Private Client Services
Confidential and Discrete. ARB’s Private Client team serves New England’s affluent families and individuals, closely held business owners, venture capital and private equity investors, and people who have received large sums from an inheritance, sale of a business, or the lottery. We consider all generations of a family our clients, as we help you achieve your goal of leaving a legacy through trust creation, family foundations, or strategic generational wealth transfers. We collaborate as a team with your family office, attorneys, wealth advisors and insurance specialists to facilitate solutions to your complex family tax issues.
How We Work with Private Clients
We primarily serve family offices as their go-to tax compliance and tax planning partner. Our family office clients appreciate our perspective and experience. In addition to compliance work, such as preparation of income, gift, private foundation, business entity, trust and estate tax returns, we also calculate quarterly estimated income tax payments; provide tax controversy, audit, and examination representation; and engage in all varieties of tax planning to minimize taxes and assist clients with achieving their goals. We have assisted our family office clients with the design, implementation, and annual compliance related to “fund of funds” family investment partnerships.
A family office might have a limited number of employees, which makes segregation of duties a challenge. Our Accounting and Attest Services team can assist family offices with Agreed Upon Procedures and Operational Review engagements designed to strengthen internal controls and provide peace of mind to family members.
We typically work as a member of the team of attorneys, financial advisors, and others to develop and design plans to reduce estate and/or gift tax.
We provide tax compliance services for all varieties of trusts, to include multi-state tax compliance and tax planning services. We can also act as trustee in certain circumstances or trustees.
When younger generations begin to take responsibility for family assets, we work with other advisors related to tax compliance, tax planning, prenuptial agreements, divorce agreements, trust creation, trust compliance, and trust terminations.
Evaluation of the use of private foundations, donor-advised funds, and other charitable giving strategies to achieve their personal goals while minimizing income taxes.
Preparation of Form 990-PF, bookkeeping and investment accounting services, qualified distribution planning, expenditure responsibility reporting, planning, and projections related to the net investment income tax rate and advice to avoid running afoul of the various prohibited transactions applicable to private foundations.
Guidance with respect to the design, implementation, and annual compliance related to Family Limited Partnerships.
How We're Helping Our Private Clients
Estate Plan Review: We’ll review the estate plan documents for a client with an eye toward minimizing taxes through trusts, family limited partnerships, gifting, and other tax strategies.
Quarterly Income Tax Projections: We regularly and proactively calculate quarterly tax payments and communicate with our private clients and their family offices about which account the funds will come from and making electronic payments to the state and IRS.
Trust Compliance and Planning: We help our clients navigate the complexities of fiduciary income taxation. We have experience with grantor trusts, complex trusts, simple trusts, charitable trusts, intentionally defective grantor trusts, ESBTs, QSSTs, and many other varieties of trusts. Whether our involvement is with planning for establishing the trust, compliance during the term of the trust, or winding down a trust at the end of its term, we have the experience to assist trustees and beneficiaries. We can also act as a trustee in certain circumstances.
Family and Investment Partnership Design and Compliance: When a Family Limited Partnership or a “fund of funds” Investment Partnership is part of a family’s wealth management plan, we can provide guidance during all stages of the entity’s life. From establishment and annual compliance to liquidation, we will work with other advisors to ensure the entity achieves the family’s financial goals.
Private Foundations: We service some of the largest private foundations in Northern New England. Beyond the required compliance matters encountered by private foundations, we can help with planning qualified distribution strategies that achieve charitable goals, while taking tax efficiency into account. We help our clients steer clear of self-dealing, jeopardy investments, taxable expenditures, excess business holdings, and prohibited transactions. ARB can also provide guidance and compliance for any distributions that might require expenditure responsibility reporting.
Multi-Generational Planning: As the legacy generation in a family reaches adulthood and takes responsibility for some of the family assets, we work with the private client’s other advisors to discuss tax filings and legal matters, including prenuptial agreements, trusts, and trust distributions.
Private Client Advisory Services Team Leaders
Daniel P. Doiron, CPA, CVA | Tax Principal
Individual Tax Services Practice Leader
Dan has been in public accounting since his college internship with ARB in 1986. He has been a Principal since 1996 and works extensively with all types of clients to solve their compliance and tax planning issues. Dan was the May 1987 State of Maine Gold Medalist for earning the highest scores on all four parts of the CPA Examination.
