Photo of Mi-Hae K. Russo

Mi-Hae K. Russo is an Associate in Wiggin and Dana’s Private Client Services Department in the New York office, where she focuses her practice on estate planning, trust and estate administration, and business succession planning. Mi-Hae is also a member of the firm’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, and a member of wiggin(x).

Prior to joining Wiggin and Dana, Mi-Hae previously worked with Bank of America as a Trust Settlement Officer and as an Associate attorney at Warner Norcross + Judd LLP, where she also started as a summer associate.

Mi-Hae clerked for the Honorable John C. Griffin, in the Circuit Court of Cook County in Chicago, Illinois. She earned her J.D. Magna Cum Laude from Michigan State University College of Law, where she was Managing Editor of the International Law Review. Mi-Hae received her B.A. in Economics with University Honors from the University of Michigan.

Clients often ask us how to plan for educational expenses for their children or grandchildren.

According to the College Savings Plans Network, at an inflation rate of 6%, it will cost about $276,954.00 to send a child who is currently a toddler to an in-state, public college for four years, inclusive of tuition, fees, room

Who should I nominate as the Executor of my Will?  Who should be the Trustee of my Trust?  Should the Executor and Trustee be the same person?  Should I nominate my children?  Can I name multiple people in these roles?  What if I don’t have anyone appropriate to name?

These are questions that every estate

In a previous Wiggin and Dana LLP advisory, we addressed what constitutes a “foreign trust” under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).[1]  We now explore the tax consequences of a foreign trust, as well as the differences between a foreign grantor trust and a foreign non-grantor trust.

There are many benefits of having

Wealthy individuals and families are increasingly incorporating charitable goals into their estate plan.  For donors who want to manage their philanthropic activities through longer-term vehicles, two of the most common options are donor-advised funds and private foundations.

Donor-Advised Funds

A donor-advised fund (DAF) is like a charitable savings account.  A donor opens and funds an

New York has become the first state to enact an analogue to the federal Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”), having signed the New York Limited Liability Company Transparency Act (“NYLTA”) into law on December 22, 2023, and later amending it on March 1, 2024.  The NYLTA, which will become effective on January 1, 2026, aims

Overview

Individuals who are neither United States citizens nor U.S. “domiciled” (U.S. resident with an intention to remain indefinitely in the U.S.) are subject to a less favorable estate tax planning environment.  In 2024, individuals who are U.S. citizens and domiciliaries can transfer $13,610,000 free of estate, gift and GST tax during their lives or

The reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) will come into effect on January 1, 2024.  The U.S. Treasury estimates that more than 32 million pre-existing entities and approximately 5 million new reporting companies annually over the next decade will have to register under the CTA.

The CTA was enacted on January 1, 2021

Our world today is more interconnected than ever before, and our clients are increasingly living, working, and investing across borders. That interconnectivity can create risks for trusts. If a trust is deemed a “foreign trust” for U.S. federal tax purposes, that can cause unintended and adverse tax consequences for both the grantor (creator) of the