Raj A. Malviya

Raj A. Malviya has been practicing law since 2005. His practice is focused on estate and tax planning and asset protection for individuals and organizations, planning and tax compliance for individuals and families with foreign ties, and all aspects of estate and trust administration.

Estate and Wealth Transfer Planning

Mr. Malviya works with private clients such as business owners and licensed professionals in high risk professions including physicians, dentists, chiropractors, architects, attorneys and various types of film and music artists on estate and tax planning and asset protection. His focus is:

- General estate planning: preparing foundational estate plans that include living trusts, wills, durable power of attorney and health care directives.

- Asset protection: implementing “life-planning” strategies through reliance on statutory protections, proper asset titling, beneficiary designations, trust and entity formation and related techniques to protect assets from an individual’s creditors, predators and themselves.

- Retirement plans: using assets including qualified plans, government plans, IRAs, deferred compensation plans, split dollar plans, executive bonus plans, and carve out plans.

- Transfer tax and income tax: utilizing trusts, gifting techniques, entities and various “estate freeze” strategies including installment sale arrangements, private annuities, qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs), grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), and sales to intentionally defective grantor trusts (IDGTs).

- Generation and business succession: preparing for the next generation on a tax-advantaged basis using gifting and sales techniques, GRATs, life insurance trusts, sales to IDGTs, and family limited partnerships and limited liability companies.

- Charitable giving: planning with gifting techniques to utilize and leverage charitable income tax and transfer tax deductions by using various types of irrevocable trusts including charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) and charitable lead trusts (CLTs).

Planning for US and Non US persons with Foreign Ties

Mr. Malviya handles various matters in the international estate and tax planning field. This involves tax and non-tax planning for US citizens, residents, and nonresidents (NRAs) who have ties to foreign jurisdiction (residency, family, assets). Among the services he provides are:

- Coordinate with immigration planning for global executives, physicians, and scientists undergoing inbound and outbound transfers by addressing all aspects of income and transfer tax planning, and conducting treaty and totalization agreement analysis.

- Estate planning for US citizens, residents, and NRAs to address specific needs of the individual while taking into account the tax and property regime rules that govern the planning.

- Preparation and review of nonresident specific tax returns, including Form 1040NA, Form 706NA, and Form 1041 when foreign person is a beneficiary of a US based estate or trust.

- Advise US persons on all aspects of informational reporting including Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), Foreign Bank and Financial Account (FBAR), Report of Gifts from Foreign Persons, Report of Foreign Trusts, Passive Foreign Investment Company (PFIC), and expatriation and related inheritance tax regimes.

Estate and Trust Administration

Mr. Malviya assists clients with a full range of post-death estate settlement and trust administration, including the administration and tax planning for decedent’s estates, preparation of estate tax returns, fiduciary income tax returns and fiduciary accounts, and support with IRS review and audits. He represents fiduciaries, beneficiaries and claimants during administration of the trust or estate.

Professional Affiliations, Activities and Honors

Mr. Malviya is involved in a number of professional associations, including the American Bar Association Taxation Section, the State Bar of Michigan Probate and Estate Planning Section, and several sections with the Grand Rapids Bar Association (GRBA) including Probate and Estate Planning, Real Property, and Tax Sections. He is also a member of the Society of Trusts & Estates Professionals (STEP).

Mr. Malviya was appointed in September 2014 to the State Bar of Michigan Probate and Estate Planning Council. In August 2014, he was selected from among many qualified candidates across the country to be a Fellow in the American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law. He served a two year term from 2014-2016. For 2016-2017, Mr. Malviya was selected to be a member of the ACTEC Foundations ACTEC Young Leaders Program.

Mr. Malviya was the Co-Founder and Past President of the South Asian Bar Association of Michigan. He served as the Michigan Liaison to the North American South Asian Bar Association (NASABA) and helped form NASABA’s Tax Section made up of attorneys, educators, law students and other professionals. Mr. Malviya was also a member of the 2014 Fellows Program of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity. He is also a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

Mr. Malviya is recognized by “Best Lawyers in America®” for Trusts and Estates Law. He was also selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers–Rising Stars for Estate Planning and Probate 2008-2016.

In 2016, Mr. Malviya was one of West Michigan’s young professionals being honored by the Grand Rapids Business Journal in their “40 Under Forty.” Criteria for consideration included accomplishments, and professional and community board contributions, as well as volunteer activity.

Community Activities

Mr. Malviya currently serves on the Spectrum Health Community Council, the Porter Hills Retirement Community Planned Giving Council and the United Way Professional Advisor Committee.

Education

Mr. Malviya earned his LL.M. in Taxation, with honors, from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. He earned his JD from Valparaiso University School of Law where he was a Charles Gromley Scholarship recipient. He earned his undergraduate degree from Hope College. He is admitted to practice in all Michigan state and appellate courts.