Brouse McDowell brings together lawyers from the estate, succession planning and probate, and business and corporate groups to provide sophisticated business transition and estate planning services to business owners and their families. We work with accountants, financial planners, life insurance agents and other advisors to achieve our clients’ objectives. We also call as needed on the expertise of lawyers in other practice areas within the firm, including tax, administrative law, litigation, real estate, banking and labor law.

Brouse McDowell’s lawyers have substantial experience in estate planning, business planning, probate, estate, gift, and individual income tax matters and are frequent speakers on these topics. We are also active in various professional groups specializing in these fields, including the Center for Family Business at the University of Akron, the Probate Committee of the Akron Bar Association, committees of the Ohio State and American Bar associations and the Estate Planning Council of Akron.

Brouse McDowell’s lawyers assist clients in a broad range of matters, including:

• Planning for the orderly succession and transfer of privately held businesses and other family assets through a coordinated family wealth preservation and transfer plan
• Estate and gift planning and charitable gift planning to provide clients with individualized estate plans that will ensure an orderly transfer of assets after death in accordance with their goals and with minimum estate and gift taxation
• Implementing coordinated estate and business succession plans through the preparation of buy-sell agreements, family partnership agreements, limited liability entities, wills, trusts, powers of attorney, antenuptial agreements, documents relative to health care for the elderly and impaired such as living wills and other legal documents
• Representing Trustees and Executors in the administration of estates, including the preparation of all necessary federal and state income and estate tax returns
• Representing clients before the Internal Revenue Service, Tax Court and tax administrative bodies