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Website designed by Steven J. Oshins (soshins@oshins.com )              Last updated on 07-30-2006

ABOUT OUR FIRM

     We are a nationally known estate planning and asset protection firm based in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Most of our clients live outside of Nevada and are referred to us by other attorneys, life insurance agents, financial planners, accountants and trust companies.  We also obtain a significant amount of our clients through this website since the website has been the most visited "Estate Planning and Probate" web site in all of North America for a number of years according to Alexa.com, an Amazon.com company that tracks website visitors.  We are very proud of that achievement, and we believe it is a combination of our national exposure and reputation, as well as the endless advanced estate planning and asset protection reading materials on our website.

     The majority of our clients have net worths of between $5 million and $100 million.  We have more than a hundred clients with net worths greater than $100 million, as well as some billionaires.  We also have many clients with net worths less than $1 million, although most of those tend to be young professionals who will be very wealthy eventually or those with very little wealth who are entrepreneurial and hire us to move their business opportunities into a trust for their benefit that cannot be reached by creditors or by a divorcing spouse.


OUR ATTORNEYS

 

*Richard A. Oshins - roshins@oshins.com

*Steven J. Oshins - soshins@oshins.com

*Heidi C. Freeman - hfreeman@oshins.com

*Kristen E. Simmons - ksimmons@oshins.com

*Catherine M. Colombo - ccolombo@oshins.com

*Charlene N. Nand - cnand@oshins.com

*Briar K. Stahl - bstahl@oshins.com


OUR PUBLISHED ARTICLES

 

• "The Megatrustsm: An Ideal Family Wealth Preservation Tool,"Trusts & Estates (Nov. 1991), co-authored by Richard A. Oshins and Jonathan G. Blattmachr

• "Sale to a Defective Trust: A Life Insurance Technique," Trusts & Estates (April 1998), co-authored by Steven J. Oshins, Al King, III and Pierce H. McDowell, III. 1998 EPIC AWARD WINNER!

• "Sale to a Defective South Dakota Dynasty Trust: Leveraging your Trust into Perpetuity," Communique (April 1998), authored by Steven J. Oshins. This article was also republished in the April 1999 issue of The Monthly Digest of Tax Articles.

• "Defective Trusts Offer Unique Planning Opportunities," CCH - Financial and Estate Planning (Aug. 20, 1998), Richard A. Oshins interview

• "Protecting & Preserving Wealth into the Next Millennium," Trusts & Estates (Sept/Oct 1998), co-authored by Richard A. Oshins and Steven J. Oshins. This article was also republished in the June and July 1999 issues of The Monthly Digest of Tax Articles. 1998 EPIC AWARD WINNER!

• "In Search of the Perfect Estate Plan: A Pipe Dream Can Become a Reality," CCH - Financial and Estate Planning (Nov. 1998), authored by Richard A. Oshins

• "Sales to Grantor Trusts: Exponential Leverage using Multiple Installment Sales," Probate & Property (Jan/Feb 1999), authored by Steven J. Oshins

• "Opportunity Shifting: A Life Insurance and Estate Planning Technique," Journal of Financial Service Professionals (May 1999), authored by Steven J. Oshins

• "Creative Life Insurance Funding Techniques for the Large Policy," CCH - Estate Planning Review (Sept. 20, 1999) - Steven J. Oshins interview

• "GRAT Remainder Sale to a Dynasty Trust," Trusts & Estates (Dec. 1999), co-authored by David A. Handler and Steven J. Oshins

• "Installment Sale to a Defective Trust vs. GRAT Remainder Sale: An Economic Comparison," Trusts & Estates (June 2000), co-authored by Steven J. Oshins and Julie M. Wickett

• "The Walton GRAT - A 21st Century Planning Tool," CCH – Estate Planning Review, Vol. 27, No. 7 (July 19, 2001), Richard A. Oshins interview

• "Ruling on Assignment of Vested Remainder Interest May Have Reached Wrong Conclusion," Tax Management Estates, Gifts and Trusts Journal, Vol. 26, No. 5 ( Sept. - Oct. 2001), co-authored by Jonathan E. Gopman, Todd I. Steinberg and Steven J. Oshins

• "The Dynastic Trust under the Relief Act of 2001," Tax Notes (Oct. 8, 2001), co-authored by Richard A. Oshins and Jerry A. Kasner

• "Scheffel v. Krueger: The Effectiveness of Statutory Spendthrift Protection," Trusts & Estates (Oct. 2001), co-authored by Steven J. Oshins and Christopher M. Riser

• "Dynasty Trusts in Nevada: Countdown to 12/01/02," Nevada Lawyer (Oct. 2001), co-authored by Steven J. Oshins and Judith K. Ruud

• "Asset Protection and the Spendthrift Trust," CCH - Estate Planning Review (Oct. 22, 2001) - Steven J. Oshins interview. This interview was also republished in the January-February 2002 issue of Journal of Retirement Planning.

• "Scheffel v. Krueger: Using Statutory Spendthrift Protection to Enhance Estate Planning," Asset Protection Journal (Summer 2002), co-authored by Christopher M. Riser and Steven J. Oshins

• "Combining a Sale to a Defective Trust with a Walton GRAT: Avoiding the Gift Tax Risk using a Defined Value Transfer (a.k.a. "New Twist on Popular Technique")," Trusts & Estates (Sept. 2002), authored by Steven J. Oshins

• "The GRAT Remainder Sale,"Trusts & Estates (Dec. 2002), co-authored by David A. Handler and Steven J. Oshins

• "Advanced Planning Strategies Using Grantor Trusts," New York University 60th Institute of Federal Taxation 2002, Chapter 27, authored by Richard A. Oshins

• "The Nevada Asset Protection Trust," Lawyers Weekly USA (Jan. 2003), authored by Steven J. Oshins

• "The Inheritor's Trustsm: The Art of Properly Inheriting Property," Estate Planning, Vol. 30, Nos. 9 and 10 (Sept. and Oct. 2003), co-authored by Richard A. Oshins and Noel C. Ice

• "Trust a Trust: The Benefits of Using Beneficiary-Controlled Trusts," Trust & Investments (Nov./Dec. 2003), co-authored by Rozlyn L. Anderson and Richard A. Oshins

• "The Inheritor's Trustsm: Planning in Contemplation of an Inheritance," Lawyers Weekly USA (Jan. 2004), authored by Steven J. Oshins

• "The Effect of the UTC on the Asset Protection of Spendthrift Trusts," Estate Planning (Aug., Sept. and Oct. 2004), co-authored by Mark Merric and Steven J. Oshins

• "The New Nevada 365-Year Dynasty Trust: Nevada Becomes a Leading Dynasty Trust State," Communique (Mar. 2006), authored by Steven J. Oshins


OUR ATTORNEYS IN THE NEWS

 

* "Money Matters - Consult the Estate Planning Prodigy, "What's On Magazine, August 21, 2000

* "Building trust with proper tools can stave off estate taxes forever, "Daytona Beach News-Journal, January 15, 2001

* "Providing For The Year 3000," Forbes, June 11, 2001

* "GLOBAL INVESTING:  Taking cover from potential dangers," Financial Times, January 3, 2002

* "NBC News - Interview of Steven J. Oshins on Nevada's Rule Against Perpetuities Legislative Bill," Video clip of CBS news report, October 21, 2002

* "GRATs Give Wealthy a Way To Avoid Taxes on Their Estate," Wall Street Journal, November 21, 2002

* "Pinned Down - The sinking stock market and recent IRS actions have put installment sales to grantor trusts on shaky ground," Bloomberg Wealth Manager, March 3, 2003

* "Building Your Own Dynasty," Wall Street Journal, September 15, 2004

* "The Inheritor's Saferoom," Registered Rep, July 1, 2005

* "Inheritor's Trust New Trend in Estate Planning," Lawyers Weekly USA, August 1, 2005

* "A Dynasty Trust that Requires a Family Chat," Investment News, August 22, 2005

* "Set Up a Trust for the Inheritance to Come," Horsesmouth, August 22, 2005

* "Helping Clients Keep Peace in the Family," Horsesmouth, May 9, 2005

* "Helping Wealthy Families Create Dynasty Trusts," Horsesmouth, January 31, 2005

* "Spotlight on the Inheritor's Trust," Estate Analyst, August 2005

* "Beyond the Prenup - Families Increasingly Turn to Trusts to Protect Assets, Inheritances from Ex-spouses," Wall Street Journal, September 22, 2005

* "Stash Your Cash Before You Tie The Knot," Lawyers Weekly USA, October 24, 2005

* "Daddy, Can I Please Have a Beneficiary Controlled Trust?," Financial Advisor, November 2005

* "Demystifying Trust Funds," Wall Street Journal, December 24, 2005

* "wsjdynasty," Wall Street Journal, 2005

* "Best Lawyers," In Business Las Vegas, December 9, 2005

* "Estate-planning lawyer succeeds by helping clients protect their wealth," Las Vegas Review Journal, March 27, 2006

* "Dynastic Trusts Today - An Interview with Steven J. Oshins," The Estate Analyst, May 2006

 


BREAKING NEWS!

 

Megatrusts are Hot, Single Generation Trusts are Not

 

May 2, 2001 --- The Law Offices of Oshins & Associates has continued to develop its Megatrust business.  The first Megatrust was created in the late 1980s.  Since that time, more and more people all over the country have hired Oshins & Associates to create these beneficiary controlled dynasty trusts for their families.  Richard A. Oshins, who created the first Megatrust along with Jonathan G. Blattmachr, said, "When Jonathan and I put this together many years ago, we knew it was going to be big.  But we had no idea that it would be as big as it has gotten."  Richard's son and law partner, Steven J. Oshins, added, "The life insurance agents all over the country want us to draft Megatrusts to own the life insurance policies for their clients.  And estate planning attorneys all over the country are bringing us in on big cases to do the documents.  It's been incredible!"

 

Meanwhile, more attorneys are recommending dynasty trusts and finally starting to realize how bad single generation trusts are.  Why would the trust scrivener intentionally draft a trust that makes outright distributions to the children at ages 25 and 30 when it is possible to use a Megatrust which names each child as his or her own controlling trustee upon reaching such age?  Giving the primary beneficiary the functional equivalent of outright ownership using a beneficiary controlled Megatrust protects the trust assets from divorce, creditors and estate taxes.  Steven J. Oshins noted, "I can't tell you how many times I've explained this to a potential client in which the potential client responded, 'Why would anybody NOT opt to use the trust?'"

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IRS Study Shows Most People Failing to use Trusts

January 25, 2003 --- In an article titled "Counting Gifts", published in the January 2003 issue of Trusts & Estates magazine, Martha Britton Eller, senior economist, Estate and Gift Tax, Statistics of Income Division, Internal Revenue Services, reports the results of an IRS study based on gifts made in 1997.  The most notable statistic in the article is that, excluding simple trusts for a single beneficiary and split interest trusts, only 12.5% of gifts were made in trust, and an unbelievable 68.6% of gifts were made outright! [Full Story]

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Estate Tax has already been "Permanently" Repealed Three Times - Will there be a Fourth "Permanent" Repeal?

March 5, 2003 --- In a column published on July 19, 2000, Bruce Bartlett, Senior Fellow, National Center for Policy Analysis, reported that the estate tax has already been repealed three times and then brought back.  This is interesting in light of the discussions by President Bush about "permanently" repealing the estate tax. 

The first estate tax was enacted in 1797.  It was repealed in 1801.  The second estate tax was enacted in 1862.  It was repealed in 1870.  The third estate tax was enacted in 1898.  It was repealed in 1902.  The fourth estate tax was enacted in 1916 and is still in existence.  [Full Story] 

The attorneys at Oshins & Associates believe that there will not be a repeal.  Rather, there will be an increase in the amount of estate tax exemption.  Regardless, there will be an increased focus on dynasty trusts since there will always be a need for protecting assets from creditors and divorce.

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Oshins.com Web Site Most Visited 'Estate Planning and Probate' Web Site in North America According to Alexa.com

December 23, 2003 --- Alexa.com, an Amazon.com company that tracks visitors to web sites in thousands of categories, currently lists https://www.oshins.com as the most visited 'Estate Planning and Probate' web site in North America out of 488 web sites in that category on the Internet.  This category can be accessed by clicking this link.  Attorney Richard Oshins noted, "The Internet is the wave of the future, and the future is now."  Attorney Steve Oshins added, "The key to a successful web site is content, content and more content!" The attorneys at Oshins & Associates have made this web site more than just a marketing tool.  It's also a research tool for estate planning and asset protection professionals. 

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EstateDoc Systems, LLC Announces Endorsement of TrustDocs™ by Steven J. Oshins Enterprises, LLC

December 29, 2003 (EDS) -- EstateDoc Systems, LLC announced today that it has secured the endorsement of Steven J. Oshins Enterprises, LLC. Steven J. Oshins is a well-known, widely published estate planning attorney with the Law Offices of Oshins & Associates, P.C. in Las Vegas, Nevada. [Full Story at EstateDoc Systems, LLC's web site]

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Inheritor's Trust™ Featured in 'The Estate Analyst' as the Paradign of 21st Century Planning

March 31, 2004 (EDS) -- Oshins & Associates is pleased to announce that Robert L. Moshman, a columnist for The Estate Analyst, has authored an article in its March, 2004 issue called "New Strategies, 2004" in which he features the Inheritor's TrustTM (a trademark held by Richard A. Oshins, Steven J. Oshins and Noel C. Ice). The Moshman article provides that "...[t]he Inheritor's TrustTM is just in time and may end up becoming the paradigm of 21st century planning." [Full Article at FinancialCounsel.com's web site]

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Steven J. Oshins Featured in Las Vegas Review Journal Article

March 27, 2006 (EDS) -- Steven J. Oshins was featured today in an article/interview in the Las Vegas Review Journal in a story written by well-known writer Jennifer Robison called Estate-planning lawyer succeeds by helping clients protect their wealth (click link for entire story).  Steven J. Oshins stated, "I am honored to have been selected to be featured in this article.  Although I am constantly quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Wealth Manager, Forbes and other well respected national journals, being written up in our local newspaper is different.  I received over a hundred emails and phone calls the day the story came out. 

 


TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

 

Dynasty Trust

QUESTION 1a: Assuming a 50% estate tax and an after-tax investment return of 7.2%, and assuming your child outlives you by thirty years, if you transfer $1 million to a single generation trust in which the trust terminates when your child turns thirty, how much has your estate planning advisor cost your grandchild by failing to advise you to use a beneficiary controlled generation-skipping trust (i.e., a trust for your child and his/her descendants that is controlled by the child and is estate tax protected, asset protected and divorce protected)?

ANSWER 1a: $4 million. $1 million growing at 7.2% per year becomes $8 million after thirty years.  Using a single generation trust, the IRS gets $4 million and your grandchild gets $4 million.  Using a generation-skipping trust, your grandchild gets the entire $8 million.

QUESTION 1b: Assuming the same facts as in QUESTION 1 above, does the answer change if your child is sued or gets divorced?

ANSWER 1b: Yes.  Using a single generation trust, the IRS gets $4 million and your grandchild gets anywhere from nothing to $4 million depending upon the severity of the lawsuit or divorce settlement.  Using a generation-skipping trust (which is divorce protected and creditor protected), your grandchild still gets the entire $8 million.

QUESTION 1c: Why would anybody ever create a single generation trust when they can otherwise create a beneficiary controlled generation-skipping trust for each child (i.e., a separate trust for each child and his/her descendants that is controlled by the child and is estate tax protected, asset protected and divorce protected)?

ANSWER 1c: We can only speculate that the person must really dislike his or her descendants.  [If you can come up with a better answer to this question, please email it to soshins@oshins.com.]

Nevada Asset Protection Trust

QUESTION 2: There are only seven states that allow self-settled asset protection trusts (i.e., asset protection trusts in which the grantor can be a beneficiary).  Those states are Nevada, Alaska, Delaware, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Missouri and Utah.  Of the seven states, Nevada generally requires only a two-year waiting period for the asset protection, Utah generally requires a three-year waiting period, and the others  generally require a four-year waiting period.  Which of the seven states has the most favorable rules for protecting your assets?  [Select only one answer.]

(a) Nevada because it has the shortest waiting period to obtain the asset protection;

(b) Alaska because it just seems fairer to the creditor to give him/her an opportunity to take more of your hard-earned assets 

(c) Delaware because [see Alaska]

(d) Rhode Island because [see Alaska]

(e) Utah because [see Alaska]

(f) South Dakota because [see Alaska]

(g) Missouri because [ see Alaska]

ANSWER 2: Nevada.  This is an easy one!  No explanation is needed.

Copyright 1995-2006 by Steven J. Oshins.  All rights reserved.