William E. Hart

Biography:

Bill Hart is co-chairman of the firm’s Estate Planning and Administration Department and a member of the Business/Finance Department. Bill focuses on estate planning work for people of all walks of life, including professionals, owners of closely-held businesses, people with artistic and literary property, and those with real estate holdings in other states and countries. His practice includes probate estate and trust administration, business matters, and taxation.

In the community, Bill serves as chairman of the Planned Giving Committee of South Congregational Church in Amherst, as a board member of the Hitchcock Center for the Environment, as a Trustee of Amherst Academy, and as a member of the Executive Board of the Western Massachusetts Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He has served as Cubmaster and Scoutmaster for the "best troop in the universe." He is actively involved as a planned giving advisor and volunteer for numerous non-profit organizations and speaks frequently to professional and community groups about estate planning.

Bill is also a past president of the Pioneer Valley Estate Planning Council.

Related Professional Experience:

Bill Hart commenced his practice with the firm of Harter, Secrest & Emery in his hometown, Rochester, New York, in 1972, and he has practiced in Massachusetts since 1977. He was previously a partner of Brown, Hart & Kaplan, of Amherst.

Publications: Author in "Drafting Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts," MCLE, 1992 – present.

Representative Experience:

Mr. Hart provides individual and business clients with tax-sensitive, strategic counsel with respect to a wide variety of matters, including:

• disposition of assets by lifetime gifts
• wills
• basic and complex trusts
• second-home planning
• business succession planning
• conservation restrictions on real estate
• family limited liability companies and limited partnerships
• retirement account beneficiaries

His work helps clients minimize estate, gift, income and generation-skipping taxes in connection with the transfer of assets within families and to charities.