving spouse learning to navigate financial and legal matters for the first time after loss and finding their own lawyers, wealth managers and professionals who will carefully listen to them, help them define their goals for the next chapter of their life, and meet them where they’re at, it’s quite common in our practice.
We are skilled in guiding clients through the process and making sure they have a plan they understand fully and can feel confident about. Feel free to reach out to us and see if we’re a good fit for you. We can make sure your plan accounts for safeguarding the people and things that mean the most to you. We hope you’ll take us up on our offer of a free 20-minute ‘Are we a good fit consultation’. Come see us!
HOW YOUR ESTATE PLAN CAN PREVENT YOUR FAMILY FROM BREAKING UP
As an estate planning attorney working for a family law office and practicing estate planning law here in San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Francisco, and Contra Costa Counties in California,
Next Step
If you’re searching for an estate planning lawyer near me in the Bay Area, look no further.
Laughlin Legal Divorce & Family Law Group is a premier estate planning law firm Bay Area with a collection of highly skilled estate planning attorneys. Laughlin Legal’s attorneys are trusted throughout California for their ability to understand and secure their clients’ needs and values, and help divorcing parties achieve a better outcome for a better tomorrow.
Call us at 650.343.3486 to schedule your FREE 20-minute consultation. If you’d prefer, you can email us to set up your appointment. If we miss your call, we will respond promptly and call you back as soon as possible.
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