Trusts & Estates

Practice Trusts Estates 1

Overview

The AP&S Trusts & Estates Group is recognized for sophisticated and creative planning techniques that minimize your taxes and maximize your control of your assets. That’s why business owners, professionals and others with significant wealth or property choose us to achieve their long-term financial objectives.

We work to understand your unique situation and provide customized estate planning and wealth transfer strategies to realize your financial goals, for the benefit of you, your family, your business and the organizations you support.

For new or revised estate plans, we devise tax-efficient business succession for closely held businesses, smart charitable giving strategies, and innovative trust arrangements. We can collaborate with your accountant, financial planner, insurance consultant and/or broker to create a seamless financial plan that meets your objectives.

Areas of Concentration

  • Estate planning
  • Financial planning
  • Long-term care planning
  • Retirement planning
  • Trusts
  • Wealth preservation/Asset protection
  • Charitable giving
  • Insurance planning
  • Closely held business succession and planning

Experience

  • Drafting wills and trust documents.
  • Advising as to the strategic role of life insurance in estate planning, including the use of irrevocable trusts.
  • Planning for incapacity or death.
  • Planning for clients with dependents or family members with special needs.
  • Representing descendants and guardianship estates in probate proceedings, including contested matters.
  • Representing decedents’ estates including preparation of fiduciary income and estate tax returns.
  • Representing trustees in the administration of their duties as fiduciaries.
  • Lifetime planning, including gifts and gift tax returns.
  • Elder law, including Medicaid planning and Medicaid qualification.
  • Minimizing asset exposure to creditors and protecting assets.
  • Specialized income and estate planning for transferring closely-held businesses to the next generation and buy-sell agreements.
  • Charitable giving, including the formation of tax-exempt corporations and charitable trusts.
  • Executive and nonqualified deferred compensation, split-dollar funding and/or life insurance, and other fringe benefits for business owners and key employees.

Case Studies

AP&S Successfully Defends Charitable Organizations in $60 Million Litigation

Seminars

  • M. Kelly, Presenter, RI Bar Association Annual Meeting, RI Estate Taxation, Practical Considerations & Tips, 2024.
  • M. Kelly, Co-Presenter, Planning for and Administering a Small Estate, Rhode Island Bar CLE, 2021.
  • M. Kelly, Presenter, Basic Estate Planning for All, 2023.

Publications

  • M. Kelly, Co-Author, MCLE New England, A Practical Guide to Probate in Rhode Island, 2nd Edition, 2020, Chapter 2, Probating the Will.
  • M. Kelly, Author, MCLE New England, A Practical Guide to Estate Planning in Massachusetts, Chapter 17- Post Mortem Estate Planning.
  • M. Kelly, Author, Thompson Reuters, Practical Law/Practice Notes- Probate: Rhode Island and Ancillary Estate Administration: Rhode Island (forthcoming 2025).
  • M. Kelly, Blog, The Death of “Tax-Free” Internet Shopping-Byer AND Seller Beware – The Future Lies with South Dakota Dept. of Revenue v. Wayfair, Inc. et al.
  • M. Kelly, Author, Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc.: How the Court Misconstrues Precedent for a Desired Outcome and Sets Campaign Finance Reform Backwards Three Decades, Money in Politics/Election Law Seminar, Roger Williams University School of Law, 2009.

  • Rated Tier 1 Metropolitan “Best Law Firm” 2015 by Best Lawyers®.