Overview

Thomas Norelli is a partner in the Trusts and Estates Practice Group of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Tom’s practice focuses on wealth transfer planning, wealth preservation, trust and estate administration, charitable organizations and charitable giving. He advises principals of private equity funds and venture capital firms, business executives, leaders in the financial industry, other individuals of significant wealth and their families to accomplish their estate, charitable and business succession planning objectives in a tax-efficient fashion. Tom also counsels fiduciaries with respect to ongoing administration of high net worth estates and trusts, and advises on issues related to charitable organizations such as nonprofit formation, administration, grant-making and governance.

Tom is a contributor to The Complete Estate Planning Sourcebook (published by Wolters Kluwer), and regularly writes and speaks on trusts and estates topics.

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Thought Leadership

Publications

Author, “Termination of QTIP Marital Trust Didn’t Create Gift Tax Liability,” WealthManagement.com, May 29, 2024

Quoted, “IRS Reverses Course on Grantor Trust Tax Reimbursement Clauses,” Tax Notes, January 3, 2024

Co-author, “Succeeding at the Pass: Succession Planning Strategies for Family Businesses,” New York Law Journal, September 10, 2023

Author, “Ninth Circuit Finds Heirs Personally Liable for Unpaid Taxes,” WealthManagement.com, May 24, 2023

Co-presenter, “The Power of Gifting Your Carried Interest,” Webinar, May 10, 2023

Author, “Tax Court Rules Debts Weren’t Deductible From Decedent’s Estate,” WealthManagement.com, March 24, 2023

Author, “Review of Reviews: ‘Dynasty 529 Plans and Structural Inequality,’ 61 Washburn Law Journal 497 (2022),” Trust & Estates Magazine, November 23, 2022

Author, “IRS Revises Simplified Late Portability Election Procedure” WealthManagement.com, July 12, 2022

Author, “Effect of Trust Modifications in a Settlement Agreement” WealthManagement.com, February 25, 2022

Author, “Tax Court Holds ‘Bigamous’ Estate Can Claim $79 Million Marital Deduction,” WealthManagement.com, June 9 2021

Author, “Review of Reviews: ‘An Estate Plan for Kanye West,’ Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal, Vol. 39 (2021),” Trust & Estates Magazine, May 21, 2021

Author, “Review of Reviews: ‘How Soon is Now: Estate of Moore & The Unraveling of Deathbed Estate Planning,’ Quinnipiac Probate Law Journal,” Trust & Estates Magazine, May 18, 2021

Author, “Complications of Working Remotely” WealthManagement.com, January 27, 2021

Author, “California Lawmakers Propose First of Its Kind Wealth Tax,” WealthManagement.com, August 24, 2020.

Author, “Interest in Family Farm Included in Decedent’s Estate,” WealthManagement.com, May 5, 2020

Author, “Interest in Family Farm Included in Decedent’s Estate,” WealthManagement.com, May 5, 2020

Co-author, “Tax Law Update: July/August 2022,” WealthManagement.com, May 5, 2020

Author, “Estate’s Late Filing Penalty Reduced 30%,” WealthManagement.com, December 3, 2019

Author, “Power of Attorney Fells Tax Refund Claim,” WealthManagement.com, September 25, 2019

Author, “Estate Deemed Ineligible for Disability Exception,” WealthManagement.com, August 21, 2019

Co-author, “Tax Law Update,” Trusts & Estates Magazine, North Carolina statute taxing New York trust’s income was unconstitutional; and IRS rules that gift of a remainder interest in artwork is completed gift for tax purposes, August 2018 Issue 

Co-author, “Another Reason to Fund Revocable Trusts: Maximize FDIC Coverage,” Trusts & Estates Magazine, June 2017 Issue

Co-author, “Tax Law Update,” Trust & Estates Magazine, Potential Repeal of Gift Tax; Notice 2017-15; and In Re Matter of the Estate of Anne S. Vose v. Lee, April 2017 Issue

Co-author, “Tax Law Update,” Trust & Estates Magazine, PLR 201652002; and IRS Notice 2017-12, March 2017 Issue

Co-author, “Tax Law Update,” Trust & Estates Magazine, IRS instructions for Form 709; PLR 201647001 permitting addition of tax reimbursement clause; and Proposed IRC Section 2704 regs create controversy, February 2017 Issue

Memberships & Affiliations

ACTEC, Mid-Atlantic Fellows Institute Graduate, Class III, 2022–2023

Credentials

Admissions & Qualifications

  • 2021New York
  • 2016California

Education

  • University of California, Berkeley, School of LawJ.D.2016

    Senior Symposium Editor, Berkeley Business Law Journal

  • Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityB.A., Historycum laude2012