-12-
participated in these discussions. On the basis of his general
understanding of family limited partnerships in the setting of
the Federal estate and gift taxes and his conversations with
decedent’s son-in-law, Feldman determined who would be the
initial general and limited partners of the LRFLP, the amount
that each initial partner would contribute, and which assets
decedent would and would not contribute to the LRFLP.5 Feldman
took the view that he represented each initial partner in the
formation of the LRFLP but, in reality, he had spoken only to
decedent’s son-in-law until it came time for the documents to be
signed (at which time Feldman also spoke to decedent’s daughter,
whose role in forming the LRFLP was limited to signing the
documents prepared by Feldman as to that formation). Feldman
never met with or spoke to decedent or decedent’s son to discuss
the formation of the LRFLP. Many years earlier, Feldman had met
with decedent to discuss her view on estate planning, a view that
did not include the formation of a limited partnership into which
she would transfer her assets. At the relevant time underlying
the formation of the LRFLP, Feldman did not know whether decedent
was competent, but he did know that her health was not good. As
5 As discussed below, decedent and her children were the
initial partners of the LRFLP. Feldman ascertained the dollar
amount that each of decedent’s children would contribute to the
LRFLP by setting the dollar amount of decedent’s contribution and
then backing into the proportionate dollar amount that would
correspond to each child’s partnership interest.
Page: Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011