Mac Bracewell counsels high-net-worth individuals and families on estate planning, tax strategy, and wealth transfer matters. These clients include business owners, executives, and heirs, as well as fiduciaries, family offices, and the boards of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. He guides each one in designing and implementing tailored estate plans that reflect their long-term objectives, among them business succession, family considerations, and philanthropy, while integrating strategies to minimize income, estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exposure. Throughout, his approach emphasizes practical, personalized solutions.
A substantial part of Mac’s practice involves structuring and administering sophisticated wealth transfer techniques. He regularly advises on grantor and non-grantor trusts for spouses and other beneficiaries, beneficiary defective inheritance trusts (BDITs), grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs), irrevocable homestead trusts, life insurance planning, intrafamily loans, and net gifts. Mac frequently advises on the tax-efficient management of complex and highly appreciated assets. These include qualified small business stock (QSBS) under Section 1202 of the Internal Revenue Code and concentrated equity positions, such as closely held business interests and employer stock eligible for net unrealized appreciation (NUA) treatment. He also advises on illiquid or hard-to-value interests. For these holdings, he develops integrated strategies designed to preserve wealth while managing tax burdens.
Mac devotes significant attention to estate and trust administration. He identifies post-mortem planning opportunities and prepares gift, estate, and GST tax returns, working closely with clients’ accountants, investment advisors, and valuation professionals. He also advises fiduciaries of significant trust funds on risk management, compliance with the prudent investor rule and other fiduciary obligations, income and GST tax matters, the exercise of discretion under ascertainable and non-ascertainable distribution standards, and the management of complex relationships among beneficiaries. In contested matters, Mac represents clients in will and trust contests involving undue influence and lack of capacity. He also handles claims for breach of fiduciary duty, elective share proceedings, and tax controversies before the Internal Revenue Service. In each, he navigates the legal, economic, and family considerations that such disputes present.
Mac finds charitable planning to be a particularly rewarding aspect of his practice. He assists clients in establishing private foundations, operating foundations, supporting organizations, and charitable lead and remainder trusts, and he advises on the continuing governance and compliance of these entities. He also frequently serves on not-for-profit boards and in fiduciary roles, helping families and organizations advance their philanthropic mission, vision, and values.
Above all, Mac values his enduring relationships with clients, their families, and their advisors. He prioritizes accessibility, clear communication, and continuity of counsel. He also collaborates with his partners across the firm’s practice areas to address clients’ broader needs, including executive compensation and employment agreements, real property development, marital agreements, business matters from entity formation through mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, and commercial and personal litigation.
