For Financial Advisors | Estate and Tax Counsel, Published Fees, Named Partners | Boland Law Group, PLLC

For financial advisors and allied professionals

The estate and tax bench behind your practice.

Arizona’s private client law firm, working alongside the advisor who made the introduction.

You already know when a client needs more than a will. What you rarely get is a firm that will tell you the fee before you make the call, take the matter on a published schedule, and hand the client back to you with funding instructions in writing. That is the whole offer.

Price a client plan → Make an introduction

Over 50 years of practice LL.M. tax bench Published fee schedules Scottsdale, by appointment

The runway ledger

What a deadline costs, read from today.

Calendar lane, for a December 31 execution

Deadline lane, from acceptance to signingStandard runway is 90 days

Read it this way. A timing loading multiplies the advanced formula and one-time companion services. It never touches a core plan or annual administration. The greater trigger governs and triggers never stack. Expedite buys attorney hours; it cannot accelerate an appraiser, a carrier, or the Service. The two lanes above are the same rules the estimator applies.

Our side of the introduction

Five things you can count on before you send the first name.

A referral to counsel is a risk an advisor takes with the relationship. These are the terms we hold ourselves to, so the risk is small.

We manage nothing.

No assets under management, no products, no commissions, no insurance license. There is nothing for us to cross-sell, and no version of this where we end up competing with you.

No referral fees, either direction.

Arizona’s rules of professional conduct prohibit paying for a recommendation, and we would decline anyway. Your introduction buys priority and partner access, not a payment.

You stay on the matter.

Copied on scheduling, welcome in the design meeting with your client’s consent, and told what changed when the plan changes.

The client comes back to you funded.

The trust is the container; you manage what goes in it. Funding instructions, titling, and beneficiary designation language go back to the advisor of record in writing.

You will know the fee first.

Every core and advanced fee is published. The estimator returns a number in about three minutes and asks for no contact details to do it, so you can price the conversation before you have it.

When to pick up the phone

10 moments in a client’s life that are worth a call.

Each one has a tell you will see before we do, a reason the timing matters, and a published fee anchor. Pick the situation on your desk this week.

A business or a concentrated block is being sold in the next 12 to 24 months

The client has taken a call from a banker, hired a quality of earnings firm, or started tidying the cap table.

Almost every move below has to be finished before the deal becomes certain. Once a letter of intent is signed the appraiser has a number, the charitable transfer turns fact intensive, and the gain starts looking like the seller's no matter who holds the paper. The stage ladder below this console shows what is still open at each point in a process.

Freeze the value and move the appreciation

IDGT Intentionally defective grantor trust

$35,000+plus $1,500 per $1M above $7.5 million

Grantor trust by design, typically GST-exempt, in anticipation of a sale.

Installment sale to grantor trust Transaction layer

$60,000+plus $2,000 per $1M above $7.5 million

Seed gift, then a sale for a note at the applicable federal rate; factor runs on the note.

GRAT First vintage

$35,000+plus $1,000 per $1M above $7.5 million

Zeroed-out against the month’s 7520 rate; appreciation above the hurdle passes.

Family LLC / FLP Formation and valuation coordination

$45,000+plus $1,000 per $1M above $7.5 million

The container: transfer restrictions, succession, capitalization. Appraisal at cost.

Business succession Recapitalization architecture

$35,000+plus $1,000 per $1M above $7.5 million

Control and value transfer on different schedules when they should.

BDIT / BDOT Beneficiary defective trust

$15,000+plus $2,000 per $1M above $7.5 million

A third party settles it; the beneficiary runs it. The catalog’s highest factor carries the audit posture.

Charitable, and only while the sale is still uncertain

A pre-sale gift of stock is the single largest tax lever in a business exit: the charity or the trust sells, the built-in gain is not taxed to the client, and the deduction lands in the year of the highest income the client will ever have. It is also the move the Service looks at hardest, which is why it belongs early.

Charitable remainder trust CRAT / CRUT / Flip-CRUT

$35,000+plus $1,000 per $1M above $7.5 million

Income to your family first, remainder to charity, against the 10% remainder requirement.

Charitable lead trust Grantor or non-grantor

$50,000+plus $1,500 per $1M above $7.5 million

Charity leads, family remainders; a zeroed-out CLAT can move the remainder at little or no transfer tax cost.

Private foundation Formation

$10,000+plus $1,000 per $1M above $7.5 million

An institution rather than a trust; factor on the initial endowment. IRS user fee at cost.

Donor-advised fund coordination

$3,500flat

Sponsor selection, advisory succession, integration with the plan.

Figures are the published minimums before scoping. Run the exact number in the fee estimator.

The sale runway

Why a business sale is planned in quarters, not weeks.

Nearly every structure worth building around an exit has to be finished before the deal becomes certain. The Service knows this, and last-minute planning is exactly where it looks. This is the ladder we work from.

3 years out

Before a sale is a thought

The best exits are planned by owners who were not yet selling. Entity structure, trust architecture, and the qualified small business stock analysis all reward being early, and none of them can be improvised once a process starts.

12 to 36 months out

Do the structural work

Form and capitalize the entity, and let it operate on its own terms. IRC 2036 has no seasoning safe harbor and the Service will not rule in advance, so what carries the bona fide sale exception is a record of real operation built over time.

6 to 12 months out

The practical floor

Our view of the minimum. Every advanced structure, every transfer, and every document should be finished, funded, and operating by this point, not started. Below this the work is still possible, and it is simply less comfortable to defend.

The letter of intent

The outer limit

By the time a letter is signed the planning should already be behind the client. The doctrinal test is whether the sale had become practically certain, so a non-binding letter is evidence rather than a verdict, but it is where the argument stops being comfortable.

A separate number, so it is not confused with the above. Once a plan is scoped, our standard drafting runway is 90 days from acceptance to signing for advanced work, and the timing loadings on the ledger price a schedule shorter than that. That is how long it takes us to draft. It is not how long the planning takes, and it sits inside the windows above rather than in place of them. No fee buys back tax runway that has already been spent.

The stage ladder

Read down the column your client is standing in. This is a planning aid, not a legal standard and not a safe harbor. Every doctrine underneath it is fact intensive, the reported cases turn on details, and experienced practitioners draw these lines differently. What the ladder shows is the direction of travel, and it only runs one way.

OpenNarrowingFact intensiveClosedCash only

What is still available, by deal stage
Planning move	Before a sale is a thought3 years or more out	Early preparation12 to 36 months out	The practical floor6 to 12 months out	In marketBanker engaged, buyers approached	Letter of intentSigned, still non-binding	Definitive agreementBinding commitment	After closingCash in hand
Family LLC or FLP, valuation discounts	Open at Before a sale is a thought	Open at Early preparation	Narrowing at The practical floor	Fact intensive at In market	Closed at Letter of intent	Closed at Definitive agreement	Closed at After closing
IRC 2036 pulls the entity back into the estate unless the transfer was a bona fide sale with a legitimate and significant purpose beyond tax. There is no seasoning safe harbor and the Service will not rule in advance; what carries the exception is a record of an entity actually formed, capitalized, and operated on its own terms, and that record is built over years rather than asserted at audit.
GRAT, first vintage	Open at Before a sale is a thought	Open at Early preparation	Open at The practical floor	Narrowing at In market	Fact intensive at Letter of intent	Closed at Definitive agreement	Closed at After closing
The GRAT shifts what appreciates above the 7520 hurdle after funding. Fund it while the company is still valued on its own numbers and the spread is real. Fund it once a process has produced a price and the appraiser has to use what a willing buyer would then know, so there is little left to shift.
IDGT and installment sale to the trust	Open at Before a sale is a thought	Open at Early preparation	Narrowing at The practical floor	Narrowing at In market	Fact intensive at Letter of intent	Closed at Definitive agreement	Closed at After closing
Seed gift, then a sale for a note at the applicable federal rate. The structure rests on the valuation used for the sale, and that valuation gets harder to defend with every buyer that sees the book. The seed gift also wants to be old enough that it is not read as one step in a single plan.
Non-grantor trusts for IRC 1202 stock	Open at Before a sale is a thought	Open at Early preparation	Narrowing at The practical floor	Narrowing at In market	Closed at Letter of intent	Closed at Definitive agreement	Closed at After closing
Separate non-grantor trusts can each be their own taxpayer for the qualified small business stock exclusion. The stock has to move by gift well before the sale is practically certain, the trusts have to be real and separately administered, and the holding period requirement does not pause while a deal is negotiated.
Charitable remainder trust funded with stock	Open at Before a sale is a thought	Open at Early preparation	Open at The practical floor	Narrowing at In market	Fact intensive at Letter of intent	Closed at Definitive agreement	Cash only at After closing
The trust sells, the built-in gain is not taxed to the client on that sale, and the income stream and the deduction remain. Rev. Rul. 78-197 gives the workable line and the Tax Court held the Service to it in Rauenhorst: the donee must not be legally bound, or compellable, to sell. Ferguson is the other side, where shares had ripened into a fixed right to cash.
Charitable lead trust	Open at Before a sale is a thought	Open at Early preparation	Open at The practical floor	Narrowing at In market	Fact intensive at Letter of intent	Closed at Definitive agreement	Cash only at After closing
A zeroed-out lead trust moves the remainder to the family at little or no transfer tax cost. Funded with pre-sale equity it does the income tax job and the transfer tax job at once. Funded with cash after closing it still does the transfer tax job, which is why this row does not go dark at the end.
Gift of stock to a donor-advised fund or foundation	Open at Before a sale is a thought	Open at Early preparation	Open at The practical floor	Narrowing at In market	Fact intensive at Letter of intent	Closed at Definitive agreement	Cash only at After closing
Same assignment of income analysis as the remainder trust, with two extra traps: a private foundation deduction for closely held stock is limited to basis where a public charity, donor-advised fund, or remainder trust takes fair market value, and the excess business holdings rules cap what either can hold.
ILIT and annual exclusion gifting	Open at Before a sale is a thought	Open at Early preparation	Open at The practical floor	Open at In market	Open at Letter of intent	Open at Definitive agreement	Open at After closing
The only row that never closes. A liquidity event usually creates the estate tax problem rather than solving it, and insurance owned by a trust from issue sits outside both estates. A policy the insured already owns carries a three-year lookback when it is transferred, which is its own argument for starting early.

The three doctrines doing the work

Assignment of income

A gift of stock made after the gain is effectively fixed is treated as a gift of the proceeds, and the client is taxed anyway. In Ferguson the shares ripened into a right to cash once a tender offer crossed its threshold. Rev. Rul. 78-197 gives the workable line, and in Rauenhorst the Tax Court held the Service to it: the donee must not be legally bound, or compellable, to sell.

Valuation as of the transfer date

A willing buyer is assumed to know what is knowable on the day of the transfer. A live sale process is knowable. Discounts do not disappear at once, they compress, and the appraisal has to say why any discount survives the process the company is in.

IRC 2036 and the bona fide sale exception

Retained enjoyment or retained control pulls transferred property back into the estate. The exception requires a legitimate and significant non-tax purpose, evidenced by how the entity was actually run, which is a record built over years rather than asserted at audit.

What the ladder does not decide

Whether any of this is right for the client. A charitable structure that saves tax and defeats the family objective is a failure. The first meeting sorts that before anything is drafted.

Watch-outs an advisor can spot early

The doctrinal test is not the letter of intent itself. It is whether the sale had become practically certain when the transfer happened, and a non-binding letter is evidence rather than a verdict. The letter is where we draw the practical line because that is where the argument stops being comfortable.
If the target is an S corporation the charitable options change. A charitable remainder trust is not a permitted shareholder, and a donor-advised fund or foundation holding the stock pays unrelated business income tax on the income and on the gain.
Every non-cash charitable gift above the reporting threshold needs a qualified appraisal and Form 8283, valued as of the transfer date rather than the closing date.
A redemption arranged in advance is the classic failure. The charity has to be free to say no.
Debt inside the entity or the stock creates debt-financed income in a charitable vehicle and can disqualify a remainder trust entirely.
Discounts are a valuation question, not a document question. The appraiser has to consider what a willing buyer would know on the transfer date, and a live sale process is something a willing buyer would know.

The single most useful thing an advisor does here is call while the client is still saying "someday." Every month of runway is worth more than any clause we can draft after a letter of intent.

What it costs

Published, itemized, and the same number for everyone.

Core planning is a fixed fee by household gross estate. Advanced work is a base plus a funding factor. Controversy, administration, and taxable estate tax returns are hourly. Nothing here is a range you have to negotiate your client into.

Core plans, fixed fee, by household gross estate
Architecture	Under $5 millionFoundations	$5 million to $15 millionFoundations for Sizable Wealth	$15 million to $30 millionExemption and GST Architecture	$30 million to $45 millionBeyond the Combined Exemption	Above $45 millionFamily Office Scale
Core estate planningSingle	$5,000	$6,000	$6,000	$10,000+	$15,000+
A Trust OnlySurvivor's Trust	$5,500	$6,500	·	·	·
A Trust OnlyBlended Family	$5,850	$6,850	·	·	·
A/CDisclaimer	$5,750	$6,750	·	·	·
A/BNon-Tax / Blended Family	$6,000	$6,750	·	·	·
A/BQTIP / CS	$6,000	$7,500	·	·	·
A/B/CNon-Clayton	·	$8,750	·	·	·
A/B/CClayton, w/ or w/o GST Subs	·	$9,750–$12,750	·	·	·
A/B/CClayton w/ GST Subs	·	·	$12,750+	$18,750+	$25,000+
A/B/CReverse Clayton w/ GST Subs	·	·	$15,000+	$22,500+	$30,000+

Married couples and a married individual planning alone tier on the household, both spouses’ assets together. An unmarried partner tiers on that partner’s estate alone. Only the two GST architectures are offered above $30 million. Figures carrying a plus sign are minimums.

Components and add-ons
Item	What it is	Fee
Separate Property Spousal Trust	One per spouse holding separate property.	$2,900 each
Community Property Pour-Over Trust	Holds community property alongside separate trusts.	$1,500 each
Sub-trusts	Continuing descendant's trusts, per trust.	$600 each
Disinheriting / reduction provisions	Per provision.	$600 each
Additional Arizona deed into trust	Per property; one special warranty deed is included.	$350 each
Trust amendment	One minor change to an instrument we drafted. We do not amend another firm’s documents.	$1,500+

The advanced formula

Every advanced instrument prices the same way, so the arithmetic is auditable by anyone: fee = (base + rate per $1M funded above $7.5 million) × timing × asset, rounded up to the nearest $500. Above $50 million funded the line is individually quoted, with the formula shown as the indication.

Structure

Amount funded, in millions

The base covers the first $7.5 million. Above $50 million funded the line is individually quoted.

Timing

The greater trigger governs. Triggers never stack.

Asset complexity

Compounds with timing at 1.25.

Indicated fee

$17,500+

ILIT, Single life, at $20 million funded

Illustrative only. Gift-driven instruments include a reporting memorandum for the return preparer; the firm does not prepare gift tax returns.

Advanced instruments, base plus funding factor
Instrument	Base, first $7.5 million funded	Each $1M above
ILITSingle life	$7,500+	+ $750
ILITSurvivorship, second-to-die	$10,000+	+ $750
SLATOne spouse	$35,000+	+ $1,500
SLANTNon-grantor SLAT	$40,000+	+ $1,500
SLATsBoth spouses, non-reciprocal pair	$60,000+	+ $2,000
GRATFirst vintage	$35,000+	+ $1,000
IDGTIntentionally defective grantor trust	$35,000+	+ $1,500
Installment sale to grantor trustTransaction layer	$60,000+	+ $2,000
QPRTPer residence, deed included	$30,000+	+ $1,000
Standalone GST / dynasty trust	$40,000+	+ $1,500
Family LLC / FLPFormation and valuation coordination	$45,000+	+ $1,000
Business successionRecapitalization architecture	$35,000+	+ $1,000
Charitable remainder trustCRAT / CRUT / Flip-CRUT	$35,000+	+ $1,000
Charitable lead trustGrantor or non-grantor	$50,000+	+ $1,500
Private foundationFormation	$10,000+	+ $1,000
BDIT / BDOTBeneficiary defective trust	$15,000+	+ $2,000
DecantingGrantor trust status and estate tax preservation	$10,000+	+ $1,000
NJSA or modificationArizona Trust Code consent tools	$5,000+	+ $500
Asset-protection structuringOut-of-jurisdiction	$35,000+	+ $1,500
Form 706Taxable or GST-allocating estate	Hourly	At the tiered rates

Companion services
Service	What it covers	Fee
Gifting program designStructured annual exclusion	$19,000 per recipient, $38,000 with gift-splitting, $194,000 to a non-citizen spouse.	$15,000
Gifting program administrationBy recipient count and asset types	Quoted annually.	Quoted
Donor-advised fund coordination	Sponsor selection, advisory succession, integration with the plan.	$3,500
Special needs trustThird-party	Preserves means-tested benefits; trustee guidance letter included.	$6,000
Special needs trustFirst-party, payback	Funded with the beneficiary’s own assets; statutory payback applies.	$9,500+
Form 706Portability-only, DSUE election	Factor runs on the gross estate; preserves the deceased spouse’s unused exclusion of up to $15,000,000.	$5,000+ , $500 per $1M above $7.5 million
Each additional GRATRolling program, per vintage	Vintages above $7.5 million take the GRAT factor on the excess, confirmed at engagement.	$15,000
GRAT annual administration	Annuity payment schedule, valuation coordination, and the annual filings. Never takes a timing loading.	$1,500 / yr
Crummey administration	Withdrawal notices, every year the policy is funded. 4 powerholders included, $150 each beyond.	$1,500 / yr

Hourly rates, tiered by gross estate
Attorney	Gross estate to $15 million	Above $15 million	Above $50 million
Robert W. Boland, Jr.J.D., LL.M.	$700 / hr	$875 / hr	$1,050 / hr
Steven A. BloomJ.D., M.B.A., LL.M.	$650 / hr	$815 / hr	$975 / hr
Grant M. BolandJ.D., LL.M.	$460 / hr	$575 / hr	$690 / hr
Staff	$75–$150 / hr	$75–$150 / hr	$75–$150 / hr

Rates above the base tier apply the 1.25 and 1.5 factors, rounded up to $5. Staff never tiers. Third-party costs are passed through at cost; see the rates and costs page for the current schedule.

Timing and availability

How to get a matter on the calendar.

Availability is the question advisors ask last and worry about first. Here is the honest version, including what we cannot do.

Standard runway

90 days from acceptance to signing for advanced work. Inside that, the deadline lane above applies.

Business hours

Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Work outside those hours carries a surcharge of half the normal rate, including on fixed fee matters.

Where we meet

Scottsdale by appointment, in-home appointments across Chandler, Gilbert, and Tempe and across Prescott, Prescott Valley, Clarkdale, Jerome, and Sedona, plus secure video and phone.

What expedite cannot buy

An appraisal, a carrier’s underwriting, a recorder’s office, or the Service. When a deadline depends on a third party we will tell you before you promise anything.

Advisor introductions

Acknowledged the same business day. A consultation is normally offered inside five business days, sooner where a deadline or a health situation calls for it.

When we decline

Where a conflict exists, where the deadline cannot be met honestly, or where the structure being asked for is not the structure the client needs. You will hear that early, not late.

How to refer

Three steps, and the first one is optional.

The order matters here, so this one is a sequence.

Price it, or skip ahead

Run the client’s situation through the estimator yourself, or send them the link. It takes about three minutes and asks for nothing.

Household gross estate
Married, single, or planning alone
Any advanced goals in view

Make the introduction

Email or call the direct line. The more of this you can include, the faster the first meeting is useful.

Names, ages, marital status, state of residence
Approximate gross estate and how it is held
The trigger and any deadline
Whether you want to be on the call

We take it from here

Conflicts check, intake questionnaire, consultation, then an engagement letter with the fee fixed in writing before any work starts.

You are copied on scheduling
Scope and fee confirmed before engagement
Funding instructions back to you at signing

An introduction email you can send today

Subject: Introduction, [Client name] and Boland Law Group

[Client], meet the estate and tax team at Boland Law Group in Scottsdale.
They handle the planning side of what we have been discussing: the trust
architecture, the tax structure, and the documents themselves.

Boland, [Client] is a [married couple / individual] in [city]. Approximate
gross estate is [$X million], held mostly in [accounts / business / real
estate]. The reason for the call is [the trigger]. [Deadline, if any.]

Their fees are published, so [Client] can see the number before the first
meeting: bolandlawgroup.com/rates

I would like to stay in the loop on funding and titling. Happy to join the
design meeting if that is useful.

[Your name]

Written so you can paste it and fill four brackets. Nothing in it commits your client to anything.

What comes back to you

A referral that leaves you with more than a thank you.

The fee, in writing, before engagement

Scope and fixed fee confirmed in the engagement letter. No surprise invoice lands on your client’s desk with your name attached to it.

Funding instructions and a titling schedule

Which accounts retitle, which stay, and which need a beneficiary designation instead. One Arizona deed is included; additional deeds are $350 each.

Beneficiary designation language

Exact wording for the retirement and insurance forms you administer, so a trust does not get named where it should not be.

Coordination with the CPA and the carrier

Gift-driven instruments ship with a reporting memorandum for the return preparer. We do not prepare gift tax returns; we make the preparer’s job unambiguous.

A structure you can explain

The architecture, in plain language, so you can answer the client’s question in your own review meeting without calling us first.

A client who still belongs to you

We close the matter and hand it back. The next call your client makes about money is to you.

The bench

Who your client will actually sit with.

A partner scopes the matter and a partner drafts it. Hourly rates below show the base tier through the top gross estate tier; core planning is a fixed fee regardless.

Robert W. Boland, Jr.

J.D., LL.M.

Managing Partner, Tax. Tax planning, business planning, and representation before the Service.

$700–$1,050 / hr

Steven A. Bloom

J.D., M.B.A., LL.M.

Tax and Estate Planning. Estate and tax planning with a business and finance background.

$650–$975 / hr

Grant M. Boland

J.D., LL.M.

Tax and Estate Planning Partner. Trust and estate planning, business planning, and tax representation.

$460–$690 / hr

Staff time bills at $75–$150 / hr. Full biographies are on the attorneys page.

Advisor toolkit

Everything published, in one place.

Fee estimatorToolPrice a full plan, core and advanced, in about three minutes. No contact details are needed to see the number.Core fee schedulePDF pageThe published fixed-fee schedule for trust-based plans, by tier and architecture.Advanced fee schedulePDF pageThe published schedule for irrevocable trusts, freezes, charitable vehicles, and estate tax returns.Rates and costsPolicyHourly defaults, third-party costs, after-hours and expedite policy.Client intakeFormThe form your client fills in before the first meeting.Offices and appointmentsLocationsScottsdale, in-home across the valley and northern Arizona, and secure video.

Questions advisors ask

The ones that come up before the first referral.

Will you solicit my client for investment business?

No. We do not manage assets, sell products, or receive commissions. There is nothing on our side of the table to cross-sell, which is the point of a referral relationship that lasts.

Do you pay referral fees?

No, and we cannot. Arizona’s rules of professional conduct prohibit a lawyer from giving anything of value for a recommendation. What your introduction buys is priority, direct partner access, and a client who comes back to you with a funded plan.

Who does the drafting?

A partner designs the architecture and a partner signs the plan. The bench is small on purpose: the same person who scopes the matter is the person who drafts it.

Can I sit in on the meetings?

Yes, with your client’s consent. Advisors who attend the design meeting tend to get a cleaner funding outcome, because the titling questions get answered in the room instead of six weeks later by email.

What happens to funding and beneficiary designations?

Funding instructions and titling go back to you in writing. One Arizona deed is included in every core plan; additional deeds are $350 each, and full funding service beyond the included deed is quoted.

My client already has a plan from another firm. Can you just amend it?

We restate rather than amend. Our amendment fee applies only to instruments we drafted; we do not amend another firm’s documents, and we do not write codicils. A restatement puts the whole instrument under our standard of care.

How small is too small?

No client is too small to send. A single core plan starts at $5,000 and a married couple at $5,500. The advanced bench is where the value concentrates, and that generally begins as the household approaches the exemption.

Can you meet a December 31 deadline?

That depends on the date you call. The calendar loading is on the ledger at the top of this page: work accepted after October 15 for a December 31 execution carries 1.50, and after December 1 the firm takes the matter at 2.00 at its discretion or declines it. Expedite buys attorney hours; it cannot accelerate an appraiser or the Service.

What about assets or beneficiaries outside Arizona?

We are Arizona counsel and coordinate local counsel where a filing or a deed requires it. Arizona has no domestic asset protection trust statute, so protection is structured through entities or another state’s trust; that line is priced on the advanced schedule.

How early is early enough on a business sale?

Two years before a process starts is comfortable, one year is workable, and the letter of intent is the practical deadline for anything that moves appreciated equity. The stage ladder above shows what closes at each point. If your client is already at a signed definitive agreement, call anyway: the liquidity itself creates an estate tax problem worth planning, and cash-funded charitable and insurance structures are still open.

Is the estimate binding?

No. Published figures are minimums before scoping, and no fee is binding until it appears in a signed engagement letter. What the estimator gives you is a number you can say out loud to a client without hedging.

Send us the one that has been sitting on your desk.

A ten minute call is usually enough to tell you whether there is a structure worth building, what it will cost, and whether the calendar allows it this year.

Call (480) 420-8268 Price a plan first

Passionately Preserving Wealth™

Notices and terms

Please read this part too.

Everything above is written to be useful to an advisor. The following is written to be accurate about what it is, and what it is not.

No legal or tax advice

This page is general information for financial and allied professionals. It is not legal, tax, accounting, investment, or insurance advice, and it is not a substitute for advice on a particular client and a particular set of facts.

No attorney-client relationship

Reading this page, using the estimator, or contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. A relationship arises only on a signed engagement letter. Do not send confidential or time-sensitive information before one is in place; unsolicited information is not treated as confidential and may not preclude the firm from representing another party.

Attorney advertising

This page may be considered attorney advertising under the rules of some jurisdictions.

Jurisdiction

The firm practices in Arizona. Matters governed by another jurisdiction's law, or involving property or filings elsewhere, are handled with local counsel where required. Nothing here is an offer to practice where the firm is not admitted.

No investment or insurance advice

The firm does not manage assets, sell securities or insurance, or receive commissions. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security, policy, or product, or an evaluation of any advisor, carrier, or custodian.

No referral compensation

Consistent with the Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct, the firm neither pays nor accepts anything of value for a recommendation or referral. Nothing on this page creates a partnership, joint venture, agency, or fiduciary relationship between the firm and any advisor.

Fees are estimates

Published figures are minimums before scoping and are subject to change without notice. The estimator is illustrative only and is not a quote or an offer of representation. Third-party costs are passed through at cost. No fee is binding unless and until it appears in a signed engagement letter.

Timing and availability

Statements about runways, response times, meeting locations, and availability describe ordinary practice, not commitments. The firm may decline any matter, and may decline a deadline it cannot meet. Expedited service cannot accelerate an appraiser, a carrier, a recorder, or a taxing authority.

Authorities and changes in law

Statutes, regulations, rulings, and decisions are referenced to illustrate general principles. They are described in summary form, are current only as of the date shown, and may be superseded. The firm undertakes no duty to update this page.

Case references

Judicial decisions are cited as illustrations of general principles and not as predictions. Prior results do not guarantee or suggest a similar outcome in any other matter.

The deal stage ladder

The ladder is a simplified planning aid, not a legal standard and not a safe harbor. Whether any particular transfer is respected turns on all of the facts and circumstances, including facts not visible on a page like this one. There are no bright lines here and experienced practitioners differ.

Advisor materials

The introduction email is offered as a drafting convenience. The advisor is responsible for its use and for the advisor's own regulatory, supervisory, and disclosure obligations, including any required disclosure to the advisor's firm or client.

Third-party links

Links are provided for convenience. The firm does not control, endorse, or accept responsibility for material on any site it does not operate.

Client confidentiality

The firm does not identify clients or describe client matters on this page. Any example is generic and does not depict a client of the firm.

Accuracy

This page is prepared with care, but the firm makes no warranty that it is complete, current, or free of error, and disclaims liability for reliance on it. Where this page and the firm's published fee schedules or engagement letter differ, those documents govern.

This schedule is provided for general information and does not constitute legal or tax advice, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship. All fees, figures, and terms set forth herein are estimates only, are subject to the firm’s sole discretion, and may be modified, adjusted, or withdrawn at any time without notice. No fee is binding unless and until set forth in a signed engagement letter.

Boland Law Group, PLLC. This page was last generated on August 22, 2026. Figures reflect the firm’s published 2026 schedules as of that date and are subject to change without notice. Terms of use version 89cc608e.

What a deadline costs, read from today.

Five things you can count on before you send the first name.

We manage nothing.

No referral fees, either direction.

You stay on the matter.

The client comes back to you funded.

You will know the fee first.

10 moments in a client’s life that are worth a call.

A business or a concentrated block is being sold in the next 12 to 24 months

The household sits above the federal exemption

A policy is being placed, or the client already owns one personally

Low basis, high concentration, and a charitable streak

An irrevocable trust no longer fits the family or the tax code

A client, or a client spouse, has died

A second marriage with children from the first

The client has moved to Arizona with an out-of-state plan

One spouse is not a United States citizen

A beneficiary receives means-tested benefits

Why a business sale is planned in quarters, not weeks.

Before a sale is a thought

Do the structural work

The practical floor

The outer limit

The stage ladder

The three doctrines doing the work

Assignment of income

Valuation as of the transfer date

IRC 2036 and the bona fide sale exception

What the ladder does not decide

Watch-outs an advisor can spot early

Published, itemized, and the same number for everyone.

The advanced formula

How to get a matter on the calendar.

Standard runway

Business hours

Where we meet

What expedite cannot buy

Advisor introductions

When we decline

Three steps, and the first one is optional.

Price it, or skip ahead

Make the introduction

We take it from here

An introduction email you can send today

A referral that leaves you with more than a thank you.

The fee, in writing, before engagement

Funding instructions and a titling schedule

Beneficiary designation language

Coordination with the CPA and the carrier

A structure you can explain

A client who still belongs to you

Who your client will actually sit with.

Robert W. Boland, Jr.

Steven A. Bloom

Grant M. Boland

Everything published, in one place.

The ones that come up before the first referral.

Send us the one that has been sitting on your desk.

Please read this part too.

No legal or tax advice

No attorney-client relationship

Attorney advertising

Jurisdiction

No investment or insurance advice

No referral compensation

Fees are estimates

Timing and availability

Authorities and changes in law

Case references

The deal stage ladder

Advisor materials

Third-party links

Client confidentiality

Accuracy

Overview

Contact Info