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Professional Experience
Dawn joined McDonough Holland & Allen’s Estate Planning and Probate group in 1981. Dawn is certified as a specialist in both Taxation Law and in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization. She specializes in estate planning and trust administration for family business owners, including farmers and ranchers, real estate investors and real estate developers. She assists clients in passing family wealth from one generation to another in a tax efficient manner, while implementing clients’ goals for disposition of their assets.
Dawn advises clients regarding tax planning to minimize estate taxes, gift taxes, generation-skipping taxes, income taxes and property taxes. She also prepares estate tax returns and gift tax returns, and she represents clients in estate tax audits and gift tax audits. She prepares revocable trusts, wills, powers of attorney (health care and financial), insurance trusts, charitable remainder trusts, prenuptial agreements and property agreements. She also assists clients in forming family business entities such as family partnerships, limited liability companies and corporations.
Representative Matters
Prepared revocable trust for husband and wife with provisions to minimize estate taxes and generation-skipping taxes; prepared irrevocable trusts for grandchildren’s education; formed limited liability companies for ownership of rental real properties for asset protection planning and to facilitate transfer of ownership interests to family members.
Formed family partnership for shopping center assets and securities; gifted partnership interests to family members during mother’s lifetime and filed gift tax returns; prepared estate tax return after mother’s death and represented children in audit of estate tax return with minimal adjustments.
Wife died owning substantial assets and left everything outright to husband; assisted husband with disclaimer planning and initiated probate proceedings to pass $1.5 million of securities to children to utilize wife’s estate tax exemption; prepared spousal property petition to pass wife’s remaining assets to husband; formed revocable trust for husband; considered tax planning such as gifts or sales of fractional interests in real properties to children, or formation of family partnership, to reduce valuation at husband’s death.
Father was co-owner of a $25 million business and other substantial assets; assisted children in settling father’s affairs after his death; hired and worked with business appraisers to value business interests, fractional interests in real properties, and claims against the estate; prepared estate tax return, and made special tax elections for a qualified family owned business interest and for installment payment of estate taxes; prepared court petitions to improve the allocation of generation-skipping exemption among irrevocable trusts; prepared complex distribution agreement among beneficiaries for present and future distribution of assets; prepared shareholders agreement for operation of business and future transfers of business interests; prepared tenancy in common agreements for co-ownership of real property.
Presentations/Publications
Presenter, Estate Planning and Administration: 20th Annual Recent Developments, Continuing Education of the Bar, Sacramento, January 2005
Presenter, Estate Planning and Administration: 19th Annual Recent Developments, Continuing Education of the Bar, Sacramento, January 2004
Presenter, Estate Planning and Administration : 18th Annual Recent Developments, Continuing Education of the Bar, Sacramento, January 2003
Presenter, Distributions From IRAs and Qualified Plans, Sacramento Bar Association, March 2001
Presenter, Family Wealth Transfer and Business Succession, McDonough Holland & Allen PC, June 1999
Leadership Positions/Affiliations
Member, Sacramento Estate Planning Council
Member and Past President, Sacramento County Bar Association - Probate and Estate Planning Section
Member and Past President, Women Lawyers of Sacramento
Member, State Bar of California - Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Section
Chairman, McGeorge School of Law - Planned Giving Committee
Board of Trustees, Dixon Educational Foundation
Past Director, Community Child Care Programs, Inc.
Treasurer and Board Member, Sacramento Valley Women’s Soccer League | 