Trusted Advisor
Whether he is working with clients to create and administer an estate plan, solving complicated business problems, negotiating with the IRS, or helping to transition a family owned business to the next generation, Carl prides himself on being a trusted advisor to his clients. With a Master’s Degree in Taxation, Carl possesses unique skills to assist his clients in solving legal issues in a tax efficient manner. A clear thinker and easy to talk to, Carl distills complex legal issues into understandable ones that allow his clients to make effective decisions. Carl’s clients are individuals and businesses in a wide variety of occupations and industries that value a trusted advisor as their lawyer.
Carl Assists Clients With
- Structuring estate plans for affluent individuals and families to maximize wealth preservation from one generation to the next
- Representation for corporate and individual fiduciaries, as well as beneficiaries in probate and trust administration matters
- Business succession planning
- Representation of taxpayers in dealing with tax controversies involving state and federal taxing authorities
- Planning and structuring charitable donations for both individuals and charitable organizations
Forms Library
Experience/Representative Client Work
- Preparation and implementation of estate plan for clients with net worth in excess of $75 million
- Successful preparation and implementation of complex estate plan for client with real estate holdings worth in excess of $25 million
- Represented a charity in an estate dispute, preserving the full charitable distribution indicated in the original trust documents, an amount that was over $1 million more than the trustee intended to distribute
- Probate administration of deceased owner of manufacturing firm with a net worth in excess of $7 million
- Preserved a client’s family farm valued at more than $3 million through successful representation during an estate dispute
- Negotiated with Internal Revenue Service in a dispute involving complex estate tax issues
Awards/Distinctions
- Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rating™–AV Preeminent, reflecting an attorney who has reached the height of professional excellence and is recognized for the highest levels of skill and integrity
- Rated a 10.0 out of 10.0 by Avvo, a national attorney rating service which uses a mathematical model to rate attorneys based on experience, professional achievements, industry recognition, and professional conduct
- Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America®–Trusts and Estates in 2012–2024
- Selected for inclusion in Wisconsin Super Lawyers in 2005–2023, Law and Politics and Milwaukee Magazine
- Editor, Wisconsin Law Review
- Beta Gamma Sigma, National Honor Society for Graduate Business Students
- Judicial Intern, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Articles/Presentations
- Carl frequently lectures at continuing legal education seminars on various estate and tax issues
Community Involvement
- Board Member and Co-Chair of Land Trust Committee, Root-Pike Watershed Initiative Network
- Past Chairman, State of Wisconsin Elections Board
- Fellow, Wisconsin Law Foundation
- Member, Kenosha Area Business Alliance
- Past Board Member, Kenosha County Civil Service Commission
- Past President, Society of Financial Service Professionals, Milwaukee Chapter
- Past Board Member and Board Counsel, Women and Children’s Horizons
- Past Board Member, Kenosha Historical Society
- Past Board Member, All Saints Catholic School
- Past Board Chair, Hyslop Foundation Inc.
In The News
- What is the Difference Between a Private Foundation and a Donor-Advised Fund?
- 20 O’Neil Cannon Lawyers Selected as 2025 Best Lawyers; Another 5 Named Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch
- Tax and Wealth Advisor Alert–IRS Announces Changes to Estate and Gift Tax Exemptions for 2024
- Super Lawyers Recognizes 28 O’Neil Cannon Attorneys
- 19 O’Neil Cannon Lawyers Selected as 2024 Best Lawyers; Another 4 Named Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch
- Tax and Wealth Advisor Alert–Understanding the “Step-Up in Tax Basis”: A Summary of IRC Section 1014 and Double Stepped-Up Basis for Marital Property in Wisconsin
- Tax and Wealth Advisor Alert–Section 1202 Stock: An Attractive Tax Benefit for Investors in Small Businesses
- Tax and Wealth Advisor Alert: Powers of Appointment – A Tool to Add Flexibility Into an Estate Plan
- Tax and Wealth Advisor Alert: Selecting a Fiduciary – One of the Most Important Decisions in an Estate Plan
- Tax and Wealth Advisor Alert: Charitable Remainder Trusts, A Dynamic Estate Planning Tool to Reduce Taxes and Do Good
- Tax and Wealth Advisor Alert: Donor-Advised Funds, a Great Way to Do Charitable Giving
- Tax and Wealth Advisor Alert: Qualified Personal Residence Trusts – A Planning Technique to Save the Family Home from Estate Taxes
- Tax and Wealth Advisor Alert: Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust, a Technique to Eliminate Estate Taxes on Life Insurance Proceeds and to Provide Liquidity to an Estate Plan
- Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts, A Powerful Estate Planning Tool for Complex Estates
- Super Lawyers Recognizes 25 O’Neil Cannon Attorneys
- Tax and Wealth Advisor Alert: How Does Life Insurance Work with an Estate Plan?
- 19 OCHDL Lawyers Selected as 2023 Best Lawyers®; Another 4 Named Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch
- An Educational Business Series for Success: Defining How Ownership Interest(s) Can Be Transferred if One or More of the Owners Can No Longer or Do Not Want to Continue in the Business
- Tax and Wealth Advisor Alert: What is an Estate Plan?
- Tax and Wealth Advisor Alert: Irrevocable Income-Only Trusts, How They Can Help You Apply for Medicaid and When they Should be Avoided.
- An Educational Business Series for Success: Setting in Place an Exit Strategy When the Time Comes and Minimizing the Potential for Conflict
- An Educational Business Series for Success: Why Buy-Sell Agreements are Necessary Even if You Don’t Plan to Sell Your Company Soon
- Attorney Carl Holborn Featured on Money Sense on WISN AM 1130
- 19 OCHDL Lawyers Selected as 2022 Best Lawyers®; Another 5 Named Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch
- 20 OCHDL Lawyers Selected as 2021 Best Lawyers®; Another 5 Named Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch
- Attorney Carl Holborn Featured on Money Sense on WISN AM 1130
- Tax and Wealth Advisor Alert: President Trump’s Budget Proposal Extends the TCJA Tax Cuts
- No-Contest Clauses
- Attorneys Carl Holborn and Britany Morrison Published in Thomson Reuters Journal
- Tax and Wealth Advisor Alert: The Objectives of Good Succession Planning
- Eighteen OCHDL Attorneys Named 2020 Best Lawyers in America®
- IRS Declares Sales of Property From One Spouse’s Grantor Trust to the Other Spouse’s Grantor Trust to be Tax Free Transactions
- Tax and Wealth Advisor Alert: The Five Objectives of Good Succession Planning
- Tax and Wealth Advisor Alert: The Need for Succession Planning
- 20 OCHDL Attorneys Named 2019 Best Lawyers in America
- Six Questions Every Family Business Owner Should Be Asking
- Holborn Presents at the 19th Annual Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Tax and Charitable Planning Conference
- OCHDL Proudly Sponsors 10th Annual Charitable Event for CRS
- Best Lawyers® Honors 18 Attorneys in 2018
- Undue Influence in Wisconsin Part 3: Alternative Method of Proof
- Undue Influence in Wisconsin Part 2: Elements of Classic Undue Influence
- Undue Influence in Wisconsin Part 1: Inheritance Disputes and Claims of Undue Influence
- Holborn Presents "The Importance of Health Care Powers of Attorney"
- Holborn Presents on Estate Planning and Other Legal Issues at Medical College of Wisconsin
- Attorney Holborn Presented at Estate Planning Seminar for Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Foundation
- Attorney Holborn Presented at FPA Financial Planning Symposium
- Attorney Holborn Expert Guest Speaker on WISN 1130 AM Radio
- Electronic Data and On-Line Information Is of Increasing Importance During Estate Planning
- Carl D. Holborn Named a Five Star Wealth Manager in Estate Planning
- Congress Debates Limiting Estate Planning Technique: Now Is a Good Time to Consider a GRAT
- Unmarried Couples Taking Advantage of the Homebuyer Tax Credit Should Understand Their Rights
- Estate Planning for Married Individuals with Children from a Prior Marriage
- Clarifying the Tax Treatment of Gifts to Grantor Trusts in 2010 – Notice 2010-19
- Carl D. Holborn has been Named to the Kenosha County Civil Service Commission
- Carl D. Holborn Speaks at Corporate Casual on Estate Tax
- Legislation Moving Forward to Make Roth Conversions Viable in Wisconsin
- Inherited Retirment Funds are not Creditor Exempt