Riemer & Braunstein Llp

Kenneth S. Federman

Of Counsel / Trusts & Estates: Boston Office; 617-880-3432; 617-692-3432 fax; kfederman@riemerlaw.com

Ken is both a practicing attorney and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with extensive experience assisting families facing the personal and financial issues related to the preservation and transfer of wealth. Ken is skilled at assisting clients in choosing and implementing the planning techniques that best suit them, including revocable trusts, irrevocable gifting trusts, total return trusts, unitrusts, insurance trusts, Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs), Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs), family limited partnerships (FLPs), limited liability companies, charitable trusts, and private foundations. When a client’s estate planning involves closely held stock or real estate, he works closely with the corporate and real estate attorneys, affording clients the advantage of an integrated approach to legal services.

Ken’s practice also encompasses all aspects of the administration of decedents’ estates and assisting the family in implementing the estate plan. His estate administration practice includes probate of wills—including will contests, preparing estate tax returns, assisting CPAs in preparing estate and trust income tax returns, preparing probate and trust accountings, and representing trustees.

Ken often lectures in the areas of estate planning and administration for continuing education seminars and has published articles regarding tax laws.

Representative Matters

Assisted a client who had sold his business to establish and administer a GRAT to remove extensive appreciation of the value of the business from the taxable estate
Assisted clients in gifting a residence to maximize protection from potential creditors
Negotiation of pre-nuptial agreements
Assisted a family in establishing a guardian for their young child, and structured life insurance to provide that child with financial security
Structured a series of trusts to establish the desired plan for a family created by the marriage of individuals with children from prior marriages
Assisted a family in creating an estate plan that met the clients’ goals of financial security for the surviving (non-working) spouse and preservation of the desired level of wealth for the surviving children
Assisted in structuring and implementing a trust that allowed the diversification of a highly appreciated investment asset that avoided capital gains tax
Guided the Trustee of a funded, ongoing trust with requests from the beneficiaries for distributions from the trust

Affiliations: American Bar Association; Boston Bar Association; Boston Estate Planning Council; Massachusetts Bar Association

Admissions: State of Connecticut, 1982; Massachusetts Certified Public Accountant, 1983; Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1986

Education: National Law Center at George Washington University, LL.M. with highest honors, 1983; Seton Hall University, J.D., 1982; Ithaca College, B.S., 1978