Attorneys

Kristina M. Ash

Experience

Representative Work

• Managed the administration of the estates of two individuals who had been married and died within months of one another, which included several business interests and multiple irrevocable trusts, and prepared state and federal tax returns for each decedent

• Prepared and negotiated a prenuptial agreement involving a second marriage with substantial assets and minor children

• Created LLC to manage family assets and advised regarding gift, estate and income tax consequences of transfer of assets to younger generation

• Drafted private annuity to facilitate purchase of closely held business to ensure income stream to older generation while transferring business to younger generation

• Advised foreign trustee of U.S. gift tax consequences of transfer of real property in Seattle to foreign trust

• Coordinated with Canadian tax practitioners to modify a typical Canadian estate freeze for a multi-million dollar business where one of the corporate shareholders was an American citizen living in Canada

• Counseled a client on tax efficient methods of rolling a 401(k) pension into a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP)

Professional Honors and Activities

• Member, Estate Planning Council of Seattle

• Member, East King County Estate Planning Council

• Editor, Real Property and Probate Section Newsletter, Washington State Bar Association

Presentations

• Presenter, “Cross Border Tax Issues that Every Estate Planner Needs to Know”, Tax Strategies for Estate, Retirement, and Financial Planning, National Business Institute (2/27/2018)

• Co-Presenter, “Post-Mortem Planning, Trust Administration and Tax Hurdles”, Probate Boot Camp Seminar, National Business Institute (6/12/2017)

• Co-Presenter, “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Expatriation and the Exit Tax”, Society of Trusts and Estates Practitioners (STEP) (4/23/2014)

• Co-Presenter, “While the Partners are Away: Tales of Ethical Blunders in Estate and Gift Planning”, International Tax and Estate Planning Seminar, Washington State Bar Association (12/17/2013)

• Co-Presenter, “Estate Planning Involving Resident and Non-Resident Aliens”, Strafford Seminars (9/25/2013)

• Presenter, “Income Taxation of Trusts”, Drafting and Using the Special Needs Trust, Washington State Bar Association (11/27/2012)

• Presenter, “Cross-border Potpourri,” Tax Specialists Group, February 7, 2011 

• “US Tax Update and Compliance Matters,” Moodys LLP Tax Advisors Seminars, January 18, 2011

• “U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Planning for High Net Worth Clients,” Moodys LLP Tax Advisors Seminars, October 26,  2010

Publications

• U.S. Reservations to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: Credibility Maximization and Global Influence, Northwestern University Journal of International Human Rights, Spring 2005

Lindsey V. Briggs

Experience

Lindsey Briggs joined Smith & Zuccarini in 2018.  She has practiced for ten years in the areas of individual tax planning, wills, trusts and estates.  Her practice has focused largely on sophisticated domestic and international tax planning for high net worth individuals, including through the formation of charitable trusts, life insurance trusts, asset protection trusts and perpetual dynasty trusts.  She also has experience in international tax compliance and reporting issues, expatriation, family business succession planning and has advised on the administration of probates and trusts.   

Lindsey attended Vassar College where she received a BA in English Literature.  She holds a Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Chicago Law School, where she served as Articles Editor for the Chicago Journal of International Law and as research assistant for Judge Richard A. Posner.  She also holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from NYU School of Law, with a specialty in estate and gift taxation. 

Prior to joining Smith & Zuccarini, P.S., Lindsey worked as in-house counsel for a legal technology startup in Seattle (2017-2018), was an associate in the Private Clients Groups at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP (2011-2016) and Blank Rome LLP (2009-2011), both in New York City, and was an associate in the Tax Department at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP (2006-2009) in New York City.

Representative Work

• Reviewed and advised large international bank acting as corporate trustee with respect to the U.S. tax consequences of various foreign trust structures
• Advised U.S. beneficiaries of non-U.S. estate located in Argentina as to restructuring of inheritance to minimize adverse U.S. tax consequences
• Prepared trust and LLC documents to facilitate transition of new family business to younger generations
• Counseled non-U.S. individuals regarding real estate investment holding structures as related to U.S. estate and gift tax
• Instructed and assisted foreign estate with respect to U.S. estate tax return preparation and ancillary probate administration in the U.S.
• Assisted individuals with pre-expatriation tax analysis and restructuring, as well as expatriation procedure and forms
• Coordinated with Israeli and Puerto Rican counsel to modify entity holding structure to minimize risks of multi-level taxation
• Represented clients before the IRS in audits and disclosure proceedings, including disclosures of offshore bank accounts, income, gift and estate tax audits

Professional Honors and Activities

• Member, Estate Planning Council of Seattle
• Member, East King County Estate Planning Council

Publications

• UEFA v. the European Community: Attempts of the Governing Body of European Soccer to Circumvent EU Freedom of Movement and Antidiscrimination Labor Law, Chicago Journal of International Law, Summer 2005

Douglas S. Lloyd

Experience

Doug Lloyd has been with Smith & Zuccarini since 2017.  Prior to that, Doug was an attorney at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in Seattle for over a decade. With more than 15 years of experience working with high net worth clients, Doug focuses his practice on two main areas: (i) assisting clients with tax-efficient transfer of wealth as part of their estate plan and (ii) helping clients navigate the probate and trust administration process.  As part of his practice, Doug regularly prepares wills, trusts, powers of attorney and other estate planning documents necessary to implement the client’s personal and tax goals.  And, when a loved one dies, Doug assists executors with the administration process, including the preparation and filing of federal and state estate tax returns.  Doug believes that each individual’s estate plan is unique and should address family-specific concerns while implementing an efficient tax strategy. 

Representative Work

• Advised clients in all tax and non-tax estate administration matters, including post-mortem planning with qualified disclaimers; ancillary probates; creditor issues; beneficiary disputes; and property distribution issues. 
• Counseled individuals in roles as executors and trustees of estates, including the preparation and review of federal and state estate tax and gift tax returns. 
• Offered recommendations on key strategies to minimize transfer and income taxes and leverage exemptions, including creation of: federal and state exemption and marital deduction trusts; generation-skipping trusts; insurance trusts and qualified personal residence trusts. 
• Helped clients select appropriate corporate and individual fiduciaries while addressing challenging family dynamics, including minor, spendthrift, and special needs beneficiaries.
• Assisted individuals in implementing successful tax strategies within a framework of specific family goals.
• Drafted and reviewed a wide range of estate planning documents, including: wills, revocable living trusts, community property agreements, durable powers of attorney, health care directives, and customized beneficiary designation forms for retirement accounts and insurance policies. 
• Counseled high net worth clients regarding federal and state estate taxes, gift taxes, and generation-skipping transfer taxes.  
• Created limited liability companies for the management of investments and assets, including preparation of operating agreements, purchase and sale agreements, rental agreements, and assignments of LLC interest.
• Negotiated and drafted prenuptial agreements for individuals with unique assets. 

Professional Honors and Activities

• Member, East King County Estate Planning Council (2014)
• Member, Planned Giving Advisory Committee, Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center (2013-2016)
• Member, Washington State Bar Association (2004)
• Member, American Bar Association (2004)

Presentations and Publications

• Helping Washington Clients “Undo the Past” in the New Tax World, Spring 2015, Snohomish County Estate Planning Council
• Informed Choices in Estate Planning, presented to multiple audiences including, most recently: Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center Employee Retirement Seminar, Fall 2015, and Puget Sound Energy Employee Retirement Seminar, Fall 2012 
• Be Careful with Living Trusts that Own S. Corporation Stock, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP Family Business Resource Blog,Summer 2016.
• Do I Need a Living Trust?, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP Family Business Resource Blog, Spring 2014.
  

David B. Sweeney

Experience

David Sweeney has been practicing law in King County continually since 1968. His practice is mainly in the estate planning, probate and trust area, with additional extensive experience involving real estate transactions. He has years of experience preparing wills, trust agreements of all kinds, and other estate planning documents. He is very familiar with estate and gift taxes (including tax audits), and estate and trust administration. Born in Seattle, David graduated magna cum laude from Yale University in 1963 and received his law degree (LL.B.) from Harvard Law School in 1967. Prior to joining Smith & Zuccarini, he practiced at Foster Pepper and its predecessors from 1968 to 2001 

and was a partner in its estate planning department for most of that time. He has been a member of the Seattle Estate Planning Council since 1975, and a member of the East King County Estate Planning Council since 2002.  David appears in Who’s Who in American Law and Who’s Who in America, and has been given an “AV Preeminent Professional Excellence” rating by Martindale Hubbell for many years by demonstrating the highest levels of professional conduct and legal ability.

Professional Honors and Activities

• Member, Estate Planning Council of Seattle
• Member, East King County Estate Planning Council

Michael J. Zuccarini

Experience

Mike Zuccarini has more than 30 years’ experience practicing law on both sides of the Cascades, beginning with a major firm in downtown Spokane for ten years before moving to Seattle and the Eastside in 1989.  He has extensive practical experience helping business people, professionals and other individuals arrange their affairs in a manner designed to reduce taxes, protect assets and control the transfer of wealth to succeeding generations.  His formulation and implementation of business and estate planning strategies include wills and related estate planning documents; private and charitable trusts of all kinds; business startups, acquisitions, dispositions and succession plans; family limited liability companies; and the administration of probate and trust estates.

Before moving to the Pacific Northwest, Mike received training as an estate and gift tax attorney with the Internal Revenue Service and as a tax specialist in the national office of one of the large international accounting firms in Washington, D.C., providing liaison with the tax committees of Congress and the legislative, regulatory and rulings divisions of the Internal Revenue Service.  

Mike holds a degree in civil engineering from Bradley University, a law degree from Cornell Law School, and an LL.M. in Taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center.  In the course of his career, he has been admitted to the bars of New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia, and is currently an active member of the Washington State Bar Association, including the sections on taxation and real property, probate and trust administration.  

Professional Honors and Activities

• Member, Estate Planning Council of Seattle
• Member, East King County Estate Planning Council