Cheryl Sellers Johnson

"I develop custom planning solutions that underscore my clients’ personal family profile while achieving their wealth transfer objectives in a tax-favored manner."

Experienced Trusts & Estates attorney practicing wealth transfer planning, estate & trust tax law, fiduciary litigation, and business formation & succession planning. Practice Trusts & Estate Planning and Wealth Transfer, Asset Protection, Tax, & Business Planning. Work with individual clients and small business owners. Advise clients on a full spectrum of tax and estate planning services, including wealth transfer, business, and tax planning. Develop customized solutions that emphasized clients’ personal family profile and priorities; and their wealth transfer objectives.

Currently serve as Co-Chair of the Economics & Technology of Practice Committee of the Real Property Trusts & Estates Section of the American Bar Association. Board Member of the Estate Planning Council of Montgomery County, Maryland.

• Free Consultation
• Credit Cards Accepted

District of Columbia

District of Columbia Bar

Since 1996

Maryland

Since 1994

Principal, Trusts & Estates Attorney

Sellers Johnson Law

2017 - Current

Practice Trusts & Estate Planning and Wealth Transfer, Asset Protection, Tax, & Business Planning. Work with individual clients and small business owners. Advise clients on a full spectrum of tax and estate planning services, including wealth transfer, business, and tax planning. Develop customized solutions that emphasized clients’ personal family profile and priorities; and their wealth transfer objectives. Develop complex estate plans that maximized wealth transfer while minimizing tax exposure. Work with clients to develop lifetime trust and tax strategies as well as strategies for post-mortem wealth transfer. Strategies include Installment Sales to Grantor Trusts, Crummey trusts, Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs), Domestic Asset Protection Trusts (DAPTs), Dynasty Trusts funded by GRATs and Installment Sales to Grantor Trusts. Charitable Trusts and other charitable planning. Special focus on Wealth Transfer Strategies for Real Estate Investors. Emphasis is on tax efficiency; protection of personal assets from real estate investment activities; and protection of real estate investment assets from personal liabilities, through the use of entities such as LLCs, Limited Partnerships, Family Limited Partnerships, Family LLCs, and irrevocable trusts. Also, work with Trustees to administer advanced trusts, including complex irrevocable trusts while honoring their fiduciary duties. Identified areas of concern in existing advanced trusts and educated Trustees in actions to avoid estate inclusion in Trustee’s estate, Grantor’s estate, and/or Beneficiary’s estate.

Trusts & Estates Senior Tax Manager

CohnReznick

2017 - 2017

Provided wealth transfer strategy planning for clients to accomplish estate planning and business succession strategies. Consulted clients regarding generation skipping taxes, transfer tax planning, asset protection, and post-mortem planning. Also provided tax compliance services including providing top level review of tax returns for estate taxes, gift taxes, and fiduciary taxes for trusts and estates. Worked predominately with trust and estate clients as well as high net worth individuals for estate and individual tax issues. Performed tax research and tax planning. Worked extensively with Trustees of irrevocable trusts, advising on the legal and tax issues associated with the Trusts. Specifically, researched and consulted on various estate, gift and trust related issues, such as trustee and beneficiary issues, Crummey obligations and generation skipping tax issues; and provided fiduciary accounting services for Trusts and Estates.

Partner, Trusts & Estates Practice Leader

Press & Dozier

2016 - 2017

Cheryl served as a Principal of the firm, and led the firm’s Trusts & Estates practice group. She provided wealth transfer planning, estate & trust tax law, fiduciary obligations counseling, business formation & succession planning, intellectual property legal services. Cheryl's special practice focus is on "Wealth Transfer Planning for Intellectual Property Assets" and "Wealth Transfer Planning for Real Estate Investors." As the leader of the firm's Trusts & Estates Practice Group, advised clients on a full spectrum of wealth transfer and planning. For clients with assets approaching or exceeding estate tax exemption levels, developed strategies utilizing complex trusts and business entities including irrevocable trusts designed to maximize tax savings and the transfer of wealth. When advising clients in estate and trust administration matters, provided fiduciaries with guidance and post-mortem strategies to maximize the transfer of wealth to beneficiaries and minimize the tax burden while helping them comply with their fiduciary obligations and duties. Cheryl also provided intellectual property and business law services including business formation, business succession planning, and business tax planning.

Trusts & Estates Attorney

Paley Rothman

2015 - 2016

Estate Planning, Estate & Trust Administration, and Tax attorney. Practiced estate planning, tax planning, and business succession planning. Worked with mid– and high-net worth individuals and small business owners, developing customized estate planning and business succession solutions. Developed strategies utilizing complex trusts and business entities designed to protect assets while maximizing tax savings and wealth transfer. Advised clients in estate and trust administration matters. Provided fiduciaries with post-mortem strategies to maximize the transfer of assets to beneficiaries, minimize the tax burden, and comply with their fiduciary obligations and duties.

Principal, Trusts & Estates

Sellers Johnson Law

2009 - 2015

Practiced Trusts & Estates law including estate planning, estate administration, fiduciary litigation, guardianships, and elder law. Worked with low– to mid-net worth clients and small business owners. Estate and Business Planning practice emphasized: Providing estate planning and wealth transfer strategies; Developing complex trusts including grantor trusts, irrevocable trusts, credit shelter trusts, stand-alone retirement trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, supplemental needs trusts, and charitable trusts; Assisting clients with minimizing federal & state estate taxes, income taxes, retirement taxes, capital gains taxes, inheritance taxes, gift taxes, and generation skipping transfer taxes; Providing estate and trust administration guidance and post-mortem estate planning to maximize the transfer of wealth to beneficiaries.

Georgetown University Law Center

LL.M. | Tax Law

Honors: Certificate in Estate Planning

Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology

J.D. | Law

Johns Hopkins University

M.S. | Computer Science

Towson University

B.S. | Computer Science

Estate Planning Council of Montgomery County, Maryland

Board Member

2016 - Current

District of Columbia Bar

Member

1996 - Current

American Bar Association  # 01031596

Member

1994 - Current

Maryland State Bar Association

Co-Chair, Economics & Technology of Practice Committee, Real Property Trusts & Estates Section

1994 - Current

Q. My father, no will & my grandmother went before him, no will. There r only 3 blood relative my Aunt Amy brother and me

February 18, 2019

A: I am sorry to hear about the passing of your father and grandmother. You have presented some bare facts but not really a question. If your grandmother and father had valid Wills, their estates would be distributed according to the provisions of their Wills. If neither had a Will, just based on what you stated, it appears that you would be entitled to an inheritance. I would be able to answer more fully if I knew where your father and grandmother lived when they passed and whether they had Wills.