Marion Hancock Fish is a partner in the Trusts & Estates Practice. She focuses her practice on representing clients in matters involving estate planning and administration, transfer-of-wealth tax issues, family business planning and succession, asset preservation, guardianships, charitable giving and not-for-profit law. Ms. Fish works with clients to develop comprehensive plans, and manages the implementation of these plans for effective and efficient estate and trust funding and administration, using a team approach to address all aspects of estate and tax planning, and administration.
Having worked with numerous family business owners, Ms. Fish has a significant level of experience developing plans for successful business transition to minimize transfer tax costs and to position businesses for continued success. She also partners with other professionals, including accountants, financial planners, corporate trustees and business valuation experts, both locally and nationally. Ms. Fish works with those professionals to address matters such as business valuation; retirement planning; life insurance; estate, gift and income tax planning; and tax audit matters.
- Assisted the founder of a rapidly-expanding national company to protect assets and transfer wealth with minimal tax costs employing techniques such as multiple grantor-retained annuity trusts, the formation of a family-owned limited liability company, and generation-skipping transfer trusts.
- Provided guidance relating to the plans for a family business owner to transfer holdings to the next generation by implementing the recently increased federal gift tax exemption and a favorable expert valuation of a family-owned business. Ms. Fish continues to advise the owner on the new management structure and position the business for continued success.
- Provided guidance to a regional charitable organization relating to the management of a $50 million bequest, including the formation of new related entities and the development of comprehensive policies for ongoing stewardship of the funds received.
- Successfully resolved several estate and gift tax audits involving various multimillion-dollar family-owned businesses in a variety of industries such as funeral home, cement production and coal, and commercial real estate.
- Represented the outside member of a family business to maximize the client’s interest relating to the settlement of the deceased parents’ estates (valued in excess of $25 million).
- Recipient, Woman Who Mean Business Award, The American Red Cross (2011)
- Selected, New York – Upstate, Super Lawyers (2010 - 2011)
- Rated, AV Preeminent, Martindale-Hubbell
- Immediate Past President, Onondaga County Bar Association
- Chair, New York State Bar Association, Committee on Attorney Professionalism
- Fellow and Board of Directors Member, New York State Bar Foundation, Inc.
- Member, New York State Bar Association, House of Delegates
- Member, Estate Planning Council of Central New York, Inc.
- Chair, Visiting Nurses Association Foundation of CNY, Inc.
- Team Leader, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Foundation, Inc., Centennial Member, Campaign Steering Committee
- Chair, Grants Committee, Jon Ben Snow Foundation, Inc.
- Board of Governors Member, The Century Club, Syracuse
- Member, Syracuse University College, Thursday Morning Roundtable
- Member, Onondaga Citizens League
- Former Adjunct Professor, Syracuse University College of Law and University College
- Past Chair, Central New York Community Foundation, Inc.
- Past Chair, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Foundation, Inc.
- Past Chair, Visiting Nurse Association of Central New York, Inc.
- Hancock Estabrook Higher Education Conference, “Bricks, Mortar and Money: Development in the Higher Education Setting” (Spring 2011)
- Catholic Diocese of Syracuse Business Managers, “Your Gaming Operations: Don’t Leave it to Chance” (Spring 2011)
- Onondaga County Bar Association, Century Club of Syracuse, Alliance Bank Wealth Management Team, “The New Estate and Gift Tax Laws Under the 2010 Tax Relief Act: Don’t Blink” (Spring and Summer 2011)
- New York State Bar Association, "Dealing with Your Client's Retirement Assets" (2009)
- New York State Bar Association, "Guardian ad Litem Training” (2009)
- "Planning for the Unplanned," Today's CNY Woman, April 2011
- Syracuse University College of Law, J.D., 1980
- Wesleyan University, B.A., magna cum laude, 1974
- New York
- United States District Court (NDNY)
