Morrison, Jonathon

Jonathon M. Morrison

Estate and Tax Planning Attorney

Jonathon Morrison is licensed in Arizona and California and is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law in California.

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Best Lawyers 2024 Frazer Ryan Goldberg & Arnold

Frazer Ryan News

Optimized Gift Trust (OGT): Transfer Assets Out of Estate While Maximizing Retained Access & Control Over Transferred Assets

By Jonathon Morrison • 04 Apr, 2024

See also: Optimized Gift Trust (OGT) Frequently Asked Questions

How Pro Athletes Can Hit an Estate-Planning Home Run

By Jonathon Morrison • 03 Apr, 2024

But a lesser known estate-planning tool— optimized charitable lead annuity trusts , or OCLATs—can help professional athletes, people selling their businesses, and high-net-worth individuals achieve their financial and philanthropic goals. If executed well, this strategy can deliver two to three times the initial invested sum at the end of its term. OCLATs are a version of the traditional CLAT offering, which has been a staple in the tax-planning strategies of the wealthy, including famous figures like Jacqueline Onassis, since it was introduced into the tax code in 1969. A CLAT, in its most basic form, is a charitable trust that disburses a fixed annuity or sum of money to one or more charities over a specific period of time. Once this term has come to an end, the residual assets in the trust are transferred to a noncharitable beneficiary. The OCLAT stretches the boundaries of the CLAT structure as far as IRS case law allows by making most of the charitable gifts in the latter years of the trust, thus giving investments more time to grow and more time to build family wealth. OCLATs are perfect for younger philanthropic high-earning Americans, those with large liquidity events, and those with substantial income tax obligations each year but a long time-horizon to invest. Yet despite their advantages, OCLATs are not widely used, primarily due to their perceived complexity. Indeed, many certified public accounts are unaware of their existence. This is gradually changing as more is written about this peer-reviewed income tax reduction strategy, and more professionals learn about, and recognize, its benefits. OCLATs offer a dollar-for-dollar tax deduction in the funding year (immediate tax savings of up to 30% adjusted gross income); a projected return of two to three times the original contribution (per Monte Carlo model projections accounting for the triple tax savings and assets compounding for 30 years); relief from the 40% federal gift/estate tax (because assets are removed from the taxable estate); and protection of transferred assets from bankruptcy, personal creditors, and divorce. OCLATs may not be ideal for individuals not motivated by philanthropy or those who do not have adequate personal assets outside the OCLAT. However, if the client is in a profession with a high income or has sold a highly appreciated asset and could benefit from a big state/federal tax deduction, is philanthropic, has ample savings outside the OCLAT, and would like to minimize inheritance taxes paid by children, then this is a textbook OCLAT use case. For example, if an athlete with a multiyear guaranteed contract moved $1 million of stock into an OCLAT account in 2024, he or she would save approximately $500,000 in income taxes for that year. If the stock in the OCLAT earns about 8% annually over 30 years, it leaves the athlete with $3 million for charitable donations, and some $5 million that would be transferred to the heirs tax-free (meaning no income tax or gift inheritance tax). In the event of unforeseen circumstances, like an injury that affects income, the IRS allows for the early termination of an OCLAT—with the condition of fulfilling all remaining charitable payments. Conversely, if the OCLAT investments do exceptionally well—a so-called “home run CLAT”—the vehicle can be shut down early so long as the charity gets the payment it was promised—and in any case the client still keeps the 30% income tax deduction. Interest rates could fall enough this year to bring the IRS charitable hurdle rate roughly in alignment with the 10-year Treasury yield, making the OCLAT an attractive way to maximize wealth while ensuring a lasting legacy and achieving significant tax savings.

How a former IRS boss optimizes his charitable trust to support his alma mater – and give assets to his children tax-free

By Jonathon Morrison • 28 Dec, 2023

Former IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has optimized his charitable trust to support Duke University and give assets to his children tax-free.

Az Business Leaders 2024 recognizes three Frazer Ryan senior partners

By Frazer Ryan • 13 Dec, 2023

Az Business Leaders selectees for 2024 include Frazer Ryan senior partners Brandon Keim, Jonathon Morrison, and Lisa Reilly Payton.

Best Lawyers® honors 12 Frazer Ryan attorneys

By Frazer Ryan • 17 Aug, 2023

Twelve Frazer Ryan attorneys are among The Best Lawyers in America selections for 2024 announced this week, including first-time honoree Brandon Keim (Tax Law).

Selling your medical practice? Optimize the sale with this triple tax-advantaged strategy

By Jonathon Morrison • 03 Apr, 2023

The OCLAT is perhaps the best way to divert tax dollars to medical foundations and health nonprofits, all while building a robust nest egg and a meaningful tax-efficient legacy.

Az Business Leaders 2023 recognizes four Frazer Ryan senior partners

By Frazer Ryan • 13 Dec, 2022

Frazer Ryan senior partners John Fitzpatrick (Estate Planning & Probate Law), Brandon Keim (Tax Law), Jonathon Morrison (Tax Law) and T.J. Ryan (Estate Planning & Probate Law) are featured in "Az Business Leaders 2023," published by AZ Big Media.

Jonathon Morrison in Forbes magazine: OCLAT offers year-end tax deductions, wealth growth

By Frazer Ryan • 18 Nov, 2022

Millennials are aggregating more wealth than ever and adopting a peer-reviewed approach known to outperform nearly all other traditional investment vehicles.

Optimized CLAT FAQs, Part 1: The Basics

By Jonathon Morrison • 07 Oct, 2022

Frequently asked questions about the Optimized CLAT (charitable lead annuity trust). We begin with the basics.

Jonathon Morrison is selected as a Forbes contributor

By Frazer Ryan • 15 Apr, 2022

Forbes magazine has added Frazer Ryan senior partner Jonathon Morrison to its talent bank of contributing authors. Jonathon is a planning pioneer and published author concerning the use of the “optimized CLAT” (OCLAT) strategy, which further optimizes for the philanthropic contributor the tax and economic benefits of a charitable lead annuity trust.

A senior partner and Best Lawyers^® honoree, Jonathon Morrison’s practice is focused on tax, business and estate planning for clients with large or complex estates. He is licensed in both Arizona and California and is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law in California.

After a decade practicing with preeminent estate planning law firms in Silicon Valley, Jonathon gained a mastery of virtually every estate and tax planning strategy in existence. With his unique background, Jonathon enjoys a reputation for developing advanced estate planning solutions for high income and high net worth clients whose objectives include income tax and estate tax minimization, charitable and philanthropic giving, business exit and succession planning, and asset protection.

A Forbes contributor, Jonathon is widely viewed as a thought leader and innovator in estate planning and related tax strategies.

Jonathon is also a frequent speaker and nationally recognized authority with respect to the “charitable lead annuity trust” (CLAT). Jonathon estimates that he has been involved in more than 250 CLAT transactions over the past 10 years, and he is frequently engaged by clients, tax advisors, and estate planning attorneys around the country to implement and provide advice with respect to complex CLAT transactions.

Jonathon Morrison is a planning pioneer and published author concerning the use of the “optimized CLAT” (OCLAT) strategy, which further optimizes for the philanthropic contributor the tax and economic benefits of a charitable lead annuity trust.

Read "The Optimized CLAT," co-authored by Jonathon Morrison, in the September 2020 issue of Estate Planning.

Short article: "Optimized CLAT: 'Opt Out' of Immediate Income Taxes by Promising to Make Charitable Gifts in the Future" | See also: FAQs

Professional Background

Before Jonathon and his wife relocated to his hometown of Phoenix in 2015 to raise their children, he practiced with two of the premier estate planning law firms in Silicon Valley – most notably, the personal tax planning group associated with the preeminent venture capital law firm Wilson Sonsini, which led IPOs for virtually every major Silicon Valley-based company, including Apple, Google, Amazon, Tesla, Twitter, LinkedIn, Netflix, Pandora, and GoDaddy. As one of the top tax-planning technicians in Silicon Valley, Jonathon designed, drafted and implemented estate plans for hundreds of the wealthiest individuals in the world, including founders, C-level executives, “Midas List” venture capitalists, and angel investors associated with the world’s most prominent tech companies.

Equipped with sophisticated tax and estate planning knowledge that is unique to the Arizona legal community, Jonathon quickly distinguished himself after his return to the Valley as one of the Phoenix area’s premier tax and estate planners.

Jonathon has personally architected and implemented over 500 tax planning transactions using one or more of the following advanced planning strategies:

Generation-skipping dynasty trusts (GST trusts)
Charitable remainder trusts (CRTs)
Charitable lead trusts (CLATs)
Spousal life access trusts (SLATs)
Family limited partnerships (FLPs)
Sales to intentionally defective grantor trusts (IDGTs)
Grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs)
Irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs)
Qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs)
Nevada incomplete non-grantor trusts (NING trusts)
Asset protection trusts (APTs), self-settled and non-self-settled
678 Trusts, Beneficiary Defective Inheritors Trusts (BDITs), and “MegaTrusts” (limited to review, analysis and administration; not creation)

Representative clients include:

Founders, executives, and owners of private and public companies
Private equity, venture capitalists, angel investors and entrepreneurs
Developers, syndicators and real estate investors
Professional athletes
Physicians, attorneys, accountants, executives, and other professionals
Philanthropists

Legal Services in Detail

Charitable and Philanthropic Giving

The greatest joy in Jonathon’s practice is helping clients who have philanthropic goals and are willing to ask, “How much is enough?” As a frequent speaker on creative charitable giving strategies, Jonathon helps donors maximize available tax benefits (thereby reducing the “cost of giving”) by implementing IRS-sanctioned trust strategies such as charitable remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts. For every one dollar of tax savings, the donor and the donor’s family have one more dollar to give away to charity or their private family foundation.

Enhanced Charitable and Philanthropic Giving - "Optimized CLAT"

The Optimized CLAT (OCLAT) is a special version of a charitable lead annuity trust that has been designed to optimize the tax and economic benefits to the contributor. An OCLAT is ideal for persons seeking to create a “giving engine” for tax-favored philanthropy during their lifetime. The OCLAT is the only tax planning vehicle in existence that generates a dollar-for-dollar tax deduction in the year of funding (providing immediate tax savings); returns an expected 1-5x of the initial contribution back to the contributor; immediately exempts the contributed assets from the 40% federal gift and estate tax, and exempts the transferred assets from the contributor’s personal creditors.

California “Prop 13” Real Property Tax Planning

Jonathon’s clients benefit from his expertise with respect to the arcane California “Proposition 13” real property tax deferral rules. By properly structuring lifetime and testamentary gift transfers, owners of valuable California real estate can defer (and sometimes avoid) property tax reassessment that would otherwise occur at death. In addition to directly advising clients on these issues, Jonathon is engaged by both California and non-California licensed attorneys as expert co-counsel to assist clients with valuable California real property holdings.

Business Formation and Succession

In the context of estate planning, Jonathon routinely assists clients in establishing family entities to centralize management of assets, maximize retained control, and assist with inter-generational transfers. In the context of active operating businesses, Jonathon is adept at handling matters involving concentrated positions, partnership and S corporation income tax issues, executive incentive compensation planning, and business succession planning.

Estate and Trust Administration

Jonathon helps families prepare for and navigate the emotional and technical post-death estate administration process. His role includes advising executors (or, in Arizona, “personal representatives”) and trustees regarding fiduciary duties, notifying beneficiaries of their interests, reviewing estate documents, allocating and dividing assets, and advising on the income and estate tax consequences of death and potential ongoing trust administration. He also helps individuals and families identify and overcome challenges relating to concentrated asset positions (such as real property, farmland and family businesses), disputes with the IRS and state tax agencies, fiduciary conflicts of interest, and other issues common to estate administration.

Estate and Trust Litigation

Jonathon helps families achieve harmony and develop amicable solutions in the event of disagreement. Unfortunately, some estate-related disputes are unavoidable. In this context, Jonathon works closely with Frazer Ryan’s trust and estate litigation attorneys to resolve the situation in a timely and cost-efficient manner. He often serves in an advisory role, interpreting technical terms of the estate documents and providing guidance with respect to income and estate tax consequences.

Personal

Outside of the office, Jonathon treasures his time with his wife and two young children. They primarily live in Scottsdale, but their favorite time of the year is the summer, when the whole family sets sail to Paris to beat the Arizona heat in their Saint-Germain-des-Pres flat (and Jonathon takes advantage of the nine-hour time zone difference). Jonathon is also a performance car enthusiast and passionate collector of Ferraris, Porsches, and BMWs. On the weekend, you can usually spot him (and one of his kids riding shotgun) at Cars & Coffee or participating in high-performance driving events.

Practice Areas

Tax Planning

Estate Planning, Wills and Trusts

Business Formation

Probate and Trust Administration

M&A Transactions

State and Local Tax Law

Property Tax Law

California Probate, Real Estate and Taxation

Certifications

Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law: State Bar of California

Honors & Awards

The Best Lawyers in America® (Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law), 2022-present

Az Business Leaders (Tax Law), AZ Big Media, 2023, 2024

Professional Memberships

State Bar of Arizona: Probate and Trust Law Section; Tax Law Section

State Bar of California

Maricopa County Bar Association

Central Arizona Estate Planning Council

Valley Estate Planners

Planned Giving Roundtable of Arizona

Court Admissions

Arizona, 2015

California, 2007

Published Articles

"How Pro Athletes Can Hit an Estate-Planning Home Run", Barron's, March 11, 2024

"How a former IRS boss optimizes his charitable trust to support his alma mater–and give assets to his children tax-free", Fortune, December 27, 2023

"This Strategy Helps Rich Millennials Lower Taxes, Give Back, and Build Next-Gen Wealth," Forbes, November 16, 2022

“Elevating Your Estate and Legacy: A Lesson from Jackie Kennedy,” Forbes, August 19, 2022

“The Optimized CLAT: A Compelling Income Tax Deduction Vehicle Hiding In Plain Sight” (co-author), Estate Planning, a Thompson Reuters Publication, Vol. 47, No. 9, September 2020

Select Presentations

“Advanced Charitable Trust Planning Strategies,” Arizona Community Foundation, Professional Advisors Series, September 2022

“Planning Strategies in Advance of Potential Tax Reform,” East Valley Estate Planning Council, September 2021

“Charitable Planning Using CLATs,” CalCPA Phoenix Tax Workshop, July 2021

“Pre- and Post-Sale Planning for You, Your Company and Your Family,” Northern Trust Conference for Business Owners, February 2020

“Estate Planning and Charitable Trust Strategies,” Desert Botanical Garden Donors Circle, Summer 2019

“Charitable Tax Strategies," JP Morgan Wealth Advisors, Summer 2019

“California Conundrums: What Arizona Attorneys and Advisors Must Know When Planning for Clients with California Ties,” Valley Estate Planners, January 2019

“Using Charitable Lead Annuity Trusts To Maximize the Economic Benefits of Charitable Giving”, Arizona Society of Certified Public Accountants (ASCPA) Annual Conference, June 2018

“Introduction to Tax-Efficient and Maximum Impact Charitable Giving,” Valley of the Sun United Way, February 2018

“California Conundrums: What Arizona Attorneys and Advisors Must Know When Planning for Clients with California Ties,” Scottsdale Estate Planners, January 2018

“Creative Charitable Lead Trust Strategies,” Valley Estate Planners, November 2017

“7 Uses of Charitable Trusts to Achieve a Donor’s Economic Goals,” Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC), October 2017

"Creative Charitable Trust Strategies,” A New Leaf, May 2017

“Creative Charitable Trust Strategies,” Planned Giving Roundtable Annual Conference, May 2017

“Creative Charitable Strategies,” Maricopa County Bar Association, February 2017

“Zeroed Out Grantor CLAT: The High-Earner's Charitable Super-IRA,” October 2016

“How to Use Grantor Charitable Lead Annuity Trusts,” Phoenix Rescue Mission, September 2016

“Advising Your Clients About Charitable Remainder Trusts,” Edward Jones Financial Advisors, June 2016

“Pre- and Post-Sale Planning for You, Your Company and Your Family,” Merrill Lynch Conference for Business Owners: M&A Solutions for Privately Held Companies, April 2016

“Interstate Tax Issues,” State Bar of Arizona, Probate & Trust Section, March 2016

“Charitable Giving Strategies,” Dignity Health, February 2015

Education

J.D., Taxation, University of California Hastings College of Law, 2007

B.S., cum laude, University of Arizona Eller College of Management (Accounting & Finance), 2004

Community Activities

Desert Botanical Garden: Planned Giving Committee

Ballet Arizona: Planned Giving Committee

Phoenix Zoo: Planned Giving Advisory Committee

Arizona Community Foundation (ACF): Planned Giving Advisory Committee

Central Arizona Estate Planning Council: Executive Board

Phoenix Rescue Mission: Professional Advisory Committee

A New Leaf: Planned Giving Advisory Committee

Valley of the Sun United Way: Legacy Society

Birthplace

Phoenix, Arizona

From our offices in central Phoenix, Frazer Ryan Goldberg & Arnold assists businesses and individuals in estate planning, tax litigation, state and local tax, business law, M&A, property tax, real estate law, tax planning, probate and trust administration, and elder law matters.

The act of visiting or communicating with Frazer Ryan Goldberg & Arnold LLP via this website or by email does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Communications from non-clients via this website are not subject to client confidentiality or attorney-client privilege. Further, the articles, discussion, commentary, forms and sample documentation contained in this website are offered as general guidance only and are not to be relied upon as specific legal advice. For legal advice on a specific matter, please consult with an attorney who is knowledgeable and experienced in that area. Attorneys listed in this website practice only in the jurisdictions in which they are admitted. This website is governed by the Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct.

While the articles in this website accurately describe applicable law on the subject covered as of the date of publication, the law continues to develop with the passage of time. Accordingly, before relying upon this article, care should be taken to verify that the law described herein has not changed since the article's publication.

Jonathon M. Morrison

Estate and Tax Planning Attorney

Legal Services in Detail

Enhanced Charitable and Philanthropic Giving - "Optimized CLAT"