Edward Tully

Closely Held & Family Businesses

Private Client Services

Fund Formation

I thrive on tackling complex legal issues with precision and practicality. I focus on improving estate plans and irrevocable trusts through tailored strategies, always considering the client’s unique needs. One client stated, “Edward is a knowledgeable and top-notch estate planner.”

Edward Tully concentrates his practice on estate planning, tax planning, asset protection, business succession and probate and trust administration. While he has significant experience in all areas of estate planning, Edward primarily works with high-net-worth individuals, families and business owners to develop strategies that minimize exposure to gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes to preserve and transition wealth.

Edward is knowledgeable in implementing advanced estate planning techniques, including:

Dynasty trust arrangements

Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs)

Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (IDGTs)

Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs)

Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs)

Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLATs)

Spousal Lifetime Access Non-Grantor Trusts (SLANTs)

Valuation discounts

Edward enjoys tackling challenging and intricate fact patterns and issues. A key aspect of his practice involves evaluating existing estate plans and providing clients with recommendations to enhance their plans’ and irrevocable trusts’ structure and efficiency. He often achieves this through trust decanting, modifications or asset sales that Edward develops and implements.

Edward works with numerous hedge fund and private equity firm owners, crafting and executing sophisticated planning strategies to facilitate the transfer of their unique assets, including carry derivatives and vertical slices.

Represented a surviving spouse in a $50 million marital trust case. We uncovered accounting irregularities managed by a non-professional fiduciary. After addressing initial concerns, we discovered an additional $20 million in unaccounted marital assets. We developed and implemented a plan to enhance trust asset ownership and income generation for the surviving spouse.

Assisted a high-net-worth individual with estate planning for an estate exceeding $700 million. Our strategies involved utilizing remaining gift tax exemptions, setting up a private family foundation and establishing generation-skipping transfer tax-exempt irrevocable trusts for descendants. In addition, we implemented a successful GRAT to transfer substantial assets to descendants tax-free.

Represented a high-net-worth individual in estate planning, which included eight dynasty trusts totaling approximately $30 million. We relocated the trusts to a more favorable tax jurisdiction and decanted the trusts to enhance tax benefits. Additionally, we assisted the client with a succession plan to transition fiduciary and management roles for the trusts and family investment vehicles.

Assisted a family in transitioning their business to the next generation through trusts, gifts and sales. In addition, we assisted the family with the reorganization of the corporate structure of the company, valued at over $1 billion.

Represented a family in estate planning by creating a family governance structure and transferring ownership of the family business to irrevocable GST trusts to benefit multiple generations. In addition, we facilitated the transfer of over $10 million to descendants, using a complex formula to minimize transfer tax exposure.

Assisted a client with $50 million in liquid assets by implementing 15 vertically structured “rolling” GRATs for staggered liquidity.