Trust and Estate Legal Services

Ted Coxe helps individuals and families navigate trust and estate matters and achieve their estate planning goals.

He takes a practical approach to each client engagement by listening to objectives and concerns, addressing questions and circumstances unique to the given situation, and tailoring the estate plan to clearly reflect each client’s intentions. He provides simple and straightforward explanations to enable clients to make informed decisions.

Upon the death of an estate planning client, the executor named in the decedent’s will may engage Ted for assistance with estate administration. His professional services efficiently guide executors through what can seem like a daunting process during a stressful time. Early engagement of legal counsel can help protect executors from making costly and/or time-consuming mistakes.

Ted strives always to handle engagements with diligence and care and to work collaboratively with clients. When appropriate, he also coordinates with clients’ other professional advisors – including accountants, investment advisors, life insurance advisors, and bank and trust officers – to help ensure client interests are being met.

Estate Planning, including wealth transfer and estate tax planning

Prepares:

- Wills
- Trusts
- Powers of attorney, including:
  - General durable (financial) powers of attorney
  - Durable health care powers of attorney
  - End-stage health care treatment instructions

Wealth transfer planning may include the use of:

- Credit-shelter trusts
- Marital deduction trusts
- Generation-skipping tax-exempt trusts

Lifetime and testamentary gift programs may include the use of:

- Section 529 plans
- Charitable lead trusts
- Charitable remainder trusts

Other planning considerations may include:

- Beneficiary designations of life insurance proceeds and retirement plans
- Titling of assets between husband and wife

Estate Administration

Serves as attorney for executors of estates
Services include:
- Probating the will
- Marshalling the decedent’s assets
- Ascertaining debts, taxes, and expenses
- Preparing fiduciary accounts
- Preparing and filing tax returns
- Obtaining release of executor(s) from liability
- Distributing estate residue to beneficiaries

Trust Administration

Serves as attorney for trustees of trusts
Services include:
- Preparing fiduciary accounts
- Preparing and filing tax returns
- Obtaining release of trustee(s) from liability

Tax Return Preparation

Federal estate and gift tax returns
Pennsylvania inheritance tax returns
Federal and state income tax returns for estates and trusts
Federal and state personal income tax returns (primarily for existing clients)

Represents clients before:

Internal Revenue Service
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue
Orphans’ Courts of the five counties of southeastern Pennsylvania

Serves clients in southeastern Pennsylvania:

Bucks County
Chester County
Delaware County
Montgomery County
Philadelphia County