Wealth Planning, Tax

For more than 15 years, Michael J. Baldwin's wealth transfer and private client practice has been focused on representation of and counsel to high net worth individuals, affluent families, family offices, family and non family business entities, estates, trusts, and charitable entities.

The primary focus of Mr. Baldwin's representation of individuals and families is preservation of wealth and the efficient transfer of wealth among generations. To achieve these goals, he spends extensive time educating his clients about various transfer techniques available, from the simple to the more advanced, and implementing the appropriate plan for each client.

Mr. Baldwin has extensive experience drafting individualized estate planning documents including wills, revocable management (living) trusts, irrevocable trusts, dynastic (exempt) trusts, and ancillary estate planning documents (powers of attorney/living wills). Additionally, he has vast experience in complex estate and transfer planning techniques, including proper use of irrevocable life insurance trusts, family partnerships and family limited liability companies, grantor retained annuity trusts, intentionally defective grantor trusts (including the sale of assets to such trusts), and foreign and domestic self-settled trusts.

Mr. Baldwin has considerable experience representing fiduciaries of estates and trusts. This representation includes counseling and assisting fiduciaries on all matters pertaining to the subject estate or trust, including all probate proceedings, estate and trust administrative matters, income and transfer tax planning, and asset distribution issues. He also represents fiduciaries, beneficiaries, and individuals in a variety of litigation matters, including trust modification and reformation suits, contested wills and trusts, and breaches of fiduciary duty.

Mr. Baldwin's practice also includes creating and representing various charitable trusts and charitable organizations. This practice area includes the planning and formation of charitable remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts, private foundations, supporting organizations, and the representation of exempt organizations for tax and non-tax matters.

Mr. Baldwin is on the Board of Directors of the Capital Area Food Bank Foundation; Board of Directors of the Capital Area Food Bank, where he was the Secretary from 2000 to 2006; and Board of Directors of the Austin Public Library Foundation, where he was Treasurer from 2000 to 2006. He is on the Board of Trustees of the Synod of the Sun Presbyterian Foundation.

• Inactive, Washington
• 1995, Texas
• United States Tax Court

• Co-author/Lecturer, "GST Planning — When Your Daddy Becomes Your Son (or Grandson)," State Bar of Texas, Advanced Estate Planning and Probate Course, Houston, Texas (June 2006)


• Co-author/Lecturer, "GST Planning — When Your Daddy Becomes Your Son (or Grandson)," The Center for American and International Law, Wills, Trusts, and Estate Planning Course, Plano, Texas (May 2006)


• Author/Lecturer, "Foreign Estate and Income Tax Planning for Individuals," State Bar of Texas, Advanced Estate Planning and Probate Course, Fort Worth, Texas (June 2005)


• Author/Lecturer, "Foreign Estate and Income Tax Planning for Individuals," State Bar of Texas, Advanced Tax Law Course, San Antonio, Texas (October 2004)


• Lecturer/Update Author, "Advanced Planning Techniques For Large Estates," Houston Bar Association, Wills and Probate Institute, Houston, Texas (February 2005)


• Lecturer/Update Author, "Estate, Gift and Inheritance Tax," Texas Bankers Association 28th Annual Texas Trust School, Dallas, Texas (July 2006)


• Lecturer/Update Author, "Estate, Gift and Inheritance Tax," Texas Bankers Association 27th Annual Texas Trust School, Dallas, Texas (June 2005)


• Author/Lecturer, "Preparing Federal Estate and Gift Tax Returns: New Law, New Forms, New Issues," 2004 Austin Chapter, Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants — Annual Tax Conference, Austin, Texas (November 2004)


• Author/Lecturer, "Maximizing Flexibility with Disclaimer Trust Drafting," University of Texas, 5th Annual Intermediate Estate Planning Guardianship and Elder Law Conference, Galveston, Texas (August 2003)