Dennis Delaney is a partner and the Chair of the Private Client Group. For over 20 years, clients throughout the country have appointed Dennis as their family trustee, executor and have engaged him for complex estate planning, tax advice, wealth management, business succession planning, and tax controversies. His areas of expertise include:
- Serving as trustee on trusts that benefit individuals, families and charities
- Sophisticated estate planning that makes use of any number of strategies, including perpetual dynasty trusts, quiet trusts, complex gifting programs, "defective" grantor trusts, minors trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts (GRAT), qualified personal residence trusts (QPRT), and charitable giving programs involving private foundations, donor advised funds, and charitable lead/remainder trusts
- Helps establish and run both new family offices and family offices that have been operating for multiple generations
- Income and estate tax minimization strategies, including expertise in migrating trusts to tax-free jurisdictions
- Comprehensive asset protection programs using irrevocable trusts, LLCs, and other vehicles
- Represents principals of venture capital and private equity firms in creating family gifting programs for carried interests
- Open lands preservation
- Strategies for concentrated wealth holdings and unique assets
- Business succession planning for family-owned businesses
- Amending irrevocable trusts, including non-judicial settlement agreements, modifications, and decanting assets from existing irrevocable trusts to newly created trusts
- Cross-border planning for non-citizens or those with assets outside the U.S.
- IRS audits of estate and income tax returns
Dennis also serves as Managing Director and General Counsel of Hemenway Trust Company, a private fiduciary firm based in New Hampshire.
Representative Experience
- Serves as trustee for numerous family and charitable trusts collectively worth several hundred million dollars.
- Oversees business succession and estate planning for a family owning a $200 million private company.
- Creating and administering dozens of grantor retained annuity trusts (GRAT) resulting in saving clients many millions of dollars in transfer taxes.
- Led several land protection projects throughout the country using a variety of sophisticated techniques to protect environmentally sensitive land from development, save millions of dollars in transfer taxes, and maximize after-tax values for owners and their families.
- Created and administer private foundations, charitable lead trusts, and charitable remainder trusts involving tens of millions of dollars in funding.
Activities
- Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC)
- Member, New Hampshire Trust Council (NHTC)
- Past Co-Chair, Estate Planning Committee, Boston Bar Association’s Trusts & Estates Section
Accolades
- Recognized by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly as a "Go To Lawyer" for Trusts & Estates
- Named to the Massachusetts Super Lawyers list
- Editor-in-Chief, Boston University Law Review
- Recipient of Dr. John Ordronaux Prize from Boston University School of Law
Publications and Speaking Engagements
- White paper: “Rock Solid in New Hampshire” detailing the many advantages that New Hampshire offers as a premier trust venue
- Author, Drafting Irrevocable Trusts in Massachusetts (Drafting Dispositive Provisions Chapter), MCLE
- Author, Understanding and Using Trusts (Trustee Appointment and Succession Chapter), MCLE
- Co-authored the Trusts & Estates Magazine article, “Depression-Era Trusts Come Home to Roost,” (December 2016)
- Quoted in US News and World Report and Forbes on topics related to tax and financial planning for millennials
- Frequent speaker at industry events such as the New Hampshire Trust Conference and events hosted by the Family Business Association, the Family Firm Institute, Boston Probate Forum, ALI-ABA, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, and the Boston Bar Association.
- Authored Hemenway & Barnes client advisories including: "Proposed Changes to Tax Laws Spur a Call to Action" (2021), "Tax Planning After the 2020 Election… And 2021 Runoffs” (2021), “COVID-19 and Presidential Election Have Significant Effect on Estate Planning” (2020), "Pitfalls and Opportunities Under the New Federal Tax Law: Parts 1, 2 & 3" (2018, 2019)
Community Involvement
- Boys & Girls Club of Boston, Board of Trustees, Trustees Leadership Council and Planned Giving Advisory Committee
- Sherborn Rural Land Foundation, Trustee
- Alan Thayer Mudge Memorial Fund, Trustee
- Boston Athletic Association, Member
Dennis Delaney’s Comments on Challenges Clients Face
"My job often addresses the intersection of multiple challenges for my clients where solutions require deep expertise in any number of areas such as wealth management, legal issues, tax planning, and navigating family dynamics. In today’s hyper-specialized marketplace, all too often clients are left to knit together the separate advice they receive from multiple experts who don’t see beyond their own areas of expertise. At Hemenway & Barnes, we pride ourselves not only for our deep expertise in these critical areas, but also for our vast experience in connecting it all together. The value we bring is enabling clients to make the most informed and strategic decisions possible, which in turn helps create and preserve wealth for themselves and their families."
