Emily Karr

Corporate Law

Tax, Benefits and Estate Planning

Family Office & Wealth Management

Emily Karr is a Partner in Buchalter's Portland office and a member of Buchalter's Corporate practice group. Ms. Karr advises clients about estate planning and the administration of estates and trusts. She provides advice related to estate and gift taxes, the income taxation of estates, trusts and beneficiaries, and issues concerning charitable giving and tax-exempt organizations. Her estate planning practice includes establishing family limited liability companies, insurance and personal residence trusts, generation-skipping trusts, dynasty trusts, spousal trusts, and grantor and non-grantor trusts, and domestic partner planning.

Ms. Karr focuses on family-owned business succession planning, including trusts or other arrangements that can facilitate the transfer of a family business to the next generation. She also focuses on clients with specialized issues, such as executives, entrepreneurs, authors, performers, athletes, and artists. She specializes in international estate and tax planning for individuals, families, and trusts. She advises U.S. and foreign citizens with business or personal interests offshore, and foreign citizens with permanent U.S. or foreign residency who have unique community property and asset protection issues or estates that span multiple countries.

Ms. Karr can handle all aspects of settling estates, from preparing and filing pleadings and documents for probate court to marshaling and inventorying estate assets, settling claims, and preparing tax returns. She advises trustees on tax and accounting responsibilities and helps interpret trust provisions and eventual distribution of assets. This includes preparing fiduciary income tax returns and preparing estate and inheritance tax returns upon death.

She advises nonprofit boards on corporate governance, tax-exempt organization law, and developing charitable giving plans involving charitable lead trusts, charitable remainder trusts, charitable gift annuities, and private foundations. Ms. Karr serves as the Chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon, advising the Bishop and various Diocesan governing bodies and institutions on secular legal issues, Church canons, and ecclesiastical proceedings.