Law Firm Overview

We are a firm of attorneys specializing in estate and business planning located in Arvada and serving all of Colorado, especially the western Denver and Jefferson County metro areas of Golden, Wheat Ridge, Lakewood, Westminster, Broomfield, Louisville, Boulder, and Arvada. We also have clients who reside out of state, either because they couldn’t bear to be parted from us after they moved or because their Colorado friends or relatives recommended us.

When most people think of estate planning, they think of wills, living trusts, powers of attorney, and living wills. They may have read about family limited partnerships or personal residence trusts. These describe necessary documents, but in our view they are are merely words on paper without a process designed to incorporate the relationships and values they are intended to benefit.

Sometimes, we cannot say the same about business planning. In some cases, a corporation or limited liability company is nothing more than a legal entity. It may be established for asset protection or tax purposes, but it plays only a very small role in a client’s unique legacy.

Yet, this is not always the case. For many clients, their business is integral to their legacy. It is their biggest monetary asset, and a major influence in their relationships with family, friends, employees, and the community. For those clients, it is not enough to form a simple corporation or limited liability company, or even to have a partnership agreement or buy/sell contract between the shareholders. For those clients, more is needed to help their business grow and become a balanced part of their life and their legacy. One of the programs we have to accomplish this is the Your Corporate Counsel Advantage program.

Business Succession Planning can often clearly be connected to estate planning and business planning. Planning for how to exit your business has a direct relationship to planning your estate, providing for your loved ones, and nurturing the business that you worked so hard to create. Again, there are many documents and techniques available, from stock option plans or trusts to outright sale of the business. But only after going through a thorough counseling process to understand the client’s current situation and overall goals for business, family, and lifetime can we know which of these many business succession options will fit.

Business Coaching is sometimes a natural progression of working with clients. As their attorneys, we come to understand their business and their lives in a way that makes it natural for us to be able to help them see how to meet their goals of business growth, personal fulfillment, and a healthy balance between the two. As advisors to hundreds of businesses, we can apply our experience and insight to help business owners get more from their business without giving up more of their lives.

Areas of Practice

• Estate Planning - Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, etc.
• Business Organizations - Formation, Succession, etc.
• Business Transactions - Contracts, Sales, Purchases
• Probate & Estate Administration
• Guardianships & Conservatorships

Honors and Awards

• Wealth Strategies Planner, by Esperti Peterson Wealth Strategies Institute

Published Works

• Your Legacy: Meaningful Estate Planning, Karen Brady, 2008
• Colorado Estate Planning and Taxation, Bradford Legal Publishing, 2007
• On Being an Executor: The Ins and Outs Revealed, CSA Journal 32, 2006
• When It is Really Not About the Money: Some Personal Issues in Estate Planning, CSA Journal 25, 2004
• Probate with a Will, Colorado Bradford Legal Publishing, 2002

Classes and Seminars

• Splitting the Family Business, National Network Estate Planning Attorneys, 2008
• Tips and Trends in Business and Estates, CPA Club, 2009
• Issues in Estate Planning, National Association Insurance and Financial Advisors, 2008
• Legacy Planning, Longmont Senior Center, 2005
• Nuts and Bolts of Trusts, CFP Board of Standards, 2006
• Caregiver's Seminar, Senior's Resource Center, 2007 - 2008
• Estate Planning, LMC Community Foundation, 2004
• Estate Planning, National Association of Family Wealth Counselors, 2003
• Integrating Retirement Plans, Financial Planning Association - Colorado Chapter, 2001
• Integrating Retirement Plans, Financial Planning Association - Colorado Chapter, 2004

Pro Bono Activities

• MI CASA Resources Center, Denver, CO, 2005 - Present
• Pomona Music Boosters, Arvada, CO, 2007 - Present

Ancillary Businesses

• Business Coaching

West Practice Categories

Business & Commercial Law, Contracts, Transactions, Business Organizations, Business Successions, Closely Held Businesses, Formation & Business Planning, Limited Liability Companies, Partnerships, Employment Contracts -- Employer, Estate Planning, Guardianships & Conservatorships, Living Wills, Powers of Attorney and Appointment, Trusts, Wills, Prenuptial Agreements, Copyrights, Trademarks, Probate & Estate Administration, Estate Administration