Alex Zucco is an estate planning attorney focused on advising clients on the design of customized estate plans. From unmarried individuals to married couples, young professionals to retirees, Alex has a passion for counseling clients on achieving their estate planning goals, including:
- Avoiding probate
- Planning with regard to complex personal and family issues, such as second marriages, blended families, unique health issues, and special needs planning
- Providing for multi-generational wealth transfer
- Advising individual business owners and family businesses in the area of business succession planning and other unique business interest transfer issues
- Creating cottage trusts and other property transfer strategies for second homes and unique real estate
- Providing for charitable giving and educational planning
- Minimizing the impact of the federal estate tax and implementing other tax savings strategies
In addition to the preparation of estate plans that include wills, trusts, powers of attorney, real property transfer instruments, and other related documents, Alex also advises fiduciaries and beneficiaries in the administration of probate estates and trusts.
Alex has received a Certificate in the areas of probate and estate planning issued by the Institute of Continuing Legal Education and the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan.
Education & Credentials
Education
Wayne State University Law School
J.D., May 2011- The Wayne Law Review
Michigan State University
B.A., Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy, May 2008- James Madison College
- The Honors College
- Michigan State University Men’s Water Polo Team
Bar Admission
Acknowledgements
- Grand Rapids Magazine
- The Best of the Best, Volume 59, Issue 1, January 2022
- "Top Lawyers," Trust & Estates, 2023-2024
- Michigan Super Lawyers®
- "Rising Star," Estate Planning and Probate, 2020-2021
- Best Lawyers in America®
- "Ones to Watch," Trust and Estates, 2021-2022, 2024-2025
Prominent Assignments
- Advised high-net-worth married clients nearing retirement on the implementation of estate tax minimization strategies ahead of the sunset of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s heightened estate tax exemption, specifically including the implementation of staggered spousal lifetime access trusts (SLATs) and an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT), and further preparations for advanced lifetime charitable giving through a donor advised fund (DAF).
- Advised closely-held business-owning clients before and after business liquidation that resulted in eight-figure payout on their updated estate planning, focusing specifically on estate tax planning, succession planning, and charitable planning.
- Advised multiple generations of extended family to implement succession planning strategies coordinated with separate, customized estate plans that encourage wealth preservation, future business investment, and community-focused philanthropy.
- Provided strategic counsel to a privately held global financial services firm and its subsidiary, a national trust company, on intricate state banking and trust law regulatory matters.
- Facilitated the inception of a nonprofit venture for an economic growth organization, which entailed orchestrating its formation, meticulously crafting governance frameworks, and spearheading the application process for recognition of exempt status from the IRS.
Professional Involvement
- Board of Directors, Western Michigan Estate Planning Council, 2021-2024
- Western Michigan Estate Planning Council, Member
- State Bar of Michigan – Probate and Estate Planning Section, Member
- Grand Rapids Bar Association, Member
Community Involvement
- Holland/Zeeland Young Professionals
- Past President (2019-2020)
- President (2018-2019)
- Vice President (2017-2018)
- Strategic Partnerships Chair (2016-2017)
- Board Member (2015-2020)
- West Coast Chamber of Commerce West Coast Leadership Program
- Class Member and Graduate (2016-2017)
Court Admissions
State of Michigan
Publications/Presentations
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Presenter, U.S. Law Firms Group Trusts and Estates Committee Annual Meeting – “Planning for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Sunset,” October 2024.
- Panelist, "Estate Planning in Today's Environment," Western Michigan Estate Planning Council, April 2022
- Presenter, Estate Planning and Charitable Giving, Community Opportunity Center, October 2021
- Co-Author, “Estate Planning for Clients with International Ties,” LACHES magazine
- Co-Presenter, “Estate Planning for Clients with International Ties,” Oakland County Bar Association’s Probate, Estate and Trust Committee Meeting, May 2021
- Author, "Estate Planning Admist the Coronavirus Pandemic," Dickinson Wright Tax Blog, March 2020
- Presenter, Drafting Related to Funding Trusts, 29th Annual Drafting Estate Planning Documents Seminar, ICLE (January 2020)
- Author, Independent Contractors and the Internal Revenue Service’s “Twenty Factor” Test: Perspective on the Problems of Today and the Solutions for Tomorrow, 57 Wayne Law Review 599 (2011)