Scott E. Swartz

Counsel

Cleveland
T +1.216.861.7024
F +1.216.696.0740

Overview

Scott Swartz counsels clients on estate planning, trust and estate administration, asset protection and personal income tax planning, as well as working with business owners on tax aspects of business ownership and transactions and succession planning for privately held companies.

During 30 years of private law practice, Scott has served as in-house counsel to a multi-family office, where he advised high net worth families throughout the U.S. on matters such as long term trust structures, shareholder and partnership agreements, asset protection, tax minimization and potential government legislation and regulatory actions affecting existing estate plans.

Select Experience

  • Planned and structured a substantial gift pledge to a major university, including communications and negotiations with the university to finalize language in the gift agreement, where the donor’s assets consisted largely of ownership of private operating companies. Preparation of client trust documents and operating agreements to govern post-death management of operating companies and procedures for option rights on purchase of the companies to both protect pledge value to the university and continuing business ownership of the surviving family.
  • Implemented a private derivative contract to transfer the upside value of “carried interest” of a private equity professional to a family trust.
  • Design clients’ estate plan documents for creation of “zeroed-out” testamentary charitable lead trusts to eliminate exposure to estate taxes.
More »

Experience

  • Planned and structured a substantial gift pledge to a major university, including communications and negotiations with the university to finalize language in the gift agreement, where the donor’s assets consisted largely of ownership of private operating companies. Preparation of client trust documents and operating agreements to govern post-death management of operating companies and procedures for option rights on purchase of the companies to both protect pledge value to the university and continuing business ownership of the surviving family.
  • Implemented a private derivative contract to transfer the upside value of “carried interest” of a private equity professional to a family trust.
  • Design clients’ estate plan documents for creation of “zeroed-out” testamentary charitable lead trusts to eliminate exposure to estate taxes.
  • Implemented a plan to minimize state income taxes and protect assets prior to future liquidity events through creation of domestic trusts by a controlled corporation located in a no-tax state.
  • Settled long-standing disagreements between trust beneficiaries regarding trustee management of commercial real estate by a decanting of a decades-old trust and distribution of the beneficial interest of dissenting trust beneficiary.
  • Created irrevocable trusts to hold a family member's real estate interests for enhanced asset protection while maintaining family management of properties.
  • Designed and implemented governance and ownership rights of family-controlled holding companies in order to consolidate investment management from many irrevocable trusts with various trustees.
  • Implemented a tax-free division of a family limited partnership holding company into separate partnerships to account for different investment strategies and ownership succession terms under the client’s estate plan documents.
  • Advised business owner on tax issues with sale of a private company to a private equity fund using tax deferral rollover of sale proceeds into an ownership interest in the acquiring company.

Recognitions and Memberships

Memberships

  • CMA Cleveland Tax Institute: Chair (2021 to 2022)
  • Estate Planning Council of Cleveland: Past Board Member
  • Tax Club of Cleveland: Past President

Admissions

  • U.S. Tax Court
  • Ohio

Education

  • LL.M., Taxation, New York University School of Law, 1992
  • J.D., Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, 1991
  • B.S., Bowling Green State University, 1983