Roberta Ann Burris Barsotti

Practice Details

• Firm Information
  Position

  Partner

  Firm Name

  Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP
• Representative Cases & Transactions
  Cases

  Representative Matters: Estate
  Tax Planning: Sensitively works with clients to develop customized estate plans that take into consideration diverse assets, such as real estate
  closely held business interests, as well as complex family concerns
  Analyzes
  designs estate plans that balance the competing concerns of minimizing estate tax
  income tax in a changing tax environment
  Coordinates estate
  other tax planning for clients with dual citizenship
  multinational assets
  Establishes LLCs
  family trusts for long-term management of family vacation homes
  Designs split interest trusts for charitably inclined clients who wish to benefit both family members
  charitable causes
  Coordinates life insurance funding of trusts to address liquidity
  tax concerns for high net worth clients
  Analyzes
  implements appropriate discounting to maximize available exemptions from gift
  estate tax
  Analyzes
  implements most favorable income tax treatment for estates, trusts
  beneficiaries, minimizing rates
  maximizing uses of losses
  deductions
  Asset Protection Planning: Crafts
  negotiates simple to complex pre-nuptial agreement
  Works with clients to fund trusts that will shield family assets from unexpected creditors
  Controversies Among Fiduciaries
  Beneficiaries: Won a motion for summary judgment, fully dismissing a challenge by beneficiaries - seeking damages in excess of $5,000,000 - about the investment performance of the institutional administrator of a trust.
  Successfully preserved interests of charitable beneficiaries against attempts by individual beneficiaries to decrease trust distributions to the charities
  Successfully defeated effort by long-term companion to qualify as common-law spouse, preserving estate for children of the decedent
  Protected interests of beneficiaries against diversions of trust income by hostile fiduciaries
  Preserved interests of beneficiaries against biased fiduciary administration
  Preserved interest of estate beneficiary against unreasonable expenditures
  delays by executor
  Defeated efforts of beneficiaries seeking to modify trust to obtain greater control over corporate trustee
  Successfully persuaded Superior Court to overturn Orphans' Court's interpretation of ambiguous Will
  rule against perpetuities provision, thereby preventing early termination of trusts
  preserving tax exclusions
  Protected individual trustees against efforts of beneficiaries to remove, replace
  surcharge the trustees
  Preserved reasonable fees collected by corporate fiduciary against efforts by Attorney General to reduce fees on charitable trusts
  Successfully persuaded Superior Court to overturn interpretation of grant
  exercise of power of appointment that would have given beneficiaries unintended control over corporate trustee