Practice Areas

Santerre & Vande Krol has limited its legal practice to the areas of law described below. By doing so, the professional staff of the Firm continues to become increasingly qualified in those areas in which they enjoy working; and they develop expertise by concentrating in and obtaining continuing education on matters effecting these areas of legal practice. With this depth of knowledge, we are able to assist our clients in a more efficient and effective manner.

A significant portion of the Firm's practice involves estate planning, will and trust preparation, charitable giving and probate administration for our individual clients. In all areas of our estate planning, trust and probate practice, legal assistants work under the guidance of qualified attorneys to ensure that professional services are provided in a timely manner and at reasonable fees.

The attorneys of Santerre & Vande Krol have significant experience in corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies, including the planning and structuring of new business and investment entities, negotiation of commercial transactions involving the sale and purchase of businesses, assets, corporate stock and limited liability company interests, and corporate transactions such as mergers, reorganizations and liquidations.

In all business and corporate matters, legal assistants assist the Firm's attorneys in forming and maintaining corporations and limited liability companies, and in advising our clients on such matters as year-end tax planning and significant business issues which impact their operations.

Since its formation, Santerre & Vande Krol has developed a well-respected reputation in the business and professional community for providing tax planning services to our clients in connection with incorporations and other business formations, business acquisitions and sales, limited liability company and partnership matters and corporate liquidations and reorganizations.

Tax planning services are also provided to individual clients in such matters as personal real estate transactions and investments, charitable giving, retirement benefits, wealth preservation, and estate planning.

Santerre & Vande Krol enjoys a substantial practice in the field of qualified retirement plans, and in assisting businesses and professionals in the adoption, implementation and maintenance of their pension and profit sharing plans, 401(k) plans, employee stock ownership plans, and stock and non-qualified deferred compensation plans for executives.

Business succession planning involves the integration of estate and business planning in the family business environment. In addition to the objective of minimizing taxation and preserving the family business, business succession planning involves additional planning focused on the uniqueness of the family unit, including the equitable treatment of family members and their respective involvement in the family business. Because of the Firm's knowledge and experience in tax and business planning, the Firm represents a number of families and their family owned businesses, not only with the legal challenges which a business faces in today's business world, but also in the planning necessary for the business owners to successfully pass the ownership and management of the family business to the next generations.

Asset protection is the organization of an individual's financial affairs in such manner as to guard against risks of liabilities which may incur in the future. Asset protection is often a part of the Firm's estate, tax and business planning practice to some degree; however, due to the expanding theories of liabilities evident in today's business environment, the Firm assists individuals and businesses in taking more proactive steps permitted under law to implement safeguards in their financial affairs to protect against future liabilities.

The Firm's attorneys and legal assistants have substantial experience in all aspects of buying, selling, exchanging and leasing real property, both residential and commercial. Our professionals are also well-versed in the legal aspects of developing real estate, including representation involving financing, construction contracts, covenants, conditions and restrictions, horizontal property regimes and homeowner associations.

In today's regulatory environment of health care providers, legal consultation plays an increasingly important role. Santerre & Vande Krol provides numerous legal services to the health care community in advising our clients concerning the regulations which impact professional practices and in advising, structuring and documenting business arrangements and agreements between health care professionals.

The Firm assists clients in obtaining local, state, and federal licensing and regulation for all levels of the alcoholic beverage industry including handling all aspects of probate transfers of licenses. Our Firm prepares the documents which are necessary to obtain all classes of liquor licenses, and explains what the Arizona Department of Liquor License and Control ("Department") requires of licensees to remain in compliance after receiving a license. The Firm defends clients at administrative hearings and violation and revocation proceedings. If an applicant has been denied a license by the Department, the Firm will prepare the client's appeal for reconsideration of the application. The Firm prepares the necessary forms and documents required to move a liquor license from one premises to another premises or to transfer an existing license to a buyer, where the buyer has purchased the assets of an ongoing business.