In 2024, we proudly celebrate our 75 th year of shaping Nevada's legal, business, and government landscape.
Trust & Estates
Preserve and Protect Your Wealth with our Trust & Estates Attorneys
Wealthy individuals and families continue to move millions of dollars to Nevada, one of the most tax-friendly states in the United States. At the forefront of this movement is McDonald Carano, representing clients located in Nevada as well as out-of-state clients with personal and business interests in Nevada. We counsel clients on private wealth law and all kinds of estate planning activities, ranging from the simplest of wills to the most complex of irrevocable trusts and probate and conservatorship issues, as well as every kind of fiduciary income tax matter. Our expertise includes uncontested and contested probates, conservatorship, and trust proceedings.
We also represent fiduciaries, beneficiaries and creditors in court and when a problem cannot be resolved through the audit process. We prosecute and defend estate-related disputes involving fee controversies, ownership and creditor problems, alleged breaches of trust, will contests and trust contests. We also work on estate and gift tax returns, represent clients in tax audits and requests for private letter rulings, and advise closely held and family businesses.
- Tier 1 Rating
Our Trust & Estates Law Practice and our Trust, Estate & Fiduciary Litigation Practice are ranked in the highest Tier 1 category in the 2024 edition of Best Law Firms. As Best Law Firms® explains, “achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.” - Lawyers of the Year
In the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, McDonald Carano celebrated our ninth “Lawyer of the Year” award in Trust & Estates law and Trust, Estate & Fiduciary Litigation. The Lawyer of Year designation reflects the highest level of peer review respect that a lawyer can receive from attorneys practicing in the same area of law in the same geographic region.
- Band 1 Ranking
2023 is the seventh consecutive year that McDonald Carano is the only law firm in Nevada ranked Band 1 in the Chambers High Net Worth Guide for Private Wealth Law. McDonald Carano attorneys Scott Swain and Robert Armstrong are also individually recognized as Band 1 lawyers in the Private Wealth Law category in Nevada.
“Everyone in that office that we have dealt with has been very professional and diligent in helping us with our requests.” “I’d always feel comfortable that my work would be done correctly.” “The value-add is peerless.” “The team that has been assembled is superior, from the partners in the firm all the way through the administrative support and the paralegals. They are very thorough and they have a great deal of depth.” “McDonald Carano has a very good reputation for handling trusts and estates matters for wealthy clients.” “I like that the firm is highly reputable in the community. When I tell people who my attorneys are, everyone tells me what a great firm that is.”
– Chambers High Net Worth Guide: Private Wealth Law (client comments)
Our Reno and Las Vegas Trust & Estates attorneys are among the most qualified private wealth law attorneys in Nevada. Many of our team members also have an LL.M. or Master’s Degree in tax. Several are licensed CPAs. Two are fellows in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), the most prestigious affiliation for such practitioners. No other Nevada law firm has more than one such fellow, and only seven are admitted statewide. We have earned our outstanding reputation in the probate courts in Washoe and Clark Counties, and with the author of the “Decedents’ Estates” chapter of the Nevada Civil Practice Manual for LexisNexis. Our firm is also involved in legislative initiatives that improve Nevada’s tax-advantaged climate, particularly with regard to issues involving private-trust companies and asset-protection trusts.
We represent clients ranging from middle-class Americans, to millionaires to Forbes 400 members in the following areas:
- Corporate Transparency Act
- Private wealth law
- Asset protection and wealth preservation
- Business continuation and succession planning
- Charitable tax and trust planning
- Estate, generation-skipping, gift and income tax planning
- Estate and trust planning and administration
- Fiduciary and beneficiary representation
- Foundation and tax-exempt organization initiatives
- Probate, trust and fiduciary litigation
- Trust modification, reformation and termination
Practice Area News
Corporate Transparency Act: New Law and New Requirements
Effective January 1, 2024, most new and existing corporate entities in the United States will be required to file reports on their beneficial owners with the federal government. These requirements…
McDonald Carano Receives Highest Number of Rankings in Chambers 2023
Chambers produces the global legal profession’s most respected and comprehensive rankings of lawyers and practice areas. Chambers researched law firms with offices in Nevada for inclusion in the 2023 edition…
9th “Lawyer of the Year” Award in Trust & Estates Law and Litigation
In the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, McDonald Carano celebrated our ninth “Lawyer of the Year” award in Trust & Estates Law and Trust, Estate & Fiduciary…
Our Trust & Estates Group
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