Associates
Melissa S. Kampmann
Paul J. LaPlant
William S. Milne

Administrator
Patrick G. Gosz, CPA

Building wealth is not an easy task. It takes hard work, ingenuity, patience, and sound advice. Keeping wealth, enhancing it and ensuring that it is disposed of in a sensible, tax-advantaged way takes no less. At Ruder Ware, we offer our clients a distinctive blend of legal, fiduciary, estate, and tax planning services, all in one place. Paying careful attention to the client and the client's family is essential to what we do as lawyers and fiduciaries.

Philosophy and Approach

In managing family trust assets, we strive to enhance and to preserve the value of those assets, both in absolute dollars and in purchasing power. Achieving these investment objectives, and building a family's wealth, requires a long-term investment horizon and a commitment to common stock investing. It requires a focus on companies with growing earnings and strong balance sheets. It calls for a disciplined approach over many years, not merely on performance measured in fiscal quarters. Typically, our clients' investment objectives lead us to a diversified trust investment portfolio, with appropriate investments across asset classes and industry and economic sectors, offering the prospect of substantial growth in earnings and value over the longer term.

In reviewing family assets, we look not only at the securities in a trust, but also at a family's real estate holdings, business interests, significant items of tangible personal property, insurance, and retirement plan assets. Where it seems appropriate, we will consider real estate investments, venture capital opportunities, and other alternative investments.

Why Do Lawyers Make Effective Trustees?

Each Ruder Ware lawyer who serves as a fiduciary does so in his or her individual capacity. This allows us to provide a highly personal level of fiduciary service for clients who trust our judgment and rely on our counsel. The firm itself does not serve as a fiduciary. As lawyers and as trustees, we concentrate in areas that relate directly to our fiduciary practice. These include the law of trusts, sophisticated estate and charitable planning, taxation, real estate, business planning, probate law and estate settlement. The knowledge, experience and judgment that are the hallmark of a good lawyer are equally important to the role of a private trustee and personal representative. In serving as professional fiduciaries, we carry on a tradition that remains an essential element of our practice at Ruder Ware today.

How Do We Make Investment Decisions?

As trustees, we meet weekly  to review the investments in a different group of trust accounts. Ruder Ware retains the Boston investment advisory firm of Reynders, McVeigh Capital Management to advise the trustees on investment matters. For each trust investment meeting Reynders, McVeigh provides us with an independent analysis of each account being reviewed and written recommendations of any suggested investment changes. Taking those recommendations into account, we reach our own conclusions, subject to the approval of any outside trustees.  Reynders, McVeigh's role is advisory only. The trustees have final responsibility for investment decisions in the trusts under their care.

In addition to our outside investment counsel, we avail ourselves of investment information and advice from a variety of other sources. We meet monthly to review trends in the economy and the financial markets outside the context of a particular trust portfolio. We also meet periodically with independent investment professionals who share their experience and opinions with us. A number of Ruder Ware attorneys serve as co-trustees with other fiduciary organizations, including banks, investment companies and charitable funds. These positions give us insight into a range of investment opportunities and perspectives that enhance our own investment process.

How Do We Deliver Trust Services?

Our Fiduciary Services Department is responsible for the safekeeping of trust assets, the collection and distribution of income, the processing of securities transactions and the maintenance of all necessary records and accounts. We provide reports to clients as they request, typically on a monthly or quarterly basis. Securities are held in the custody of State Street Bank & Trust Company and cash balances are "swept" daily into interest-bearing accounts. We consolidate securities brokerage transactions, seeking the best execution available at a substantial discount from retail commission rates. We also consolidate bond trades to make those transactions at favorable prices.

Our Fiduciary Services personnel prepare income tax returns for trusts and estates under our stewardship and, often, for the beneficiaries of those accounts, as well. When a client wishes, we will pay client bills, make charitable gifts, prepare employment tax returns for household employees, monitor medical insurance reimbursements, and make estimated income tax payments.

Ruder Ware also offers experienced personnel to facilitate with the administration of estates. We attend to all aspects of the settlement of an estate, including supervision of probate proceedings, disposition of real estate and other assets and preparation of estate tax returns. In many cases, we are asked to serve as personal representatives of our clients' estates and to bring to bear the knowledge of their family and financial circumstances that we have acquired over the years.

Why Ruder Ware?

The breadth and depth of services offered and the continuity of personal contact, combined with the fiduciary, legal, investment and tax knowledge and experience that we bring to the service of our clients distinguish Ruder Ware from other private fiduciary firms. We would be pleased to discuss our fiduciary services with you.