Stern Keiser & Panken’s areas of concentration are:
Tax Planning and Controversies
We provide guidance on the federal and state income tax consequences of business, commercial and real estate transactions and the tax consequences of various forms of business organizational structures. We also serve as general and special tax counsel, both in planning matters and in representation before taxing authorities. We have extensive experience handling matters before the IRS, the United States Tax Court, Claims Court and District Courts and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
Estate and Business Succession Planning
We help clients plan for lifetime and testamentary asset transfers. To accomplish our clients’ estate planning goals, we draft wills, trusts, pre and post-nuptial agreements, family limited partnerships and related documents, including planning involving non-U.S. residents and foreign assets. We also assist business owners in formulating strategies for keeping their businesses alive and, if desired, in the hands of chosen successors. This involves counseling on forms of recapitalization, use of insurance and other vehicles.
Trust and Estate Administration
We are frequently called upon to serve as counsel for clients who have been appointed Executor and/or Trustee under the Wills or trust indentures of family, friends or business associates (and our partners themselves often serve in those capacities). As counsel, we bring a cumulative total of more than 125 years’ experience to bear in helping our clients fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities and avoid acrimonious family, business or tax litigation.
Surrogate’s Court Matters
We represent fiduciaries, beneficiaries and creditors in all types of Surrogate’s Court actions, including will contests, asset discovery and will construction proceedings, disputed guardianships, and contested accountings. We seek not only to enforce our clients’ rights vigorously, but also to settle expeditiously and effectively those matters which can be settled fairly.
Elder Law
We advise clients with respect to elder care issues including Medicaid Planning, Medicaid Qualification, Medicaid Application, Asset Protection Trusts, Guardianship Petitions, and counseling on subjects such as long-term care insurance and nursing home and home care placement.
Guardianships and Special Needs Planning
We advise and assist families with planning for children with disabilities and elderly parents who need assistance, including guardianships and creating trusts for special needs.
Real Estate Transactions
We advise and represent buyers and sellers in connection with residential and commercial real estate transactions.
Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions
The firm’s attorneys have extensive experience in sales involving a wide variety of assets including real estate, intellectual property, automobiles, machinery and equipment, and the goodwill associated with professional practices. Our attorneys have negotiated the terms of payment, security arrangements and covenants against competition in transactions as diverse as the sales of nursing homes, software ventures and accounting practices. Our expertise in the taxation of business transactions also results in our consulting as co-counsel with other attorneys and accountants for our clients. In addition to agreements for the sale of stock or assets, we draft and review stockholders’ agreements, partnership agreements and operating agreements for limited liability companies.