Sophisticated Estate Planning for Complex Wealth
Comprehensive wealth transfer and estate preservation strategies for families and business owners who have built significant wealth, and want to ensure it endures for generations.
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Years of Practice
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Families Served
0M+
Assets Protected
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Attorney Partners
Trusted Partners
Our Practice Areas
Integrated Strategies for
Multi-Generational Wealth
Trust & Estate Planning
Comprehensive trust structures including revocable living trusts, dynasty trusts, generation-skipping trusts, and charitable planning vehicles. We architect multi-layered strategies designed to minimize estate tax exposure while maintaining maximum flexibility for your family.
Asset Protection
Domestic and offshore asset protection strategies, LLC structuring, family limited partnerships, and creditor protection planning. We help business owners and high net worth individuals shield accumulated wealth from potential claims and liabilities.
Business Succession
Buy-sell agreements, ESOP planning, management buyouts, and family business transition strategies. We ensure your enterprise value is preserved and transferred efficiently, whether to family members, key employees, or outside buyers.
Insurance-Based Strategies
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs), private placement life insurance, premium financing, and annuity structures designed to create tax-efficient wealth transfer vehicles that complement your broader estate plan.
Who We Work With
Engagement Criteria
We typically engage with families and business owners whose situations require strategies beyond basic estate plan preparation. Our practice is designed for complexity, and we are candid about whether your situation warrants our level of engagement.
Estates exceeding $2 million in total value
Including real property, business interests, retirement accounts, investment portfolios, and life insurance death benefits.
Complex business ownership or partnership structures
Multi-entity structures, cross-purchase obligations, family businesses with multiple stakeholders, or professional practices requiring continuity planning.
Multi-generational wealth transfer objectives
Families seeking to preserve and grow wealth across two or more generations, including dynasty trust structures, family governance, and next-generation education.
The Data
The Cost of Inaction
40%
Federal estate tax rate on taxable estates exceeding the lifetime exemption
4–8%
Average cost of probate as a percentage of total estate value
70%
Of family wealth is depleted by the end of the second generation
Our Methodology
The Meridian Wealth Preservation Framework™
Every engagement is structured around four interdependent pillars. Rather than addressing estate planning as a single event, we design an integrated framework that adapts to legislative changes, life events, and evolving family dynamics.
Asset Structuring
Optimal titling, entity design, and ownership structures that position your assets for maximum protection and efficient transfer. Every asset should have a purpose and a destination.
Tax Efficiency
Proactive strategies to minimize estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes. We model multiple scenarios to ensure your plan is resilient against legislative change.
Succession Architecture
Comprehensive plans for business continuity, management transition, and ownership transfer, structured to preserve enterprise value and provide for all stakeholders.
Legacy Preservation
Governance structures, family education programs, and trust administration strategies designed to sustain wealth and family cohesion across multiple generations.
Clients We Serve
Business Owners
- Complex business assets requiring valuation and transition planning
- Succession needs spanning family members and key employees
- Key person dependencies that create enterprise risk
- Buy-sell agreement funding and cross-purchase arrangements
High Net Worth Families
- Multi-generational wealth requiring dynasty trust structures
- Estate tax exposure exceeding lifetime exemption amounts
- Complex trust structures needing ongoing administration
- Philanthropic goals integrated with tax-efficient giving
Executives & Professionals
- Equity compensation requiring careful exercise strategies
- Deferred compensation plans with complex distribution rules
- Concentrated stock positions needing diversification planning
- Retirement income optimization across multiple accounts
If your estate exceeds $1 million or your business is your primary asset, you need a comprehensive plan.
Principal
Christopher Brown
For more than fifteen years, Christopher Brown has guided high net worth families and business owners through the complexities of estate planning, wealth transfer, and business succession. His practice emphasizes institutional-caliber strategies delivered with the personal attention that only a boutique firm can provide.
Christopher holds advanced certifications in estate planning and insurance-based wealth transfer. He works closely with clients' existing attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors to ensure every strategy is fully integrated and optimally structured.
Assess Your Estate Planning Needs
Answer a few questions to understand what level of planning your situation requires.
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What is the approximate value of your total estate?
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
We specialize in complex estates, typically those exceeding $1 million in value or involving business ownership, multiple properties, or multi-generational wealth transfer needs. Our strategies are designed for situations that require more than basic document preparation.
Collaboration is central to our approach. Christopher works alongside your existing attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors to ensure every strategy is fully integrated. If you do not currently have an estate planning attorney, we can recommend qualified professionals from our network.
A dynasty trust is designed to hold and grow assets for multiple generations, potentially in perpetuity. Assets in a properly structured dynasty trust are generally protected from estate taxes at each generational level and from beneficiaries' creditors. This structure is most beneficial for families with wealth that exceeds the lifetime exemption.
Every engagement begins with a comprehensive discovery phase that typically takes two to four weeks. The full planning and implementation process varies based on complexity, but most clients have a complete strategy in place within 60 to 90 days.
Complex Wealth Requires
Sophisticated Planning
Schedule a confidential consultation with Christopher Brown to discuss your estate planning objectives. Every engagement begins with a comprehensive review of your current situation and goals.
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