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Address
125 South Market Street, Suite 1150
San Jose, California 95113 (Santa Clara Co.)
Average Client Review Rating
Rating not available
Average Peer Review Rating
5.0
out of 5
(Main Office) The firm serves family business, corporate executive and individual clients throughout California, emphasizing an integrated approach to the tax and management aspects of Family Wealth Planning. The professional focus of the firm includes acting as special tax counsel in business planning, estate planning, tax litigation and trust administration situations. Statement of PracticeValuation and Entity Planning, Estate Planning, Tax Litigation, Trust and Probate Law, Business and Business Planning, Federal, State and International Taxation, Executive Compensation. Firm Size: 4
John F. Ramsbacher (Member) born Glasgow, Montana, February 12, 1965; admitted to bar, 1990, California. Education: University of Montana (B.A., 1987); Tulane University (J.D., 1990). Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Recipient, American Jurisprudence Award in Gift and Estate Tax. Former Adjunct Faculty, Golden Gate University Masters in Taxation, Advanced Business Planning. Author: "The Family Limited Partnership: Forming, Funding and Defending," The Practical Tax Lawyer, Vol. 18, Number 4 (2004); "Effective FLP/LLC Planning for Income and Transfer Tax Purpose Including Avoiding 2036(a) Pitfalls," NYU Institute of Federal Taxation, Vol. 62 (2004); "Protecting the Reality in Entity-Based Transfer Tax Valuation Adjustments," N.Y.U. Inst. on Fed Tax, 2002; "Crummey Powers for Contingent Beneficiaries OK'd," Vol. 19, No. 1 Estate Planning(1992); "Is the End in Sight for Crummey/Cristofani Trusts?" Estate Planning (November, 1996). Lecturer: "Estate and Gift Tax Valuation Discounts," Fourth Annual Estate and Gift Tax Conference (1996); Advanced Course of Study: "FLP's and LLCs: Their Use in Family Wealth Transfers," CEB (1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007); "Zeroing Out the Taxable Estate," and "The Tax Practitioner's Role in Emerging IRS Tax Disputes Attacking Entity Viability for Transfer Tax Purposes," 33rd Annual Hawaii Tax Institute (1996); "Successfully Defending and Planning Around IRS Attack on FLPS and Valuation Discounts," Northern Trust Forum (1997); "Estate Planning for Business Succession," CEB (1998); "Optimal Planning for the Use of Valuation Discounting Tools," Seventh Annual Estate and Gift Tax Conference (1999); "FLPs and LLCs: Their Use in Family Wealth Transfers," California Society of CPAs (1999) and 1999 Annual Meeting of the California Tax Bars; "FLPs and LLCs: The Use in Family Wealth Transfers," CEB (2000); "Utilizing the Annuity and Installment Sale - A Comparison and Analysis," 2000 Annual Meeting of the California Tax Bars; "The Valuation Controversy," 59th Institute on Federal Taxation, New York University (2000); "FLPs, LLCs and S Corporations: Valuation Discount Strategies and Controversies," PLI 33rd Annual Estate Planning Institute (November 2002); "FLP's, LLC's and S Corporations: Is it Worth the Effort? Valuation Discount Strategies: Do They Still Work?" PLI 34th Annual Estate Planning Institute (2003); "New Development in Family Limited Partnerships," Twelfth Annual Estate and Gift Tax Conference (2004); "FLP's and LLC's - Is There Life After Strangi?" PLI 35th Annual Estate Planning Institute (2004); "FLP's/LLC Family Entity Audit Panel," 2004 Annual Meeting of the California Tax Bars; "Family-Limited Partnerships: The Continuing Saga," New York University 63rd Institute on Federal Taxation (2004). "New Developments in Family Limited Partnerships" East Bay Community Foundation Advisor Lecture (2004); and "The Future of Family Limited Partnerships" Community Foundation Silicon Valley (2004);"FLPs: Forming, Funding and Defending" UCLA/CEB Estate Planning Institute (2005); "FLPs and LLCs - Are We Still Doing Them?" PLI 37th Annual Estate Planning Institute (2006); "FLPs on Trial" California Society of CPAs 6th Annual Estate Planning Symposium (2006); "FLPs: Forming, Funding and Defending" San Francisco Bar Association (2006); "Family Wealth Planning", California CPA Education Foundation, Tax Update and Planning Conference, Los Angeles and San Francisco (2007). "Family Wealth Planning Tips, A Review of FLPs/LLCs and Alternative Estate Freeze Techniques," USC Gould School of Law 2008 Tax Institute, Los Angeles, (2008); "FLPs and LLCs: Responding to IRS Attacks," CPA Forum of Monterey County (2008). Member: Santa Clara County (Member: Taxation Section and Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Section) and American Bar Associations; State Bar of California (Past Member, Executive Committee, Taxation Section; Past Chair, Estate and Gift Tax Committee of the Taxation Section). Reported Cases: Estate of Schauerhamer, T.C. Memo. 1997-242. Practice Areas: Estate Planning; Taxation; Tax Litigation; Trusts and Estates; Wills; Probate.Email: John F. Ramsbacher
John W. Prokey (Member) born Bellevue, Washington, May 16, 1972; admitted to bar, 1999, California. Education: Santa Clara University (B.S., cum laude, 1994; J.D., cum laude, 1999). Lecturer: "Formula Clauses and Zero Gift Strategies," Twelfth Annual Estate and Gift Conference (2005); "Family Wealth Planning Selected Topics," CA CPA Education Foundation 2005 Tax Update and Planning Conference (2005); "Big Gifts, Small Gift Taxes, A Review of GRATs and Alternative Estate Freeze Techniques", 79th Annual Meeting of the State Bar of California (2006); "Recent Developments - Estate and Gift"; 2006 Annual Meeting of the California Tax Bars and California Tax Policy Conference, (2006); "Recent Developments - Estate and Gift", CA CPA Education Foundation 2006 Tax Update and Planning Conference, (2006). "The Family Limited Partnership/LLC - The Basic Building Block," Fifteenth Annual Estate & Gift Tax Conference, Estates & Gift Tax Roundtable, 2007; "The Realities of FLP/LLC Entity Plans & Valuation Discounts," San Francisco Community Foundation, 2007; "The Realities of FLP/LLC Entity Plans & Valuation Discounts," Young Tax Lawyers of Silicon Valley, 2007; "The Realities of FLP/LLC Entity Plans & Valuation Discounts," FLPs & LLCs: Their Uses in Family Wealth Transfers, California State Bar, Advanced Course of Study, 2007; "Practical Considerations For Estate Tax Returns: Audits, Appeals and Tax Court," Annual Meeting of the California Tax Bar & California Tax Policy Conference, 2007; "IRAs & Trusts," Santa Cruz County Estate Planning Council, Santa Cruz, 2008; "Estate Planning Valuation: It's In The Eye Of The Beholder," Silicon Valley Bar Association, 2008; "Update On Family Limited Partnerships," Contra Costa County Bar Association, 2008; "Tools Of Family Wealth Planning," CA CPA Education Foundation, Los Angeles and San Francisco, 2008; "Valuing Assets for Estate and Gift Tax Purposes: It's In The Eye Of The Beholder"; "Business Valuation Conference: Summit on Lack of Marketability," University of San Diego School of Law, 2008; "California Tax Bar & Policy Conference," Spidell Publishing Inc., Northern and Southern California, 2008; "New Developments in Transfer Tax Valuation," State Bar Annual Meeting and California Tax Policy Conference, San Francisco, 2008; "Valuing Assets for Estate & Gift Tax Purposes," Santa Clara County Estate Planning Council, California CPA Education Foundation, Tax Update and Planning Conference, Los Angeles and San Francisco, 2007 and 2008. Panel, State Bar Annual Meeting and California Tax Policy Conference. Co-Chair, California CPA Education Foundation, Tax Update and Planning Conference, Los Angeles and San Francisco, 2007 and 2008. Member: Santa Clara County and American Bar Associations; State Bar of California (Former Member, Executive Committee, Taxation Section; Past Chair, Estate and Gift Tax Committee of the Taxation Section). Practice Areas: Taxation; Tax Litigation; Trusts and Estates; Estate Planning; Wills; Probate.Email: John W. Prokey
——————————Dennis I. Leonard (Associate) born Santa Rosa, California, August 28, 1973; admitted to bar, 1999, Texas; 2000, U.S. Tax Court; 2001, California. Education: University of San Francisco (B.S., 1995); University of Houston Law Center (J.D., 1999); University of Houston Law Center (LL.M. in Taxation, 2003). Member: State Bar of Texas (Member, Tax Section); American Bar Association (Member, Tax Section); Santa Clara County Bar Association; State Bar of California. Reported Cases: Smarthealth Inc. v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2001-145. Practice Areas: Estate Planning(40%); Federal Taxation(50%); State and Local Taxation(10%).Email: Dennis I. Leonard
Margaret M. Felt (Associate) born Oak Park, Illinois, April 30, 1967; admitted to bar, 1992, Illinois (inactive); 2004, California. Education: University of Wisconsin-Madison (B.S., 1989); Northern Illinois University (J.D., 1992). Member: Silicon Valley Bar Association; State Bar of California (Member, Sections on: Trusts and Estates and Taxation). Practice Areas: Estate Planning; Trusts and Estates; Wills; Probate.Email: Margaret M. Felt
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