The current business environment can be a challenge for many lawyers working with estate plans and trusts. Though creating estate plans and drafting trusts were once a unique services requiring expert advice, the practice has become increasingly commoditized while maintaining high levels of competition. The repeal of the estate tax may be a boon to many practitioners. If legislation passed abrogating the estate tax, affluent clients would necessarily reenter the market in order to reconsider previous estate plans and trust documents. John Bowden, AESNation founder, noted that without “a federal estate tax, a great many of the super-rich and ultra-wealthy will need to review their plans and make changes. [The] trust and estates lawyer will be the professional to whom they turn to help them decide the best way to deal with this situation.”
See Russ Alan Prince, How Eliminating the Federal Estate Tax Benefits High-Caliber Trusts and Estates Lawyers, Forbes, October 24, 2017.
Special thanks to Joel C. Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.
