Robert E. Ward and Associates, P.C. is a firm of tax lawyers with offices in Bethesda, Maryland and Vancouver, British Columbia. The Firm has a broad based US domestic and foreign tax practice. While small enough that the Firm's lawyers practice in a collegial setting, the practice of each lawyer in the Firm varies. Senior lawyers of the Firm have primarily transactional practices, focusing on tax planning for individuals and businesses. Primary practice areas of other lawyers include estate administration, tax controversy representation, or cross border planning.
The Firm has developed a niche in cross border planning for Canadian residents. The goals in working with Canadian clients are to answer their questions about the US tax system, clearly explain the circumstances in which compliance with the revenue laws of the United States is necessary, and offer tax effective solutions to minimize US income, gift, and estate tax obligations. This practice focuses on advising individuals and entities who are doing business in the United States in implementing ownership structures which allow residents of Canada to acquire US real estate and business interests without becoming subject to US estate taxation. The Firm works closely with Canadian tax, legal, and insurance advisors to review the recommendations provided to the Firm's Canadian clients in order that US solutions are properly coordinated with Canadian tax and legal issues.
The core focus of the Firm's practice is integrated tax planning for owners of privately owned businesses. The Firm structures the relationship between the business, the owner, and the owner's family so as to provide for the owner's retirement, education of the family's children, and diversification into other investments in a tax efficient manner. The Firm designs and implements most transactions arising during the life cycle of a business including entity selection for start-ups, protection of business and personal assets from litigation and creditor claims, design of capital infusions, employment relationships and equity participation, corporate reorganizations, and sales and acquisitions.
The Firm's wealth transfer practice extends beyond preparation of traditional estate planning documents (Wills and Trusts) to a broader array of transactions intended to minimize and avoid US gift and estate taxation. These techniques (commonly referred to as "estate freezing transactions") shift appreciation in business and investment assets to younger-generation family members without estate and gift taxation while enabling older-generation family members to retain control over and income from transferred assets. As an important corollary to the tax planning, wealth transfer transactions undertaken by the Firm protect assets from marital and litigation claims.
The estate tax and wealth transfer planning undertaken by the Firm is complemented by its estate administration practice. The Firm assists fiduciaries in probate and other estate and trust administration matters, prepares and files US estate and gift tax returns, and represents fiduciaries, estates, and beneficiaries in the examination of those returns by the revenue authorities.
The Firm's tax controversy practice involves representation of clients before every level of the US Internal Revenue Service and in the United States Tax Court. The tax controversy practice focuses primarily on assisting non-filers to come into compliance, negotiating settlements with the collection arm of the Internal Revenue Service, and representing business owners with potential liability for the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty as a result of a business's failure to properly pay employment taxes.
Tax planning does not occur in a vacuum. It is shaped by business, personal, and financial realities. The decades of personal experience which the lawyers of Robert E. Ward and Associates, P.C. have accumulated gives the Firm the judgement necessary to properly advise clients and structure transactions that achieve the results for which they are intended.