Trusts and Estate Planning

Hilton S. Bell, Sheila Moragas, and Carrie H. Pailet provide years of experience in providing legal guidance in the Trusts and Estate Planning practice of LaFleur & Laborde.  The Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization certified Bell and Toups as a specialist in tax and certified Moragas in estate planning and administration. Moragas has also earned membership in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.  

Our Trusts and Estate Planning section encompasses estates and trusts' design, development, and administration.  Our lawyers assist individuals, and their businesses in adequately planning for each client's situation. The Tax Trusts and Estates group provides tax and estate planning services for individuals, including wills, successions, charitable trusts, gifting, federal estate tax planning, and transactional planning. Our attorneys regularly create special needs trusts for families to address these complex personal and legal matters. Further, we assist with succession planning for family businesses, pre-and post-marital agreements, and charitable giving.

The firm handles interdictions and tutorships and represents the fiduciaries appointed in these cases. Our attorneys also represent parties in contested successions and trust administration disputes. We advise corporate and individual trustees administering special needs trusts.

The firm's attorneys administer Louisiana successions and ancillary estates that own Louisiana properties. We have represented our clients in tax disputes before the Internal Revenue Service, the Louisiana Department of Revenue, and the Louisiana Board of Tax Appeals. We also represent nonprofit organizations in connection with compliance and planning issues.