For CPAs, financial advisers, and counsel

Working with your clients' advisers.

Founder and family planning works best when everyone advising the client works from the same facts. Vickery Law PLLC handles the legal structure. You keep your role, and with the client's consent, we keep you informed.

Book a 30-minute adviser call Refer a client

Adviser calls run 30 minutes. There is no charge for them.

How the relationship works

Most founder planning reaches us through an adviser who spotted the issue first: a CPA looking at a cap table, an RIA whose client just took a secondary, a corporate lawyer who does not want to take on the estate side.

We stay in our lane

We do not take over the tax return, the investment relationship, or the company's corporate work. The engagement is scoped to the trust and equity structure, in writing.

Your client hears the whole answer

Including when the answer is that the stock does not qualify, or that the structure is not worth its cost. You will not be handed a client who was sold something.

Co-counsel is available

On multi-trust builds we will work as co-counsel or alongside a consulting reviewer where that is the better structure for the client.

Who we work with

Founders holding stock that may qualify under Section 1202, and the families behind them, in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Washington State. Also families whose District of Columbia or Maryland estate tax exposure has outgrown a will-based or unfunded plan.

When to bring us in: founders

Any of the moments listed under when to refer a founder, as tranches approach the three, four, or five year mark, before a move between the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Washington State, and as early as possible before a sale.

When to bring us in: families

District of Columbia or Maryland estate tax exposure, a Maryland inheritance tax question, a new child or grandchild, a trust that was signed but never funded, or beneficiary designations that no longer match the plan.

Earlier is better, but it is rarely too late to do something useful.

When to refer a founder

For startup corporate counsel and CPAs, these are the moments when an early referral does the most good.

Incorporation, or an LLC converting to a C corporation.
A priced round or a new 409A valuation on the way.
A tender offer or secondary sale.
Acquisition interest before the shares have been held five years.
A founder with meaningful equity and no estate plan.

How we coordinate with you

With the founder's consent, we include you from the first conversation, share a plain-language summary of what the QSBS Qualification Review found, and agree who is doing what before any work starts. You keep your role: the returns, the investment relationship, or the company's corporate work.

How the work divides

CPAs

You keep the client's returns, including trust fiduciary and gift tax returns, which we do not prepare. We coordinate with you on valuation, transfer timing, and gift reporting so the return and the structure tell the same story.

Financial advisers

You keep investment management. We prepare the retitling and transfer paperwork, work with custodians where they will accept us, and track each account until it is confirmed funded.

Corporate counsel

You represent the company, we represent the founder and family. We coordinate early on transfer restrictions, board and investor consents, certificates, and the cap table.

What you can expect from us

A plain-language summary of the structure and why it was chosen, shared with the client's written consent.
A funding schedule showing every asset and its status.
Notice when a change in Section 1202 or the trust rules may affect a structure we built for a shared client.
A straight answer when the stock does not qualify or a structure is not worth its cost.

How a referral works

Three steps, and nothing for you to fill in beyond a short note.

You send a short note

With your client's permission, send the client's name and how to reach them, the company or situation in a sentence, its approximate stage, and what the client hopes to accomplish. Use the referral form or write to info@vickerylawpllc.com. Please leave out tax returns, cap tables, and other confidential detail until we have run a conflicts check and the client has engaged us.
Vickery Law replies

You will hear back within one business day.
A first call

We offer the client a first call within five business days. With the client's consent, you are included from the first conversation, and we agree who is doing what before any work starts.

If we are not the right fit, we say so promptly. Sending a referral does not create an attorney-client relationship. We do not pay or accept referral fees, and every engagement is quoted as a flat fee, in writing, before work begins.

For your files, and for your clients

A one-page summary of the plans

The three plans, who each one is for, and when to send a client to which. One page, to keep on file or share with a client.

Download the summary (PDF)

The QSBS Stacking Illustrator

The QSBS Stacking Illustrator is free to share with clients. It runs in the browser and collects nothing.

The attorney you meet reviews, finalizes, and signs off on every document. Chad R. Vickery is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Washington State. About the attorney

Referring a client

Send a short note with the client's name, the company, and its approximate stage. With the client's permission, we will include you in the first conversation.

We do not pay or accept referral fees, and we do not trade referrals. What we can offer is substantive: guidance co-authored with you that you can put in front of your clients, or a speaking slot for your client base. Every engagement is quoted as a flat fee, in writing, before work begins.