PRACTICE AREAS

At Leckerling Ladwig & Leamon, we offer much more than just legal counsel. We are seasoned business advisors who can offer practical, business-savvy legal advice that will enable your business or company to thrive

We counsel a broad array of private companies, emerging companies, and entrepreneurs. Our corporate practice is comprised of skilled attorneys with expertise in a wide range of business specialties including: starting, acquiring and selling businesses, ownership transition, and land use issues.

Our attorneys will work closely with you to gain a full understanding of your business, your business plan and your management and ownership team. This allows us to be insightful and to offer your business timely, valuable and actionable advice whether you are starting, running and growing your business or selling your business. Our approach is to be available whenever and wherever needed, so that you can take full advantage of your investment in our legal counsel.

Our lawyers provide personalized and confidential estate planning services to clients seeking to protect assets and transfer wealth to loved ones and charities. We counsel individuals and families on a full range of estate planning issues, including:

Estate Planning for Surviving Spouses & Children
Revocable or Living Trusts
Special Needs Planning
Estate Planning for Pet Owners
LGBT Planning
Generational Wealth Transfer
Charitable Giving
Family Property and Vacation Homes
Business Succession Planning
Pre & Post Marital Agreements

Estate Planning for Spouses and Children

By far, the vast majority of estate planning we do is for families who wish to protect assets for their spouse and children when they die. This type of plan makes the best use of the Connecticut and Federal lifetime estate and gift tax exemption amounts and ensures that after your death assets are properly managed and protected from creditors.

Another important concern that families have is who will take care of a minor child if both parents die. We spend time with our clients crafting a plan that names an appropriate guardian, and creates a trust for minor children, selects a Trustee to manage assets and ensures that there is the financial support necessary to care for the children.

Revocable or Living Trusts

A Revocable Trust is also called a Living Trust because it is established during life. It may be created to manage assets during the client’s lifetime and to maintain privacy with regard to the value of your assets and the disposition of those assets at death. For Married couples, the Living Trust also contains a Trust for the surviving spouse to minimize the impact of estate taxes upon the death of the surviving spouse.

For clients who wish to reduce the role of Probate Court supervision in the settlement of their estate, the trust can be funded during lifetime. We will review with you the provisions of the Trust and assist you with asset titling, and if avoidance of Probate Court supervision is your goal, we will provide the information and assistance necessary to fund your Trust.

Special Needs Planning

For parents and grandparents of a child with special needs, a Special Needs Trust or a Supplemental Needs Trust is the most effective way to provide for a child after your death. A Special Needs Trust holds and distributes assets for the benefit of the child while also maintaining the child’s eligibility for public assistance.

Generally, a Special Needs Trusts is separate trust funded at your death with specific assets designated to the trust, such as a life insurance policy. Because the trust is established to run for the lifetime of the child, it is important to consider who will serve as Trustee after you pass.

Estate Planning for Pet Owners

Our estate plans are individually crafted and tailored for each client. One of the main goals of estate planning is to provide for your loved ones, and for many “loved ones” includes pets. Pets provide companionship and unconditional love; it just makes sense to ensure that there is a plan in place to care for your pet when you no longer can.

The specific estate planning method that we use will depend on your pet’s needs, your goals and financial resources. Legally, a pet is ‘personal property,’ just like a painting, and while it may be sufficient to make provision for your pet in your will or trust, Connecticut now allows for the creation of a Pet Trust to provide funds and direction for the care of your pet during its lifetime.

LGBT Planning

The legal landscape has changed dramatically for the LGBT community providing more opportunity and benefits than ever before. However, uncertainties and prejudices exist, and it is important to plan for those challenges. While a well-considered and properly drafted estate plan brings peace of mind for all clients, the LGBT community has unique concerns due to the unequal treatment they have endured under federal law and continue to endure under under some state laws. Moreover, for LGBT couples and individuals a well-crafted estate plan is essential to ensure that their wishes are respected and followed.

We help same-sex partners and LGBT individuals create effective estate plans that reduce future complications associated with incapacity and death, including: powers of attorney that enable spouses and partners to act on behalf of each other; documents that clearly spell out your wishes with respect to medical treatment and custody and control of your remains; in terrorem clauses in wills and trusts to deter challenges to these documents, and trusts that ensure privacy of your estate plan.

Wealth Transfer

We assist families with wealth transfer planning to reduce State & Federal Estate Taxes, Gift Taxes and Generation Skipping Transfer Taxes, such as:

Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts
Crummey Trusts for Annual Exclusion Gifting to Grandchildren
Qualified Personal Residence Trusts
Grantor Retained Annuity Trust
Dynasty Trusts
Family Limited Partnerships
Limited Liability Companies

These are complex and sophisticated strategies; please call our offices to set up a conference to discuss how these trusts and business entities may fit into your overall estate plan.

Our lawyers counsel individuals and families with estate settlement after a loved one has passed away.

We assist local counsel in the settlement of estates with real and personal property located in Connecticut.

Our attorneys also represent Executors, Trustees, Beneficiaries, Conservators and Guardians in routine, as well as complex and litigious, estate and trust administrations and probate court proceedings.

If you would like to discuss the estate administration or estate settlement process in Connecticut, please call our offices to schedule a meeting.

Our real estate practice encompasses transactions relating to both residential and commercial properties. We represent buyers, sellers and financial institutions in both multifaceted and simple real estate matters, such as purchases, sales, refinances, commercial loans, and transfer deeds.

We also assist real estate developers to obtain the appropriate land use and zoning permits for residential and commercial land developments. In addition, we help both individuals and developers with complex compliance issues surrounding land use and zoning matters.

PRACTICE AREA

Business & Corporate

PRACTICE AREA

Estate Planning

Estate Planning for Spouses and Children

Revocable or Living Trusts

Special Needs Planning

Estate Planning for Pet Owners

LGBT Planning

Wealth Transfer

PRACTICE AREA

Estate Settlement

PRACTICE AREA

Real Estate & Land Use

Practice Areas:

Madison Office:

Stonington Office: