Practice Areas
Bar Admissions
North Carolina
Education
Wake Forest University, J.D., magna cum laude, 2013, Order of the Coif; Managing Editor, Wake Forest Law Review, 2012-13
University of Virginia, B.A., 2010
Profile
John Forneris practices in the areas of estate planning, estate administration and tax planning. He assists clients with the development of wealth transfer strategies that achieve the clients' personal and financial goals while minimizing the tax and costs associated with the transfer of wealth to younger generations. John also works with clients to preserve and maximize the value of their wealth through the formation of family limited liability companies and charitable gift planning.
John's experience includes the preparation of federal gift, estate and fiduciary income tax returns and various estate planning documents, including wills, powers of attorney, revocable trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts, GRATs, charitable remainder trusts and generation-skipping transfer tax-exempt trusts.
He is a contributing author to the BB&T Estate Planning Forms Manual, a popular resource for North Carolina attorneys.
Honors & Awards
- The Best Lawyers in America, One to Watch, trusts and estates, 2021-25
- Business North Carolina, Legal Elite, tax and estate planning, 2024
- North Carolina Super Lawyers, Rising Star, estate planning and probate, 2020-24
Experience
Experience
Drafts comprehensive estate planning documents, including wills, revocable trusts, durable powers of attorneys and health care proxies, and living wills.
Provides guidance regarding implementation of estate plans tailored to each client’s unique personal and financial situation, including assets titling and beneficiary designations and tax considerations related to retirement benefits and life insurance policies.
Assists clients with lifetime gifts to grantor trusts, spousal lifetime access trusts, dynasty trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts and irrevocable life insurance trusts.
Facilitates intergenerational transfer tax planning for high-net worth families.
Prepares and files federal estate tax returns, federal gift tax returns, and federal and state fiduciary income tax returns for estates and trusts.
Assist clients with modifications of irrevocable trusts through judicial and nonjudicial consent modification procedures and the exercise of trustee decanting powers.
Provides comprehensive advice to fiduciaries on all tax and non-tax aspects of trust and estate administration.
News & Events
News
- Aug. 15, 2024
- Jan. 10, 2024
- Jan. 8, 2024
- Aug. 17, 2023
- Jan. 20, 2023
- Aug. 23, 2022
- Jan. 14, 2022
- Sept. 9, 2021
- Aug. 26, 2021
- Jan. 15, 2021
- Jan. 5, 2021
- Aug. 20, 2020
- Jan. 22, 2020
Events
Via webinar
Feb. 11, 2022North Carolina Bar Center
Feb. 7, 2020UNC Charlotte Center City
320 E. Ninth St.
Charlotte, NC 28202Aug. 2, 2019North Carolina Bar Center
8000 Weston Parkway
Cary, NC 27513Feb. 9, 2018Mecklenburg County Bar & Foundation Center
2850 Zebulon Ave.
Charlotte, NC 28208Jan. 19, 2018
Affiliations
Professional Affiliations
- North Carolina State Bar Board Certified Specialist, Estate Planning and Probate Law
- Charlotte Alliance Young Professionals, Board of Directors, 2018-20
- Charlotte Estate Planning Council, Member, 2014-present; Board of Directors, 2022-present
- North Carolina Bar Association, Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law Section, Legislative Committee Member
- Mecklenburg County Bar Association, Estate Planning & Probate Section, Member
Community Affiliations
- Lakewood Preschool Cooperative, Board of Directors, 2016-present; Chair, 2020-21