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Estate Planning, Trust Administration and Probate

Practice Areas

Estate and Gift Tax Probate Trust and Estate Litigation Wills and Trusts

Group Description

Attorneys in our Estate Planning, Trust Administration and Probate practice group deal with all aspects of the transference of wealth from one generation to another. We meet with, and counsel, individual clients regarding their own personal estate plans, and assist them in drafting wills, revocable living trusts, powers of attorney, advance health-care directives, and, where required or appropriate, we counsel them on gift taxes, inheritance and estate taxes, and generation skipping taxes. (For persons who are incompetent or minors whose assets need protection, we also do guardianships of the person as well as of the property.) Very frequently, as part of their overall estate planning, clients will need the services of other members of our firm: members of our Business Organizations practice group, to assist with corporate or partnership matters; members of our Tax practice group, to assist with sophisticated tax issues and strategies (such as Family Limited Partnerships, Charitable Remainder Trusts, Personal Residence Trusts, etc.); members of our Real Estate and Banking and Finance practice groups, to assist with conveying property and securing mortgage and lenders' consents. Once a client dies, then our department shifts into another gear, to either assist with the probate of the decedent's wealth, or to assist with the administration of the decedent's revocable living trust. Again, this assistance can and usually does involve other practice groups within the firm, as required for the decedent's own personal assets. Finally, we are frequently asked to litigate issues arising out of an estate plan. Often times, the estate planning was done by another attorney, the heirs are unhappy with what was done, and ask us to lend some assistance. Other times, a will or trust is not as clear as it might otherwise be, and we are asked to litigate the matter in order to clarify the document. These litigation matters are usually done by members of our group with assistance from members in our Commercial and Real Estate Litigation practice group. In short, the transmission of wealth from one generation to the next can certainly start simply ("Hey, I just need a will"), but it can and usually does involve many members of the Cades team to get all the jobs done.

Related Publications and Presentations

Who Gets It When You Go? Wills, Probat and Inheritance Taxes for the Hawaii Resident (Third Edition) Includes Information on 1997 Changes in Hawaii's Probate Laws (Random House and also UH Press) You can't take it with you. A Guide for Planning Your Will, Protecting Your Family's Financial Future, Minimizing Inheritance Taxes, and Avoiding Probate (Random House) Death and Taxes(UH Press)