Overview
Also serving many closely-held businesses, Mark often acts as the trusted adviser to multiple generations of families, assisting them in building and protecting wealth. For example, he has worked with multiple families holding significant real estate, business assets and marketable securities, with a considerable tax savings result for each family. In recent transactions, he successfully addressed his clients’ primary goals of minimizing taxes, protecting assets from divorce and lawsuits, and diminishing the impact of the realized wealth on the productivity and initiative of future generations.
Representative Experience
- Estate planning
- Estate administration
- Tax planning
- Asset protection planning
- Charitable planning, including:
- Structuring charitable donations to maximize tax benefits
- Creating and advising private foundations and public charities
- Conservation easements
- International planning, including:
- Advising U.S. citizens and resident aliens on tax consequences of expatriating
- Tailoring estate plans for foreign (non-U.S. citizen) individuals
- Negotiating foreign real estate purchases
- Advising on U.S. tax consequences of foreign trusts and entities
- Trust, estate and fiduciary litigation
- Premarital agreements
- Structuring ownership of family vacation residences
Notable
Notable
- Best Lawyers in America, Tax Law, 2020-2024; Trusts and Estates, 2020-2024
- North Carolina Super Lawyers, Estate Planning & Probate, 2012-2019, 2023-2024
- Business North Carolina Legal Elite, Tax and Estate Planning, 2014-2015, 2023
- Charlotte Magazine's Five Star Award for Best in Client Satisfaction Wealth Manager (SM), 2009-2014
- North Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2009-2011
- North Carolina Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law
- Advisor, Kulwicki Driver Development Program, 2013-2018
- President and Board Member, Charlotte Estate Planning Council, 2011-2017
- Chair and Board Member, Queens University Estate Planners Day Steering Committee, 2005-2014
- Foundation For The Carolinas Cabinet of Professional Advisors, 2009-2011
- Chair, Mecklenburg County Bar Estate Planning and Probate Section, 2006-2008
- Co-Author, ”Individual Estate and Tax Planning After Tax Reform,” The Will & The Way, February 2018
- Author, “Ideas to Consider in Making Trusts a Part of an Estate Plan,” Estate Planning Journal, May 2012
- Frequent speaker on tax and estate planning topics, including:
- Planning for the family business owner
- Asset protection trusts
- Sophisticated estate planning techniques
News
News
Blogs and Resources
Alerts
Affiliations
Affiliations
- American Bar Association: Taxation Section; Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section
- North Carolina Bar Association: Taxation Section; Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law Section
- Mecklenburg County Bar Estate Planning and Probate Section
Speaking Engagements
Speaking Engagements
- "Federal and State Recent Developments," North Carolina Bar Association Estate Planning and Probate Section Annual Meeting, Kiawah Island, SC, July 2018
- “Practicing Law in Other States/Planning Risks for Adjacent States,” State Bar of Georgia Fiduciary Law Institute, St. Simons Island, GA, July 2015
Capabilities
Education
J.D., University of Virginia, 1997; Phi Delta Phi; Articles Review Board, Virginia Environmental Law Journal; Sandridge Scholarship
B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1994, with honors; Phi Beta Kappa; Johnston Scholar; National Merit Scholar; Honors Program
Admissions
- New York, 2016
- North Carolina, 1997