Trusts and Estates Practice Group

The Trusts and Estate Practice Group is a growing practice as clients confront practical and tax problems in planning for the management and disposition of property in the event of disability or death.

We help people in drafting Wills and Trusts and financial and medical powers of attorney, and assist them in structuring their asset ownership in creative ways that serve to reduce income, gift, estate, death, succession, and transfer taxes and simplify the administration of assets at death or in case of disability. We also assist Personal Representatives and Trustees in handling their legal responsibilities including probate proceedings, trust administration, accountings, and tax matters.

An emerging area of interest for our clients is planning for long term care and nursing home assistance and other issues involving "elder care." We represent clients in estate and trust litigation including probate proceedings, will contests, cases involving will and trust construction and interpretation, and claims against estates and trusts. We regularly advise professional trustees, banks and trust companies in issues involving estate and trust administration. We also serve as expert witnesses in issues involving trusts and estate practice.

Attorneys in the Group include Philip C. Hunt, Timothy P. Benoit and Jeffrey A. Cohen.

Phil Hunt, the Group's Chair, is a graduate of Lehigh University and the Harvard Law School. He is a member of the Maine Bar and the U.S. Tax Court. He is a member of the American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel and the Maine Estate Planning Council, and the Trusts and Estate and Elder Law Section of the Maine State Bar Association. Phil has an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2008 (copyright 2007 by Woodward/White, Inc. of Aiken, S.C.), Maine Tax Law Section.

For many years, Mr. Hunt was the author/editor of Maine Probate Law and Maine Probate Procedure, treatises on Maine probate and estate administration. Mr. Hunt is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Maine School of Law where he teaches an annual course on Estate Planning. He is a frequent presenter of seminar programs in matters involving tax, estate planning, and probate and trust administration.

Tim Benoit is a graduate of the University of Vermont and the University of Maine School of Law. He has a LLM degree in taxation from Boston University School of Law. Mr. Benoit has a background in taxation and accounting having several years experience in a major Maine accounting firm. He is a member of the Maine Bar and the U.S. Tax Court. Mr. Benoit has an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2008 (copyright 2007 by Woodward/White, Inc. of Aiken, S.C.), Maine Tax Law Section.

Jeff Cohen is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the DePaul University College of Law. He has an LL.M. degree in taxation from the New York University School of Law. Mr. Cohen practiced taxation at a New York law firm before joining Perkins Thompson. He is a member of the Maine Bar and the U.S. Tax Court.

The services provided by the attorneys in the Trust and Estates Practice Group include:


Attorneys

Philip C. Hunt

Timothy P. Benoit

Jeffrey A. Cohen