US Private Client Planning in 2022

Scott M. Sambur is a Partner in Seward & Kissel LLP’s Trusts and Estates and Charitable Organizations group, and is a co-head of the firm’s Family Office group.  Scott represents fiduciaries and individuals with substantial net worth throughout the full range of estate and transfer-tax planning and administration, focusing on the transfer of assets to beneficiaries at the lowest tax cost while achieving overall family and charitable objectives.  Scott is experienced with the complicated laws governing non-resident aliens who own assets in the United States or have U.S. family members, as well as U.S. citizens owning foreign assets, holding dual citizenship, residing abroad or considering expatriation. He has advised multiple clients on complex offshore business succession and estate planning matters, and is well-versed in the many rules governing foreign trusts with U.S. beneficiaries.  Scott is a member of STEP, an international network of experts in family inheritance and succession planning.

David E. Stutzman is Counsel to Seward & Kissel LLP and a member of the firm’s Trusts and Estates and Charitable Organizations group.  For over 30 years, David has specialized in complex estate, trust and charitable planning and administration for high-net-worth individuals and families.  His clients range from hedge fund and private equity fund managers, executives and professionals, and family business and real estate owners, to inheritors, art collectors, artists and other creators.  He advises foreign and domestic clients on U.S. transfer taxes for individuals and families with interests in multiple jurisdictions.  David is co-author of the Tax Management Portfolio, Planning for Authors, Musicians, Artists, and Collectors, an interdisciplinary guide to representing creators and collectors.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), current Chair of the Estate and Gift Taxation Committee of the New York City Bar Association, and is a member of STEP, an international network of experts in family inheritance and succession planning.

Samuel F. Thomas is an associate in the Trusts & Estates and Family Office groups. Sam provided research and writing assistance to David E. Stutzman, Counsel to Seward & Kissel LLP, regarding Mr. Stutzman’s co-authorship of the Tax Management Portfolio, Planning for Authors, Musicians, Artists, and Collectors, No. 815-3^rd (Estate Planning Series), an interdisciplinary guide to representing art creators and collectors, published in late 2018 by Bloomberg BNA.

He currently serves as the Secretary of the New York City Bar Association’s Estate & Gift Taxation Committee, and is involved in planning the Committee’s numerous continuing legal education programs.  He is a frequent speaker on estate planning topics. 

Sam received a B.A. summa cum laude from Tulane University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.