The Optimized Gift Trust & Funding Designs: A Turnkey Solution for Pre-2026 Gift
Wednesday, August 20
The Optimized Gift Trust & Funding Designs: A Turnkey Solution for Pre-2026 Gifts
Presented by: Jonathon Morrison Senior Partner Frazer Ryan Goldberg & Arnold LLP
Biography:
A renowned innovator and technician in his space, Jonathon’s thought leadership and knack for developing novel, cutting-edge solutions has resulted in multiple advances in the field of advanced tax and estate planning. In addition to publishing multiple peer-reviewed articles featured on the cover of the national Estate Planning Journal (the top legal journal in the field), Jonathon has been featured in Forbes, Fortune, Bloomberg, and Barrons, as well as several nationally syndicated podcasts, with respect to strategies involving income and estate tax minimization, charitable and philanthropic giving, business exit and succession planning, and asset protection.
For nearly 20 years, Jonathon has practiced with the top tax and estate planning law firms in Silicon Valley and Phoenix. Before his family relocated to his hometown of Phoenix in 2015, Jonathon worked with the personal tax planning group associated with Wilson Sonsini, the “go-to” law firm in Silicon Valley which led IPOs for Apple, Google, Amazon, Tesla, and hundreds of other top tech companies. During this time, Jonathon designed and implemented estate plans for hundreds of the wealthiest individuals in the world, including founders, C-level executives, venture capitalists, and angel investors. As soon as he arrived in Phoenix, Jonathon’s unique skill set quickly distinguished him as one of Arizona’s premier tax and estate planners.
A pioneer at the forefront of the tax and estate planning sector, Jonathon is also credited as the developer and publisher of multiple innovations in the field, including (i) the ‘optimized gift trust’ (OGT) (a solution for wealthy individuals to reduce the federal estate tax, but retain maximum access and control ofthe assets within IRS limits), (ii)the ‘optimized CLAT’ (OCLAT) (a special variant of charitable lead trust which maximizes the tax and economic benefits of philanthropy, as well as donor control), and (iii)the ‘marital multiplier trust’ (MMT) (a variant of non-grantor inter vivos QTIP trust designed to maximize the benefits of QSBS stock).
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.
