Estate & Gift Tax Planning
Estate & Gift Tax Planning Attorneys in North Carolina
Preserving the wealth you’ve built across generations requires more than a will. Strategic estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax planning can significantly reduce what your family loses to taxes, but the laws are complex, constantly shifting, and easy to get wrong. Manning Fulton’s attorneys help families navigate this landscape with clarity and confidence.
Our professionals assist clients with gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax planning to preserve family wealth for generations. Effective tax planning starts with understanding your family’s goals, your asset structure, and the full range of strategies available under current law. Manning Fulton’s attorneys are knowledgeable about federal gift, estate, and GST tax law which allows them to identify which strategies best fit your situation and determine which will best suit your families’ goals.
Manning Fulton advises clients on a comprehensive range of estate and gift tax planning tools, including:
- Grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) and qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs)
- Irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs) — coordinating policy transfers to maximize annual gift tax exemptions and minimize estate taxation of insurance proceeds
- “Intentionally defective” grantor trusts for estate-freezing gift strategies
- Charitable remainder and charitable lead trusts
- Dynasty trusts for multigenerational asset transfer
- Marital and charitable deduction trusts to minimize or defer estate, gift, and GST taxes
- Family limited liability companies (FLLCs) and family limited partnerships (FLPs) — consolidating asset ownership, managing real estate investments, and planning for discounted gifting of ownership interests
- Private foundation formation and tax planning
- Structuring lifetime gifts to make full use of annual and lifetime exemptions
- Intra-family loans, seller-provided financing, self-canceling installment notes (SCINs), and sales to intentionally defective grantor trusts for estate-freezing objectives
- Planning for effective use of general and special powers of appointment
- Advising on the benefits of disclaiming inherited assets
- Assisting with beneficiary designations across retirement accounts, life insurance, and other assets
- Calculating projected gift and estate tax under alternative transfer strategies so you can make informed decisions
- Planning for a non-citizen spouse
- Portability planning — weighing the pros and cons of electing portability of a deceased spouse’s unused exemption
- Using life insurance trusts to provide liquidity for estate tax obligations
Partner with Manning Fulton
The most effective estate and gift tax planning happens well before it’s needed. Understanding the gift, estate, and GST tax laws is critical to helping our clients achieve gift, estate and GST tax efficiencies. Reach out to Manning Fulton’s estate and gift tax planning attorneys so they can assess your situation and help you build a plan that protects what you’ve worked to create.
Who We Serve
Manning Fulton works with a broad range of clients whose circumstances make proactive tax planning essential:
High-net-worth individuals and families
looking to transfer wealth efficiently across generations
Business owners
whose closely held business interests represent a significant portion of their taxable estate
Families with real estate holdings
seeking to consolidate ownership and plan for gifting
Blended families and non-citizen spouses
whose situations require specialized planning strategies
Philanthropically minded clients
interested in charitable giving structures that also reduce estate tax exposure
Executors and trustees
navigating estate administration with significant tax implications
Related Professionals
Accolades
Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America
Eight Manning Fulton attorneys were recognized in the 2027 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America.
2027
Recognized attorneys
- Matthew Muntean - Business Organizations; Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law
- J. Patrick Bailey, Jr. - Real Estate Law
- Angela C. Baldwin - Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Trusts and Estates
- Cecilia Barreca - Business Organizations
- Chris N. Bobby - Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law; Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Tax Law
- Lawrence D. Graham - Appellate Practice; Commercial Litigation; Real Estate Litigation
- Corinne E. O’Reilly - Business Organizations
- B. Zack Taylor, Jr. - Real Estate Law
Best Law Firms: Metropolitan Tier 1
The firm secured 26 ranked practice areas, with 19 of those achieving the highest Tier 1 status.
2026
Recognized in:
- Appellate Practice
- Bet-the-Company Litigation
- Business Organizations
- Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law
- Commercial Finance Law
- Commercial Litigation
- Construction Law
- Corporate Law
- Health Care Law
- Insurance Law
- Litigation – Construction
- Litigation – Insurance
- Litigation – Labor & Employment
- Litigation – Real Estate
- Litigation – Real Estate
- Litigation & Controversy – Tax
- Mergers & Acquisitions Law
- Real Estate Law
- Real Estate Litigation
- Tax Law
- Trusts & Estates Law
North Carolina Super Lawyers
Twenty-three Manning Fulton attorneys were recognized by Super Lawyers in 2026, including 17 Super Lawyers and 6 Rising Stars.
2026
Super Lawyers
- Joseph B. Bass - Real Estate
- Stephen T. Byrd - Estate & Probate
- Alison R. Cayton - Real Estate
- William S. Cherry III - Business Litigation
- Sandra Martin Clark - Estate & Probate
- William B. Gwyn Jr. - Business/Corporate
- Deborah L. Hildebran-Bachofen - Estate & Probate
- Thomas I. Lyon - Mergers & Acquisitions
- Barry D. Mann - Real Estate
- Michael T. Medford - Business Litigation
- Kevin A. Prakke - Securities & Corporate Finance
- Douglas J. Short - Real Estate
- William C. Smith, Jr. - Civil Litigation Defense
- Ritchie W. Taylor - Franchise/Dealership
- Jessica B. Vickers - Business Litigation
- Jennifer L. Weaver - Business/Corporate
- Judson A. Welborn - Business Litigation
- J. Patrick Bailey - Real Estate
- Angela C. Baldwin - Estate & Probate
- Chris N. Bobby - Business/Corporate
- Lawrence Graham, Jr. - Civil Litigation Defense
- Matthew P. Muntean - Business/Corporate
- B. Zachary Taylor - Real Estate
Business North Carolina “Legal Elite”
Fifteen Manning Fulton attorneys were recognized in Business North Carolina’s 2026 “Legal Elite,” with three additional attorneys named “Legal Elite Young Guns.”
2026
Legal Elite
- Mike T. Medford - Antitrust & Complex Business Disputes
- William C. Smith - Bankruptcy
- Judson A. Welborn - Construction
- Jennifer L. Weaver - Corporate Law
- Thomas I. Lyon - Corporate Law
- William B. Gwyn - Corporate Law
- William S. Cherry - Employment
- Jessica B. Vickers - Litigation
- Alison R. Cayton - Real Estate Law
- Douglas J. Short - Real Estate Law
- Joseph B. Bass - Real Estate Law
- Jessica Elliott - Real Estate Law
- B. Zachary Taylor - Real Estate Law
- Sandra M. Clark - Tax & Estate Planning
- Steve T. Byrd - Tax & Estate Planning
- Chris Bobby
- Lawrence D. Graham
- Matthew P. Muntean
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