 | Dwight Ellis has been in the private practice of law for more than 27 years, with Whyte & Hirschboeck S.C. as an associate for five years (1977-1982) and a shareholder for twenty-two years (1982-2004). He opened his solo practice in August 2004. Before private practice, he was a member of the Judge Advocate General Corps of the U.S. Air Force (1973-1977). During his private practice, he has assisted clients in planning their personal and business matters to avoid litigation and disputes and to minimize taxes of all types – income, gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer. One area of focus has been the maximization of wealth transfer to beneficiaries, both family and charitable. Through the use of advanced planning techniques such as generation-skipping trusts, grantor retained annuity and unitrust trusts, personal residence trusts, charitable lead and charitable remainder trusts, family wealth preservation and transfer goals are achieved. Estate plans are tailored to the individual circumstances of each client and family. In addition to planning, Dwight assists clients with trust and estate administration, accounting and tax return preparation. In connection with the administration of trusts and estates, he assists clients in the retainer of investment advisors and compliance with fiduciary issues relating to such administration. With the increase in client wealth in qualified retirement plans, retirement planning has become a more important component of personal and estate planning. Current techniques to maximize the benefits from tax favored investments include the use of stretch distributions from qualified retirement plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and Roth IRA conversions. He also assists family law practitioners in the preparation and qualification of Qualified Domestic Relations Orders satisfying the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. |
