Our clients have diligently worked to achieve a certain level of financial security and success; we work equally hard to protect their wealth from estate taxes, income taxes, and law suits.  We utilize estate planning strategies such as bypass, marital, generation skipping, and irrevocable life insurance trusts.  We also employ advanced estate planning strategies such as family limited partnerships, grantor trusts, and charitable trusts to further protect assets and minimize estate taxes for high net worth individuals. 

A person may direct the disposition of his or her assets through a Will.  Without a Will, Texas law determines the disposition of a person's assets.  The "Last Will & Testament of John Q. Public" illustrates, in the form of a Will, the distribution of property when a person dies without a Will.  Click here to see this document.

PROBATE & ESTATE ADMINISTRATION

Probate is the legal process of transferring property from a deceased individual to his or her beneficiaries.  We recognize that a client is often grieving the loss of a loved one; therefore, our attorneys are sympathetic and understanding while guiding clients through probate.

Stone & Associates, LLP, represents executors and administrators charged with probating estates, funding trusts, and preparing federal estate tax returns.  Our firm also represents executors and administrations in estate tax reviews and audits and heirs in contested probate matters and other estate administration disputes.

BUSINESS LAW

At Stone & Associates, LLP, we form, merge, dissolve, reorganize, sell, and acquire business entities.  Our attorneys' accounting and tax credentials enable us to address the tax, asset protection and financial issues inherent in all business transactions.

When forming a business, there are numerous types of business entities to choose from (e.g. corporations, LLCs, LLPs, PLLPs, PLLCs, LPs, etc.).   We carefully analyze our client's goals and objectives, and then form the entity best suited to meet the client's objectives.

Legal documents uniquely tailored to the client's specific needs are essential to the on-going success of any business.  We prepare employment contracts, distribution contracts, leases, and a variety of other contracts, all with the client's specific objectives in mind.

Finally, a well thought-out exit strategy is vital to a business's ultimate financial success.  Advanced planning, whether by means of a buy-sell agreement among existing owners, or by the sale of the business to a third-party, is essential.  We develop exit strategies for our clients and prepare the documents necessary to implement them.

TAX PLANNING and CONTROVERSIES

Our clients want to minimize their taxes through effective planning.  They also want zealous representation if a controversy arises with the IRS or other taxing authorities.  We deliver both.

All business transactions have tax implications.  Fortunately, careful planning can maximize tax benefits and avoid tax problems.  Our attorneys develop and implement plans to reduce taxes and increase profits.

We represent individual and business taxpayers in their disputes with the IRS and other taxing authorities.  Our strategy is simple: be thorough, be prepared, and be tough.

Our attorneys' credentials, such as "Certified Public Accountant (CPA)" and "Masters of Law in Taxation (LLM)," make them uniquely qualified to address the tax issues inherent in all individual and business transactions, and in tax controversies.

Business Litigation

Disputes inevitably arise in the life-cycle of a business.  Stone & Associates, LLP, aggressively and tenaciously represents our clients in litigation without sacrificing dignity or integrity. 

The attorneys at Stone & Associates, LLP, have the skill and resolve to, "try a case that needs to be tried," and the prudence to, "settle a case that needs to be settled."  Discerning between the two is the difference between financial success and failure in litigation.

Business litigation disputes are often financially intricate and complicated.  Whether cross-examining an expert witness/CPA, or tracing complex financial transactions and explaining them in terms a jury understands, our attorneys' backgrounds in accounting and economics are invaluable.

Seminars

Thomas Stone provides accredited continuing education to licensed professionals on topics related to estate planning, probate, and income taxation.  He is registered with the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy, the College of Certified Financial Planners, and the Texas State Board of Insurance to provide accredited continuing education courses for Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), Certified Financial Planners (CFPs), and licensed insurance agents. 

Mr. Stone is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) whose extensive legal and accounting education enables him to present his topics in the manner that is most appropriate for his audience.  Mr. Stone's seminars are informative, practical, understandable and entertaining.  To attend one of Mr. Stone's seminars or to speak with him about presenting an in-house continuing education course for your CPA firm, financial planning company, or life insurance agency, please click here.