Joel Voran is the chief executive officer of Lathrop & Gage LLP. He assumed the role in May 2007 after spending seven years on the firm's executive committee and two years chairing its Wealth Strategies practice.
Mr. Voran has more than 30 years of experience in estate planning, tax law and general corporate matters. He specializes in wealth retention planning for successful closely held business owners and their families and high net worth corporate executives, including the planning and implementation of the following transactions:
- Successful transition of closely held businesses to the next generation without estate or gift tax cost through the use of grantor retained annuity trusts and similar techniques. Size of companies have ranged from $15 million to over $500 million in value.
- Use of grantor retained annuity trusts to transfer publicly traded stock and stock options to future generations without transfer tax.
- Use of family limited partnerships to hold closely held stock prior to a tax-free merger with a publicly traded company, thereby reducing estate and gift tax costs and deferring income tax costs. Size of transactions have exceeded $35 million.
- Use of private annuity sales of stock and limited partnership interests to family members or controlled corporations resulting in estate tax savings of over $2 million.
- Formation of numerous family limited partnerships to reduce gift and estate tax costs and to provide a vehicle for holding family business interests and educating younger generation members on wealth management issues.
- Formation of charitable foundations, including an operating foundation designed to facilitate exhibition of artworks.
- Successful implementation of an ESOP, resulting in elimination of capital gain on majority shareholder's sales of stock to ESOP.
He has been honored by Worth magazine as among the top 100 trust and estates attorneys in the nation and is a member of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
