Philadelphia Estate Planning, Tax, Probate Attorney Law Practice Limited to: Business, Corporation Law Tax, Probate, Estate Administration, Wills, Trusts
Steven J. Fromm, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation) 215-735-2336
IRS audits of higher income taxpayers increase The IRS audited one in eight individuals with incomes over $1
million in fiscal year (FY) 2011. While the overall audit coverage
rate for individuals remained steady at just over one percent, the
a...
Tax gap grows to $450 billion; compliance rate holds steady The "gross tax gap," or the amount of tax owed to the U.S.
government that is not paid on time, climbed from $345 billion in
Tax Year (TY) 2001 to $450 billion in TY 2006, the IRS has
reported. (Be...
NJ - Madoff victims entitled to refunds Taxpayers, who were victims of the Madoff Ponzi scheme, were
entitled to file amended New Jersey gross (personal) income tax
returns for 2005 through 2007 to claim refunds for inte...
PA - DOR updates bulletin on restricted credits The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue (DOR) has issued a corporate
income tax bulletin addressing the application of restricted
credits and requirements for selling tax credits. S...
Philadelphia Estate Planning, Tax and Business Attorney
Pennsylvania Probate and Estate Administration, Wills & Trusts
Steven J. Fromm has been engaged in the practice of estate, probate, tax and business law in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania for over thirty years. He represents individuals, estates and trusts, professionals, small business owners, professional corporations, C corporations, S corporations, limited liability corporations (LLCs), sole proprietorships and partnerships.
As a Philadelphia estate planning, probate, tax and business attorney, he provides various legal and tax strategies to meet the income tax, business, estate and gift tax, retirement, and wealth transfer goals of his clients. His law firm concentrates on addressing each of his client's tax and legal needs in light of their unique family or business situation.
He believes that carefully listening to the concerns, problems and fears of each client is at the heart of finding the best strategy or solution to their particular tax and legal problems. He works very hard and takes pride in giving each client the benefit of his years of practice, experience, training and technical experience, and his continuous and never-ending study of tax, estate and business law.
The following are some of the core estate, probate, business and tax legal services provided to his Philadelphia and Pennsylvania clients. For a full range of services please go the Estate Services, Business Services and Tax Services tabs above.
Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Estate Planning Attorney
Development and implementation of estate plans from both an estate and income tax perspective, including the use of the following estate planning techniques and documentation:
Durable powers of attorney and advance medical directives ("living wills")
Special needs trusts for families with children, dependants or other family members with physical and mental disabilities or addiction or emotional problems. Special needs trusts offer a unique mechanism to protect and provide for such family members suffering from various disabilities or functional limitations.
Family Limited Partnerships. Planning and drafting of family limited partnerships to preserve family assets and values. Use of such partnerships can allow the transition of wealth and the management of such wealth to younger generations. In addition, employing certain related gift giving strategies can minimize gift and estate taxes. Various tax minimization techniques such as minority interest, lack of marketability, blockage discounts and other discounts are used when structuring these transactions. For more details please see the article entitled Family Limited Partnerships. For the planning and operational aspects involved once these entities are formed, please see the article entitled Family Limited Partnerships: Failures & Mistakes That Can Doom a Family Limited Partnership.
Charitable Remainder Trusts, including charitable remainder annuity trusts and charitable remainder uni-trusts. Use of charitable trusts, including charitable remainder uni-trusts, charitable remainder annuity trusts, charitable lead trusts and tax exempt organizations are often employed to coordinate clients' charitable goals with their overall income, gift, estate and charitable tax planning needs.
Using trusts as beneficiaries for retirement plans or IRAs. For a discussion of the tax requirements for utilizing trusts as beneficiaries please read Trust As Beneficiary of Retirement Plans.
For life cycle events that can trigger estate planning or redrafting of wills, trusts and other estate documentation please look over ESTATE PLANNING: HOT BUTTONS.
For the reasons for the review of your current life insurance policies please read Life Insurance Review.
Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Probate and Estate Administration Lawyer
As an Philadelphia estates and probate attorneyr, Mr. Fromm assists executors, administrators, trustees and beneficiaries in the complicated, detailed, and time sensitive tasks of estate and probate administration from beginning to end. As a Pennsylvania estate attorney, he administers estates in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and other outlying counties in Pennsylvania.
Here are some of the more important services he provides to assist his clients in this estate administration process:
By having estate counsel employed, executors or administrators can minimize the risk or avoid a lawsuit brought by beneficiaries for the mismanagement of an estate, the theft of assets or other grounds for removal of an executor or trustee under Pennsylvania probate law. Please review Probate: Removal of Personal Representative Under PA Estates and Fiduciary Code.
Preparation of all probate documents including drafting and obtaining letters of administration and letters testamentary.
Assist the executor or administrator in the collection and preservation of estate assets whether they are probate or non-probate assets.
Make sure all required notices, filings with the register of wills and orphans court are completed as required.
Determination of what creditors and claimants need to be paid and the order of priority of payment. For a discussion of the Pennsylvania priority rules please see the following hypertext article PA Probate: What Debts Take Priority
He helps insure that all legal and tax deadlines are met to take advantage of income and estate tax savings and avoidance of interest and penalties. For example, to give you an overview of how Pennsylvania determines the amount of inheritance taxes that are due upon the death of a Pennsylvania resident, please explore Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax: The Basics.
Preparation of fiduciary income tax returns, final income tax returns of the decedent as well as federal estate tax returns and Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Returns.
Recommend tax savings strategies and tax elections: Provides estate and income tax strategies and overall tax minimization techniques for the estate and surviving spouse and other family members.
Post-mortem estate and income tax planning to maximize tax savings for both the estate and surviving members of the family.
Drafting the filing of the formal estate accounting submission to Orphans Court in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and other outlying counties in Pennsylvania.
Drafting of a family settlement agreement and other required forms to complete the administration of the estate.
Warning: The above discussion is a general overview and does not cover all of the complexities and steps in the estate and probate process. It is essential to have a trained estates attorney assist in this detailed and technical area of the law. Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or if you need our assistance.
Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Corporate Lawyer:
Business Formations
Determining the proper legal entity for the particular business operations contemplated by the client requires an analysis of the particular type of business, the parties to the business, and the financial short and long term goals. Tax considerations must also be evaluated to come up with the proper business entity for the client's particular business needs.
Depending on these considerations, the appropriate legal entity may be any one of the following:
LLC. For some of the basics concerning the LLC please see the article LLCs: The Basics. For a discussion of the advantages of holding real estate within an LLC please explore the article LLCs and Real Estate.
Sole Proprietorship. For a discussion of the tax implications and legal exposures from operating as a self-employed individual please review Self-Employed or Sole Proprietor: Tax Basics.
Legal assistance will also be provided for the following needed services:
Initial documentation and registration with the state where the organization is to be formed
Assisting with the initial tax elections for the entity chosen
Various registrations with Philadelphia or any other city, county or states where required
This law firm provides planning with an eye toward the financial, tax, family and business considerations associated with buying and selling of businesses. Determining the choice of entity (regular C corporation, S corporation, LLC, limited partnership, family limited partnerships, etc.) for the acquisition to optimize tax benefits is also considered and determined.
In certain situations, the use of various tax-free reorganizations, mergers or Section 355 spin-offs, to facilitate the re-organization of business operations for tax or practical reasons may be employed for maximum tax effect.
Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Business Attorney:
Business Succession Planning
Buy-Sell Agreements and Exit Strategies
Shareholder or partnership agreements in conjunction with estate and/or business planning. Implementation of the most efficient exit strategies for senior ownership from a tax, financial and practical perspective. To see some of the key provisions that need to be included in any sale agreement please see Exit Strategy For Owners: Key Provisions.
For an example of using gift giving techniques and tax strategies involving family owned businesses please read Gifting Shares of Stock in A Bad Economy that was published in the Journal of Accountancy.
Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Business Lawyer:
Corporate Housekeeping and Compliance
Mr. Fromm regularly assists clients in the preparation of corporate minutes and other compliance and other corporate housekeeping matters. Many owners of small businesses often are not aware of the legal and tax importance of corporations having regular, annual board of director and shareholder meetings. As a result they neglect drafting regular minutes that document such meetings. Such meetings and related documentation through board of director and shareholder minutes are essential for the following reasons:
Protect shareholders and officers and key employees from incurring personal liability for corporate debt: For an overview article that discusses some of these issues please see Shareholder Protection From Corporate Debt: Piercing The Corporate Veil. In some cases, shareholders, officers, key employees, and bookkeepers can be held personally liable for corporate payroll taxes. For an article that details this personal liability exposure please see Personal Liability For Corporate Employment Taxes.
Tax Protection: In the event of a tax audit, documented minutes support tax sensitive positions such as officer loans, inter-company loans, tax elections, and other tax positions taken on corporate returns.
Prevent Loss of Corporate Charter: The failure to attend to corporate compliance details can sometimes result is serious legal problems. For example, in Pennsylvania the failure to be compliant can result in loss of corporate name or having it being made available for anyone to use as discussed in the hypertext article entitled Filing Deadline Fast Approaching For Decennial Report for PA Corporations.
Corporate Tax Planning Attorney:
Reorganizations, Spin-offs, F Reorganizations, Liquidations
Tax Free Reorganizations or Corporate Alterations: Corporations may need to alter their form of operation or organization. Corporations may use tax free reorganizations for various reasons to change the structure or form of their organization. Tax free mergers under Section 368 of the Internal Revenue Code or spin-offs or splits offs under Section 355 of the Internal Revenue Code are often tax planning strategies used to accomplish such goals.
Corporate Liquidations or Dissolution: Corporations may need to liquidate and/or dissolve.
Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Tax Attorney:
Tax Court, IRS, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Tax Representation
Tax Court representation or administrative negotiations with the IRS, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue and the City of Philadelphia Department of Revenue as well as other taxing authorities. He assists clients concerning all aspects of federal, state and Philadelphia taxes.
The IRS often looks at shareholders, officers, key employees, and bookkeepers as responsible persons who can be held personally liable for corporate payroll taxes. For an article looking at what the IRS looks for in these cases please see Personal Liability For Corporate Employment Taxes.
Tax Exempt Organizations, Charities, 501(c)(3) Groups
The following are some of the major services provided in this area of tax law:
Formation of tax exempt organizations under state law
Submission of application to the IRS for tax exempt approval.
Legal guidance as to tax and governance compliance requirements
Drafting of initial organizational documentation including articles of organization, by-laws and initial corporate minutes.
Annual compliance matters including corporate minutes and other required legal documents as needed
Tax return preparation
Philadelphia Tax Attorney Expert Witness and Litigation Consultant:
Tax, Estate and Pension Matters
Practicing tax law for over 30 years with an LL.M. in taxation from the New York University graduate tax program and as a former CPA has provided Mr. Fromm with the necessary credentials and experience to function as a consultant for litigation attorneys and as an expert witness in legal malpractice cases involving tax, estates and pension matters.
Philadelphia Tax Attorney:
Retirement Plan and Retirement Planning
Here are some of the services provided:
Retirement plan drafting and annual administration and submission to the IRS for plan approval.
Legal representation and tax assistance for IRS audits of retirement plans.
Determining the choice of beneficiaries of retirement plans from an estate and income tax planning perspective. Layering of contingent beneficiaries to allow for post-mortem planning for the beneficiaries. Using trusts as beneficiaries for retirement plans or IRAs. For a discussion of the tax requirements for employing a trust as beneficiary please review Trust As Beneficiary of Retirement Plans.
Hardship Withdrawals. For the basic rules in this area please read Hardship Distributions.
Testimonials
"I found Steven Fromm online while searching for a lawyer to help me set up my Non-Profit company. I was very concerned about giving another lawyer my money because I had worked with a different lawyer a couple months before and that lawyer did not do anything that he had promised. Mr. Fromm is one of the best, if not the best, tax attorney that I've ever met.I've worked with many lawyers throughout my career and he is the best that I have ever worked with. He takes on your case like he would his own. He is also incredibly knowledgeable in his field. When he says he's going to do something, he does it immediately. He is not just a wonderful lawyer, but also a wonderful person. I would recommend Mr. Fromm to anyone." Erica Matthews, Philadelphia, June 28, 2011.
For more client and professional endorsements please go to the Recommendations tab.
Philadelphia Estate and Tax Blog
Be sure to visit our PHILADELPHIA ESTATE AND TAX BLOG that explores current and evolving issues involving estate planning, wills, trusts, probate and estate administration, as well as tax planning.
To see Mr. Fromm's professional profile, rating, his answers to questions posed by the public and his legal guides provided to the public, please click the above Avvo heading or the following Avvo View Lawyer Profile badge.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments you may have. We welcome the opportunity to hear from you. We take pride in being proactive, creative, timely and responsive to our clients' needs, inquiries and suggestions. Readers of this website can call the following telephone number or can contact us through the following email address:
