Julie Bonner DeArman

Counsel

Julie Bonner DeArman

Contact Information

Phone: (205) 874-0307
Fax: (205) 874-3287
Email Julie

P.O. Box 530910
Birmingham, AL 35253

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Legal Assistant:

Carol Perry
Phone: (205) 874-0338
Email Carol

Paralegal:

Pam Amos
Phone: (205) 874-0327
Email Pam

Ms. DeArman represents individuals from moderate to substantial wealth, families, and family businesses with respect to estate planning, estate settlement, integration of philanthropy into the family financial and estate plans, and probate matters. She maintains a corporate law practice, and also routinely counsels tax-exempt clients with respect to matters relating to creation, governance, tax-exempt status, fiduciary responsibilities, negotiation of contracts, unrelated business income, planned giving, development of policies, and real estate matters.

Julie has developed considerable experience on a national basis in the areas of charitable solicitation law and charitable gift annuity registration. She is adept at representing charitable clients regarding solicitation and gift annuity regulatory matters with the various state agencies. Additionally, Julie works with individual clients to structure their estate plans in a manner which will best achieve their objectives, while planning to reduce estate taxes. She has devised strategies for the recapitalization and disposition of various enterprises (partnerships, corporations, real estate) in a fashion consistent with tax savings and personal objectives of high net worth individuals and owners of private companies whose estate planning concerns include succession and generational ownership transfer issues.

As an advisor to banks and trust companies regarding their trust programs, Julie handles complex estate administration matters for estates, some in excess of $55 million dollars. She regularly counsels individual and corporate trustees on all aspects of trust administration, including income and principal allocation and apportionment issues, legal requirements relating to trust investments, discretionary distribution decisions, the selection, resignation and removal of trustees and other matters. Julie advises individual and corporate fiduciaries with respect to probate and non-probate estate administration and post-mortem tax planning, including advising fiduciaries with respect to closely held business assets. She has experience with multi-state estate administration and representing individual and corporate trustees and personal representatives in Federal estate tax audits and various other tax matters.

Her corporate practice includes representation of corporations and limited liability companies, including advice on structuring and formation documents, real estate, negotiation of contracts and employment agreements. For some companies, she provides virtually all of their corporate legal advice, while for other clients she complements an existing inside legal team with advice on specific issues or projects. Julie provides comprehensive counsel on all types of transactions including acquisitions such as stock or asset purchases, sales, and mergers. Julie’s client base spans a range of industries including communications, semiconductor, technology, publishing, education, online retail, travel, healthcare, and scrap metal.

Julie has lectured on estate planning topics, as well as charitable giving strategies, at seminars sponsored by local community groups. She has taught other attorneys and financial planners at continuing legal education classes such as The Southern Trust School and at events held by Cumberland School of Law at Samford University. On behalf of the firm, Julie also has taken pro bono cases in the areas of adoption, the creation of Miller Trusts, and the application for Medicaid benefits.

She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Alabama State Bar, and the Birmingham Bar Association. She is also a member of the Estate Planning Council of Birmingham and a board member of the Alabama Planned Giving Council.

Julie was born in Camden, Alabama. She graduated from Auburn University with a B.A. in Psychology. While at Auburn, Julie was on the Dean’s List and a member of Pi Alpha Delta, Pi Lamda Sigma, and Alpha Lambda Delta. She attended Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, where she served as Associate Editor of the Law Review and was on the Dean’s List. Julie received her J.D. degree in 2000 and began practice with the Birmingham firm of Spain & Gillon. She joined Wallace, Jordan, Ratliff & Brandt in 2003.

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