Practice areas
Jeff Zellers and Tina Annis have over fifty years of combined experience preparing estate plans for New Hampshire families. We create customized plans for our clients, and handle everything from simple wills to complex tax planning trusts, insurance trusts, and special needs trusts for the disabled.
Our estate planning packages include Durable Powers of Attorney for Finances and Advance Directives for health care matters. We can explain the complexities of the federal estate and gift tax laws, and advise families on how to minimize taxes in order to preserve assets for the next generation.
When a loved one needs nursing home care, the financial effects on the family can be significant. Medicaid is the only Federal governmental program which pays for long term nursing home care. The rules governing Medicaid eligibility are complex and change frequently.
Annis & Zellers can provide clients with up to date information about those eligibility rules and formulate strategies for minimizing the financial impact of a nursing home stay on the family. We can also handle Medicaid applications and appeals before the Department of Health and Human Services in the case of a denial of Medicaid eligibility
“I handle estate administration in the Probate Court and give advice to Trustees in the context of Trust administration. I help clients to understand Medicaid rules and plan for long term nursing home care.”
When a loved one dies owning assets, New Hampshire law requires that an “Executor” be appointed to handle the Estate. The formal process of transferring the decedent’s assets, which occurs in the Probate Division of the NH Circuit Court, is known as “Estate Administration” or “Probate Administration.”
Probate Administration takes a minimum of six months to complete, and frequently can last a year or more. There are court forms, filing fees, and specific laws about how to handle creditors and when to make distributions to heirs. Probate Administration can be an overwhelming process for family members who are dealing with the recent death of a loved one.
The Attorneys at Annis & Zellers have extensive experience with New Hampshire Probate Administration. We have worked in every county in the State, and we can guide you through the process from start to finish. Sensitive to your needs during this difficult process, we work closely with the Executor and the heirs of the Estate to be sure that the decedent’s assets are transferred properl
The overall goal of the probate process is to identify and value the decedent’s property, to pay the decedent’s debts and expenses, and to distribute any remaining assets to the proper heirs.
If you or someone in your family is named to serve as an individual Trustee of a Trust, we can also counsel you in that role. We can assist with all aspects of Trust administration including accounting, tax preparation, communicating with beneficiaries and making distributions. We can partner with your own personal investment advisors or recommend others we have worked with to ensure that the Trust assets are invested properly.
New Hampshire law imposes “fiduciary duties” on Trustees, which includes notice requirements, accounting and investment standards, and ethical rules. Our office can help you to understand what is required and assist you with the tasks of administering the Trust. We can also interpret the language of the Trust document, so that you can be sure that your family member’s wishes are carried out appropriately and in accordance with the law.
The Attorneys at Annis & Zellers can serve as Trustee for your family’s Trust.
Trust administrators manage a trust’s property according to the trust document’s and for the benefit of the beneficiaries after the death of the settlor. Numerous steps are necessary in safeguarding effective administration and working with an attorney is recommended in helping facilitate the processes & procedure for the trustees throughout the process.
Much like individuals, businesses have a natural life cycle. From formation of the business entity, to merging with another business and the eventual sale, dissolution or disposition of a business, we can guide you along the way, avoiding pitfalls and minimizing risks and taxes.
Deciding on the right entity to use for your new business can be daunting. We can advise you of the right choice of entity for your particular business to reduce the exposure to your personal assets to the liabilities of your business and to keep taxes down. Existing businesses face challenges daily, be it employment issues, contracts with key customers or executives, leases or buy/sell agreements among the owners. We have been advising businesses for over 50 years.
Jeff Zellers started the practice of law in Boston over 30 years ago and has advised companies from those listed on the national stock exchange to the corner store. Annis & Zellers has extensive relationships with other local and regional law firms that allow them to provide the broad range of services those businesses and their owners need and demand, from top notch litigators to international representation.
“I take great pride in the confidence my clients place in me to assist them with business succession planning, purchasing and selling businesses and handling sophisticated commercial financing matters.”
Why Estate Planning?
For Two Very Important Reasons:
1. You, and
2. Your Loved Ones
Other practice areas
Committed to helping our clients succeed
Law of Cooperatives
Cooperatives are a special association of individuals (or businesses) coming together to further common values based on the principles of the first modern cooperative founded in Rochedale, England in 1844 and generally operating under the 7 cooperative principles adopted by the International Cooperative Alliance in 1995. Jeff Zellers has acted as counsel to the second largest consumer cooperative in the U.S. for over two decades. He has assisted a state cooperative in one of the first conversions made under New Hampshire law and in a successful member loan program raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds needed to complete substantial expansion of the cooperative. He has also provided counsel to the founders of an intentional housing community. A Cooperative is a unique social entity that demands the services of experienced counsel. Annis & Zellers can provide that counsel.
Non-Profit Law
Non-profits, charitable organizations and cooperatives – Tina Annis and Jeff Zellers have a special affinity for organizations with a mission and a vision. They put their support of these organizations into action by serving on their boards and raising funds for their causes. They have formed the proper legal entities under state law and assisted the organizers in their application for tax exempt status, be it as a private foundation, charitable trust, public charity or cooperative. Once the entity has been organized and qualified for favorable tax status, Annis & Zellers can advise you on maintaining that valued status, implementing policies and procedures to avoid conflicts of interest and satisfy the stringent fiduciary standards of the Attorney General’s office. Jeff Zellers has formed and advised non-profits from a private foundation providing valuable services to children in Kenya to a local pre-school and regional religious organization.
Real Estate
Annis & Zellers can help you transfer your home and other real estate into and out of your trust and create a family compound trust (limited liability company or tenancy in common agreement) to preserve and protect the family lake front property.
With over fifty years of combined experience, we have seen it all (well almost).
Tax Matters
Annis & Zellers routinely prepares estate, gift, and income tax returns. We can work directly with clients or with other tax advisors to address a client’s tax needs. We have successfully represented clients in audits and negotiated tax controversies with the IRS. Attorney Zellers has an LLM in taxation and can also advise businesses on various tax matters.