Brenda Jackson-Cooper is a partner in the firm’s Estate Planning practice, where she advises individuals on a broad range of estate, gift and GST tax planning matters, crafts customized estate plans designed to achieve clients’ tax and non-tax objectives and implements a range of lifetime giving strategies designed to transfer wealth with maximum tax efficiency.  She also develops estate tax liquidity plans, administers large estates with multi-jurisdictional components and provides post-mortem tax planning advice. 

Ms. Jackson-Cooper also has special expertise in estate planning for same-sex couples and understands the challenges posed, and the opportunities sometimes presented, by the lack of federal recognition of same-sex marriages, civil unions and domestic partnerships.

Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Jackson-Cooper practiced for nine years in the Trusts & Estates Group at Arnold & Porter, LLP, where she assisted domestic and foreign individuals with a wide range of estate planning and administration, business succession planning, charitable giving and trust administration matters, with a focus on helping closely held business owners avail themselves of the benefits of pre-sale tax and estate planning.

During her time at Arnold & Porter, Ms. Jackson-Cooper regularly staffed Whitman Walker Health’s estate planning clinic on a pro bono basis and coordinated the volunteer efforts of other attorneys at the firm.  Ms. Jackson-Cooper also provided the Washington Animal Rescue League (WARL) with pro bono legal services relating to planned giving and probate matters. 

• Developed and implemented an estate plan that used the leveraging power of a grantor retained income trust funded with interests in a start-up enterprise to transfer substantial wealth to the client’s same-sex spouse in a tax-efficient manner.
• Administered the estate of a decedent who died in 2010 with holdings in nine jurisdictions.  Worked closely with ancillary probate attorneys to file disclaimers in every jurisdiction, with family office staff to transfer widespread real property interests to limited liability companies and with accountants to comply with the requirements imposed on 2010 estates electing out of the estate tax regime. 
• Advised a U.S. beneficiary of a foreign non-grantor trust funded with U.S. real property regarding U.S. income tax rules and worked closely with the corporate trustees and the beneficiary’s accountants to comply with reporting obligations imposed on the beneficiary and the trustees.

“Washington Animal Rescue League Estate Planning Seminar.”  Washington, DC, April 10, 2009