Overview
Richard "Rick" Sanders' practice emphasizes all facets of tax-oriented trust and estate planning and administration. Rick's estate planning practice encompasses the implementation of tax-sensitive wills, irrevocable insurance trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs), private foundations and charitable trusts. His estate settlement practice routinely involves the administration of multimillion-dollar estates, assuring compliance with applicable tax laws and identification of post-mortem planning opportunities to minimize death taxes.
Rick has broad experience in the areas of contested will and trust matters. He has served as an expert witness in the area of trust interpretation and has drafted reports used in litigated trust and estate matters involving gift and estate taxation and will reformations.
Rick also practices extensively in the areas of business and tax planning for closely held companies, with particular emphasis on succession planning for interests in family-operated entities, intra-family sales, negotiation of shareholder and partnership agreements, formation and implementation of family limited partnerships/limited liability companies, and corporate recapitalizations.
Education and Credentials
Education
- New York University School of Law, LL.M., 1987, taxation
- Touro College School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, 1986, editor-in-chief, Touro Law Review; recipient, American Jurisprudence Award in Professional Responsibility
- University of Delaware, B.A., 1983, economics
Admissions
- State of New York, 1987
- State of New Jersey, 1987
Affiliations
- American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), Fellow
- Estate Planning Council of Northern New Jersey
- New Jersey State Bar Association, Section on Real Property Trust and Estate Law
Recognition and Community
No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the highest court of any state. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. See Awards Methodology.
Recognitions
Chosen for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White, Inc.), Trusts and Estates, 2023-2025
Chosen for inclusion in Chambers HNW Guide (Chambers & Partners) of recognized practitioners for Private Wealth in New Jersey, 2018-2024
Selected to the list of New Jersey Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters), Estate Planning and Probate, Nonprofit Organizations, 2005-2021
AV Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell
Community Involvement
Avid golfer, fly fisherman and classical guitarist
In The Media
Media Mention
- Business Groups Encouraged by Legislators, NJBIZ, March 7, 2016
Speaking Engagements
Publications
- New Jersey Estate Planning, Will Drafting and Estate Administration Forms, two-volume treatise, Lexis Law Publishers, January 1, 2011