CONCENTRATION
Margaret is a senior shareholder of the Davis Brown Law Firm, having joined the firm in 2007. She practices in the areas of wills, trusts, estate planning and probate law, taxation, charitable organizations, and employee benefits. Margaret is also the Chair of the Business Division.
PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION
• AV Preeminent™ rated by Martindale-Hubbell. An AV certification mark is a significant rating accomplishment - a testament to the fact that a lawyer's peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence.
• The Best Lawyers in America 2012, in the areas of Tax Law, Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law, and Trust and Estates. Margaret has been listed as a Best Lawyer since 1991.
• Named Best Lawyers' 2010 "Des Moines Trusts and Estates Lawyer of the Year"
• Iowa Super Lawyers 2007, Estate & Probate
• Great Plains Super Lawyers 2009 & 2011, Estate & Probate
SUMMARY
Tax, Retirement and Estate Planning
Margaret assists individuals with their tax, retirement and estate planning, including the succession of closely held businesses. She works with clients to transmit wealth to their intended beneficiaries with the least amount of tax and administrative expense. Some of the tools and techniques that she has used to help her clients include:
• revocable living trusts
• family-owned entities, such as limited partnerships, limited liability companies and S Corporations
• trusts for the long-term management and protection of family-owned assets, including generation skipping transfers
• life insurance planning
• sophisticated wealth transfer techniques, such as Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts, Installment Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts; Charitable Trusts and Foundations
Margaret also has experience planning for individuals with large retirement plans and has assisted individuals in non-traditional families to achieve all of their estate planning goals.
Premarital Agreements
Margaret has also represented many clients who want to enter into a premarital agreement. She was instrumental in passage of the Iowa Uniform Premarital Agreement Act in the early 1990’s and is currently working on amendments to that Act which would allow spouse’s to enter into “pre-nups” after the date of the marriage.
PUBLICATIONS, SPEECHES, AND SEMINARS
Margaret has been an adjunct professor of law at Drake University College of Law and is a frequent speaker on taxation and estate planning topics.
• Estate Planning in 2011 and Beyond. Iowa State Bar Association Annual Meeting, June, 2011
• Use and Abuse of Powers of Attorney, University of Iowa College of Law, Probate Seminar, November, 2010
• Carryover Basis: A Lot of Work for One Year, Iowa State Bar Association Annual Probate Seminar, October, 2010.
• Estate Planning in Uncertain Times, Iowa State University Foundation, October, 2010
• Carryover Basis in 2010, Spring Tax Institute, Iowa State Bar Association and University of Iowa College of Law, May, 2010
• Estate Planning for the Blended Family, Cedar Rapids Estate Planners, December, 2008
• A Primer on the use of Grantor Trusts in Estate Plans, University of Iowa Foundation Professional Advisers Seminar, November, 2008; Retirement Plan Distribution Planning, Iowa State Bar Association, Annual Tax School, December, 2008
• Generation Skipping Taxation, University of Iowa Probate Seminar, November, 2007
MEMBERSHIPS
• Chair, Iowa Supreme Court Probate Rules Committee (2006-2008);
• American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), (1995-present): Member, Technology Committee, Communication Committee, and Iowa State Chair (2005-2010)
• American Bar Association, Member, Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section; Taxation Section; and Law Practice Management Section;
• Iowa State Bar Association: Member, Section of Taxation, (section council, 2002-2005) and Section of Probate and Trust Law (section council, 1990-1993, 2006-present);
• Fellow, Iowa State Bar Foundation
• Iowa Supreme Court Commission on the Unauthorized Practice of Law, 1990-1999(chair, 1997-1998).
PERSONAL
Margaret and her husband, Doug Churchill, have three children.
Resources
Estate Planning for the Business Owner - Part Two
10/11/2011 - The Business Owner Who Has Partners MaEstate Planning for the Business Owner - Part One
09/28/2011 - The Sole Business Owner with No PartnersEstate Planning in Uncertain Times
12/29/2010 - How do you deal with estate tax uncertainty in 2010, and what will you need to do beginning in ...Margaret Van Houten Named “Iowa Best Lawyers Trusts and Estates Lawyer of the Year 2010”
11/16/2009 - Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession, has ...IRA’s and Qualified Plans Waiver of Required Minimum Distributions for 2009
04/03/2009 - The Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 suspended 2009 Required Minimum ...Davis Brown Law Firm Estate Planning Forms Now Online
03/27/2009 - The Davis Brown Law Firm Wills, Trusts (Estate ...Margaret Van Houten Presents at SHRM Conference
01/28/2009 - Margaret Van Houten will present "Retirement - How it is Affected by the Economy" at ...Internal Revenue Service Issues Notice on 2009-03 Delay Regarding 403(b) Plans
12/16/2008 - Notice 2009-03 delays the effective date of the written plan requirement for 403(b) plans for one ...Margaret Van Houten Presented at University of Iowa Foundation Planning Seminar
11/21/2008 - Margaret Van Houten presented "A Primer on the Use of Grantor Trusts in Estate Plans" ...U.S. Supreme Court Allows Lawsuits for Recovery of Losses in 401(k) Plans
02/28/2008 - On February 20, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that a 401(k) participant may sue plan ...Articles
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Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation
Non-Profit Organizations and Charities
Tax/Transaction
Wills, Trusts (Estate Planning and Probate Law)
American College of Trusts and Estate Council (ACTEC)
