McKinley L. Duke

Wealth, Tax, Trust, and Estate Planning and Administration

• Drafted trust and estate planning documents, including living trusts, irrevocable insurance trusts, intentionally defective grantor trusts, spousal lifetime access trusts, charitable lead trusts and charitable remainder trusts.
• Drafted nonjudicial settlement agreements and probate pleadings to modify or terminate irrevocable trusts.
• Designed and implemented prenuptial and postnuptial agreements.

Estate and Trust Administration/Probate

• Counseled professional and nonprofessional administrators of trusts and estates on fiduciary duties.
• Assisted with probate and trust administration, fiduciary income tax returns and accountings.
• Assisted with post-death administration at estate and trust levels, including funding subtrusts, including qualified subchapter S trust (QSST) and electing small business trust (ESBT) elections.

Business/Corporate Planning

• Formed entities, including limited liability companies, corporations and partnerships.
• Developed and structured exit strategies that maximized client's goals and objectives.
• Helped clients devise effective and practical business succession plans.
• Prepared buy-sell agreements, family business plans, purchase and sale agreements, asset purchase agreements, stock purchase agreements, promissory notes and leveraged buyout plans.

Asset Protection Planning

• Routinely advised clients on strategies for protecting assets from loss, risk and exposure, both during life and after death. Tools used include asset protection trusts, irrevocable trusts, limited liability companies, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and insurance planning.

Special Needs Planning

• Advised clients on use of special needs trusts and guardianships and conservatorships.
• Prepared special needs trusts, testamentary special needs trusts, Medicaid payback trusts and other discretionary trusts.