Kristin G Fruehwald

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Personal Business - Estate Planning

At Barnes & Thornburg LLP, we recognize that our clients' priorities may change during every life phase, and work closely with them to provide innovative legal solutions that support their current financial, business, and personal goals. We understand that people just starting a family have different aspirations and concerns than those who have a second residence or are changing careers. We understand the needs of non-traditional families and individuals who would like to participate in philanthropic pursuits. Bottom line? We appreciate the individual lifestyles of our clients and customize estate plans that both support their goals and are legally sound—that’s what we do differently at Barnes & Thornburg.

Whether your life situation requires advice about the perpetuation of personal wealth and investments for later generations, or business succession planning, you will be working with a forward-thinking team of family advisors who approach matters holistically and whose competencies extend across a variety of areas, including:
* Estate planning
* Will and trust preparation
* Estate and gift tax minimization
* Life insurance planning
* Charitable foundations and trusts
* Will, estate, and trust litigation
* Marital and cohabitation agreements
* Business succession and owner exit planning
* Generation-skipping and dynasty trust tax planning
* Multi-generational planning
* Retirement benefit planning
* Guardianships / conservatorships
* Multi-state residential and business planning with attorneys licensed in multiple states, including the sunbelt states
* Asset protection planning

Our role is not only to help clients with wealth transmission issues, but to help them manage their estate throughout their lifetime. We assist clients in navigating the complex interactions between their goals and gift taxes, assist in retirement account distribution choices, work on dividing assets between spouses to mini¬mize death taxes, and develop charitable vehicles which accomplish desired results. We also assist clients in litigated matters and in tax controversies. On occasion, special needs trusts and Medicaid planning can also be important areas of an estate plan where we can assist our clients.

We also enjoy working with our clients’ other advisers, such as accountants, financial planners, and invest¬ment advisers, and find that this “team” approach often serves the client well. We pride ourselves on person¬al service and an approach that helps each client to define his or her goals and to obtain the information and the necessary documents to achieve those goals.

Personal Business - Probate

Barnes & Thornburg's tax & estate lawyers have substantial experience in probate matters, whether the estate is modestly sized or involves a high-net-worth executive or business owner. Our estate planners involve lawyers from other departments and practice groups, as required, to meet the client's needs. The firm's large complement of estate planners across our offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, Ohio, and Washington, D.C., gives us the resources to handle probate matters efficiently and economically. The firm also represents executors, trustees and individuals in probate litigation matters, including will and trust contests, claims in estates, objections to accountings and contested guardianships.

Personal Business - Wills and Trusts

To preserve and transfer an individual's assets, the use of wills and trusts is often necessary. Our estate-planning attorneys have substantial experience in drafting and administering wills and trusts. Our depth and breadth of experience allows us to provide efficient, responsive, and cost-effective legal advice in this important, personal area.

Certified Estate Planning & Administration Specialist - Indiana State Bar Association

Kristin G Fruehwald
Barnes & Thornburg
11 S Meridian St
Indianapolis IN 46204
Tel: 317 231-7245
Fax: 317 231-7433
E-mail: kris.fruehwald@BTLaw.com

Kristin G. Fruehwald is a partner in Barnes & Thornburg LLP, resident in the Indianapolis, Indiana office. She is co-chair of the firm's Estate Planning Practice Group. Mrs. Fruehwald concentrates her practice on the wide range of legal services affecting estate planning and estate administration. She regularly represents clients in tax planning; business succession planning; charitable giving; guardianships and adoptions; and estate, trust, and tax litigation.

Mrs. Fruehwald is past president of the Indiana State Bar Association, past president of the Indianapolis Bar Association, and is serving as a member of the Indiana Probate Code Study Commission and as co-chair of the Estate Planning and Administration Speciality Certfication Board. She is a past chairman of the Probate, Trust and Real Property Section of the Indiana State Bar Association and past chairman of the Estate Planning and Administration Section of the Indianapolis Bar Association. She has been elected to membership in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and is included in the publication, The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Trusts and Estates. She has served as president and on the board of each of the following organizations: the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum; the Indiana Federal Community Defenders, Inc.; the Indianapolis Bar Foundation; and The Orchard School. She is serving or has served on the boards of the Central Indiana Land Trust, Inc.; the Indianapolis Legal Aid Society, Inc.; Indianapolis Parks Foundation; the Riley Children's Foundation; Arts Indiana, Inc.; the Indiana Equal Justice Fund; the Indiana Bar Foundation; and the Planned Giving Group of Indiana. She served as the co-editor of the Indiana Probate, Trust, Real Property and Death Tax Newsletter. She is a member of the American, Indiana, and Indianapolis Bar Associations and is a Fellow of the Indianapolis Bar Foundation, the Indiana State Bar Foundation, and the American Bar Foundation.

Mrs. Fruehwald received a B.S., with highest distinction, from the University of Nebraska in 1968 and spent several years teaching mentally handicapped children in the Chicago public school system. She received her J.D. summa cum laude from the Indiana University School of Law in 1975 and joined Barnes & Thornburg that same year. She has been a partner since 1982.