Robert H. Louis

Select matters:

• Helped a family transfer ownership of a business to some members of the next generation, while producing alternate inheritances to other family members.  This included the use of grantor retained annuity trusts and qualified personal residence trusts.
• Advised another owner who did not wish to transfer ownership to family members to sell his business and then prepared estate planning documents so that the sale proceeds could support the family for several generations.
• Represented members of a family members in a dispute and litigation involving the mismanagement of an estate and trust, resulting in a favorable settlement after mediation that corrected the errors made in carrying out the older generation's estate plan.
• Advised a family business on the adoption of an informal pension arrangement that helped the senior generation of the family to move toward retirement and relinquish control of the business.
• Prepared employee stock ownership plans for large and medium-sized employers to permit employees to share in ownership.
  
   

Select matters:

• Advised the trustee of a trust supporting one of the largest public art collections in the Philadelphia region on the lending of art and the preservation of the collection.
• Advised a client on estate and estate and trust planning for valuable works of art, to permit their transfer in a tax-efficient manner.
• Prepared an estate plan for a family that took into account the care of a special needs child, to work in conjunction with governmental benefits.
• Worked with a university foundation on the adoption of a tax-sheltered annuity program for its employees.
  
   

Select matters:

• For several businesses, prepared qualified retirement plans and obtained IRS approval for them, made necessary amendments as the applicable law changed, and advised on distribution and participation rules.
• Advised the administrators of the retirement plans of a large governmental employer on maintaining their qualified status under changes to applicable law, and reviewed documents relating to their trust investments.
• Provided a "retirement checkup" to a corporate executive preparing to retire, reviewing his pension benefits, forms of insurance, estate plans and retirement goals.