Estate planning
Cummings & Lockwood
Cummings & Lockwood LLC is a Connecticut-based law firm serving individuals, families, family offices, closely held businesses, charitable entities, and other commercial enterprises. Its practice areas are trusts and estates, corporate and finance, litigation and arbitration, and commercial and residential real estate.
The private clients group is one of the largest trusts and estates practices in the United States. Its work covers estate planning and administration; estate, income, and gift tax; trust formation and management; executor and trustee services; charitable giving and foundations; probate law; and residential real estate. Many of its private clients attorneys have been elected to the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
The commercial side handles litigation and dispute resolution, real estate investment and development, banking, lending and credit transactions, corporate acquisitions and divestitures, and partnership, limited liability company, and tax matters. Those clients include entrepreneurs, closely held companies, regional and international corporations, hedge funds, private equity firms, financial institutions, and not-for-profit organizations.
Founded in 1909 by two lawyers in Stamford, the firm now has over 200 attorneys, fiduciary accountants, paralegals, and staff across six offices: Stamford, Greenwich, and West Hartford in Connecticut, and Naples, Bonita Springs, and Palm Beach Gardens in Florida. Most clients are in Connecticut, New York, and Florida, though the firm reports clients in nearly all 50 US states and in over 20 countries. Fee arrangements are not published on the site.
Best for
Individuals, families, and family offices with substantial or multi-state assets who need estate planning, trust administration, or fiduciary services in Connecticut, New York, or Florida, plus closely held businesses needing succession and transaction counsel.
What they do
- Estate planning and estate administration
- Trust formation and trust management
- Executor and trustee services
- Estate, gift, and income tax planning
- Charitable giving and private foundations
- Probate law
- Commercial and residential real estate
- Corporate acquisitions and divestitures
- Litigation, arbitration, and dispute resolution
Details
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1909 |
| Team size | 201-500 employees |
| Other offices | Greenwich, CT, West Hartford, CT, Naples, FL, Bonita Springs, FL, Palm Beach Gardens, FL |
What stands out
- Founded in 1909 and reports over 200 attorneys, fiduciary accountants, paralegals, and staff.
- Six offices: Stamford, Greenwich, and West Hartford, Connecticut, and Naples, Bonita Springs, and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
- Reports clients in nearly all 50 US states and in over 20 countries.
- Many private clients attorneys have been elected to the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
Common questions
- What should trigger a discussion about a dynasty trust?
- A family ordinarily begins to consider a dynasty trust once it believes its assets are likely to last beyond the lives of its children. The structure relies on the statutes of states that let trusts last 360 years or more, among them Connecticut, Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Nevada, and South Dakota, and on allocating generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to the trust property, so assets can reach multiple generations without estate or generation-skipping transfer tax.
- What is a family trust company?
- A family trust company is an entity that provides trust services similar to those an individual, a bank, or a public trust company can provide. It can serve as trustee of trusts held for family members and can also provide fiduciary, investment advisory, wealth management, and administrative services to the family. It must generally be owned exclusively by family members.
- Why would a family form a family trust company?
- Common reasons include needing an independent trustee when the usual options do not suit the family, holding specialized assets such as agricultural property, a family-owned business, or private equity and venture investments, and wanting more responsiveness and flexibility, including separate investment managers by asset class. Families also use one to consolidate investments and family office matters, to support succession planning and wealth education, and to be supervised by a state regulator rather than by the SEC.