John S. Seich

Overview

John S. Seich is a Principal at McCarthy Lebit. John has over 30 years of experience specializing in tax law, as well as estate planning and corporate law. He focuses the majority of his practice on the minimization of income and estate taxes and regularly counsels families of substantial means on wills and trusts, prenuptial agreements, charitable gift planning and tax matters related to trusts and estates. His practice also includes estate and trust administration, as well as the representation of fiduciaries and beneficiaries in trust and estate disputes and settlements. John has extensive experience in sophisticated estate planning for closely-held business owners with the goal of minimizing estate and income taxes.

He counsels families in planning for the successful transfer of the business to the next generation through complex techniques including the establishment of family limited partnerships, LLCs, trusts and GRATS, as well as installment sales to grantor trusts. John has also served as special counsel and expert witness in estate planning and administration matters.

John is one of the first attorneys in the State of Ohio to be distinguished as an Ohio State Bar Association Board Certified Specialist in Federal Taxation Law. He has handled complex estate and income tax matters. He has continued success in preserving significant wealth for clients during estate and gift tax audits, appeals, and proceedings before the U.S. Tax Court. John has advocated for his clients in numerous estate tax audits. He also drafted the winning brief in the nationally recognized tax case of O’Neill v. Commissioner, 994 F.2d (6th Cir.). Moreover, John oversees the preparation of the firm’s federal estate tax returns.

John is a guest lecturer and has spoken before the Cleveland Estate Planning Institute, the Estate Planning Council, Cleveland State University, KeyBank National Association, the Cleveland Bar Association and the Ohio Society of CPAs. In addition to John’s various speaking engagements, he has authored articles that have been published in the Ohio CPA Journal.