Alex J. Hemmelgarn is a Certified Specialist in Tax Law as designated by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. He is a Shareholder in our Corporate, Tax, and Trust & Estate Planning Practice Groups representing businesses, as well as individuals and family estates.
Primarily providing clients counsel on tax issues based on state and federal statutes and regulations, case law, IRS Revenue Rulings and Procedures, and tax treaties, Mr. Hemmelgarn has experience in the following:
- Structure, conversion and reorganization of entities and corporate groups
- Municipal, state and federal tax compliance
- Tax-deferred transactions
- Business Succession Planning
- Acquisitions
- Sales and Liquidations
- Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation (including Employee Stock Ownership Plans, Profit Sharing Plans, and Phantom Stock Plans)
- Trust Planning and Administration (including QTIPs, QSSTs, GRATs, QPRTs, Charitable Trusts, Family Limited Partnerships, Special/Supplemental Needs Trusts, Complex Dynasty and Generation-Skipping Transfer Trusts, Late/Stale Trust Funding and Share Allocation, etc.)
- International Estate Planning and Administration (including U.S. taxation of foreign business interests and real estate owned by U.S. citizens and ownership of assets located in the U.S. by foreign citizens/nonresidents)
- Disability Planning
- California Property Tax
Mr. Hemmelgarn also prepares federal estate tax returns, gift tax returns, federal and state trust income returns and other filings – working closely with our clients’ accounting and financial professionals in all phases of tax preparation.
A graduate of The Ohio State University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in History, Mr. Hemmelgarn later attended the University of Illinois at Chicago Law School, where he earned his Juris Doctor. He also received his Master of Laws in Taxation from University of Illinois at Chicago, and graduated with honors.
Mr. Hemmelgarn currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for MEND, a San Fernando Valley-based nonprofit organization that helps collect and distribute food, clothing, and furniture to less fortunate families in the community.
Mr. Hemmelgarn also serves on the Board of Directors for HOPE Connection, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization that provides individual and group support, educational programs, and other resources for individuals grieving the loss of loved ones.
An experienced speaker, Mr. Hemmelgarn frequently presents on complex tax issues and recent changes in tax law and policy.
Mr. Hemmelgarn has also been named a Southern California Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine.
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- Presenter, The Basics of Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax – San Fernando Valley Bar Association, May 2022
- Co-Presenter, A Review of Proposition 19 – San Fernando Valley Bar Association, December 2020
- Featured, Meet the 2020 SFVBA Trustee Candidates, Valley Lawyer, a publication of the San Fernando Valley Bar Association, July 2020
- Presenter, Tax Planning and Pitfalls for the Global Family – San Fernando Valley Bar Association, May 2020
- Co-Presenter, 2019 Year-End Tax Planning – MCLE and CPE accredited Client Seminar Series, November 2019
- Co-Author, Chapter 10 – Special Powers in Powers of Attorney Relating to Special Needs Issues, Special Needs Trusts, Illinois Institute for Continued Legal Education, 2013
- Co-Presenter, Wills and Advance Healthcare Directives – Café Europa (community group for Holocaust Survivors) – August and September 2017
- Trusts and Estates Guest Lecturer, Formalities of Execution of Estate Planning Instruments, John Marshall Law School, November 2014
- Co-Presenter, Estate Planning for LGBT Couples, Chicago Public Library, May 2014
Member of:
- State Bar of California
- Los Angeles County Bar Association
- Beverly Hills Bar Association
- San Fernando Valley Bar Association
- Chicago Bar Association
- American Bar Association
Admitted to Practice:
- United States Tax Court
- State Bar of Illinois
- State Bar of California
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California