Penhallow Estate Planning, LLP · Est. 2008
Generational wealth,
architected to outlast you.
Bespoke estate structures for families whose legacies span more than a single lifetime — built on a 7-layer diagnostic audit refined across 1,800 engagements and recognized by Private Wealth Magazine as a Top 25 Boutique Firm.
A Letter from the Founder
Why we take only one new family at a time.
In 2008, I left a mid-sized fiduciary practice to open a firm of one. The families who came to me did not need another set of template documents — they needed a quiet, rigorous partner who would treat a $40M estate the way a private bank treats a $400M one. That posture has not changed.
I am a third-generation trust attorney. My grandfather administered dynasty trusts in the 1950s; my father chaired the estate-planning group at a Boston firm through the 1980s and 90s. The lineage is not a marketing detail — it is the reason our 7-Layer Dynasty Audit exists. It was built across three generations of seeing what fails when an estate plan is drafted in isolation, then administered by people who never met the family.
Today Penhallow is twenty-two professionals — seven licensed attorneys, four CFP® practitioners, three in-house tax analysts — and we accept a deliberately small number of new engagements each quarter. We do not litigate contested matters. We do not mass-produce revocable trusts. If your family is building something that needs to last four generations, we would be honored to read the same.
— Margaret Penhallow, J.D., LL.M. Taxation Founding Partner · NYU '92 · ACTEC Fellow
Proprietary Framework · In Use Since 2011
The 7-Layer Dynasty Audit™, applied to every new engagement.
A structured diagnostic that maps an estate across seven interdependent layers — from entity architecture to family governance — before a single document is drafted. It is the reason our clients retain us across an average of three generations, and the reason our average projected transfer-tax reduction lands between 32% and 58% in the first restructuring cycle.
-
01
Entity Architecture & Title Reconstitution
A line-by-line audit of every holding vehicle — LLCs, FLPs, grantor trusts, foreign structures — to identify fragmentation, redundant basis steps, and exposure to inadvertent termination.
-
02
Transfer-Tax Exposure Mapping
Federal estate, gift, and GST exposure modeled under current law and three sensitivity scenarios — isolating the precise assets driving the largest projected tax drag.
-
03
Dynasty Trust Structuring
Multi-generational trust design calibrated to your state's rule-against-perpetuities window — maximizing the GST exemption allocation and the flexibility of decanting powers.
-
04
Family Governance & Succession Charter
A private family constitution codifying trustee succession, distribution standards, and conflict resolution — engineered so the architecture survives the founders.
The remaining three layers — charitable architecture, cross-border considerations, and ongoing administration protocols — are presented during a private strategy session.
Read the full 7-Layer AuditChapter 02 · The Record
Sixteen years, measured quietly.
Penhallow’s work is rarely spoken of in print. The figures below stand in for a portfolio of relationships that span as many as four generations — the only credential a private client truly requires.
- Client assets under active planning
- $250M+
- Estate plans drafted and administered since founding
- 1,800+
- Multi-year client retention across multi-generational accounts
- 97%
- Projected estate-tax savings secured for clients in 2024
- $412M
Average projected estate-tax reduction for new engagements: 32–58% within the first restructuring cycle. Median client age: 58. Average portfolio under administration: $14.3M.
Chapter 03 · Before Engagement
Four questions a sophisticated principal asks first.
A short colophon of the inquiries we receive most often from new family principals — addressed here, plainly, so the first conversation may begin where it should.
-
Is there a minimum asset level to engage Penhallow?
Our active client portfolios begin at roughly $5M in investable or inherited assets and concentrate above $10M, with an average of $14.3M under administration. We are candid about thresholds; the concierge intake will confirm fit before a retainer is proposed.
-
In which states do you practice, and do you coordinate with out-of-state counsel?
We are admitted across thirty-eight states and routinely serve principals with multi-jurisdictional holdings. Where local counsel is required, we select and direct it — the principal retains a single point of contact at our firm.
-
How is your fee structured, and do you ever accept contingent or commission-based compensation?
Engagements are retainer-based, with fixed-fee plan drafting and hourly advisory work disclosed in writing at intake. We do not earn commissions, do not sell insurance or investment products, and do not accept third-party referral fees. The full schedule of fees is appended to every engagement letter.
-
Does Penhallow handle contested probate or fiduciary litigation?
No. Penhallow is a planning and administration firm; we do not litigate. Where a dispute arises, we refer clients to a small panel of trusted fiduciary litigators and coordinate the handoff, but we do not appear in contested matters ourselves.
Chapter 04 · The Invitation
Schedule your private strategy session.
A sixty-minute conversation with a senior estate strategist — by introduction, never by mass intake. Sessions are scheduled by our concierge desk and held in Boston, Greenwich, or by secure video under our standard confidentiality protocol.
Schedule Your Private Strategy Session
- Concierge
- [email protected]
- Telephone
- +1 (617) 555-0184
- Boston Office
- 75 Federal Street, Suite 1420
Boston, MA 02110 - Greenwich Office
- By appointment
Founded 2008 · ACTEC Member · Concierge Intake