Mike Stiff
Partner
Overview
Mike Stiff is a private wealth services attorney in Holland & Knight's Denver office. Mr. Stiff focuses his practice on estate planning, probate, trust administration and business planning.
Mr. Stiff is experienced in assisting high-net-worth individuals and prominent families with their estate planning. In addition, he has in-depth knowledge of planning for carried interests and their transfers to future generations and multigenerational trusts. Mr. Stiff also has a significant background in planning for large farms and ranches, as well as addressing the unique obstacles and opportunities they present for prominent families.
Clients value Mr. Stiff's ability to digest large amounts of complex information and explain key points in simple terms. According to the Chambers High Net Worth guide, "Michael is able to make very complex planning easy for clients to follow. In addition, he is always willing to help, whatever the need, and is very quick and accurate in the delivery of documents."
In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Stiff is a frequent speaker on estate planning topics at continuing legal and professional education programs for attorneys and certified public accountants.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Stiff was an attorney at an AmLaw 100 firm in its Denver office.
Representative Experience
- Assists principals of oil and gas companies, private equity firms and hedge funds in planning for their carried interests and in the gifting of such carried interests to multigenerational trusts for the benefit and protection of future generations
- Assisted a client with gifting to multigenerational trusts and grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) for the benefit of his spouse and descendants prior to the sale of the client's company; as the result of such planning and a successful sale, the client achieved his objective of transferring a targeted amount of wealth to his family and now is able to leave the remainder of his estate to a family foundation and chosen charities
- Assists non-U.S. citizens (resident or non-resident aliens) with estate planning for their domestic and foreign situs assets
- Assisted a German citizen (non-resident alien) in establishing a multigenerational trust for family members located in the U.S., which avoided U.S. gift tax, estate tax and generation-skipping transfer tax for the donor and future generations
- Assists Canadian citizens located in the U.S., including business owners and numerous professional hockey players, in developing comprehensive estate plans to address cross-border issues and provide for tax-efficient and orderly distribution of assets during their lifetime and after their death
- Assists clients and insurance professionals in planning for large or complex life insurance policies, including implementation of new split-dollar agreements and review, amendment or exiting of existing split-dollar agreements
- Assists clients with judicial and nonjudicial methods of reforming or modifying existing trusts, including decanting in multiple jurisdictions; assisted a family in transferring and consolidating numerous multigenerational trusts in several different states, which involved judicial modification, court approval and decanting, to achieve the family's desire for a simpler, more cohesive estate plan
- Assisted a family with transferring a $100 million business to younger family members, without any gift or estate tax, while providing control and support to those family members involved in the company, and ensuring equitable division and a continuing stream of income for those family members not involved in the company
- Assists individual and corporate fiduciaries in administration of large and complex estates or trusts, including the filing of federal gift and estate tax returns, protective elections and related tax filings; also assists such fiduciaries and the affected beneficiaries in avoiding or settling disputes during administration; developed creative settlements in two separate decedents' estates involving very large ranches among contentious and litigious parties
Credentials
- University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, J.D.
- Nebraska Wesleyan University, B.S.
- Colorado
- American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), Fellow; ACTEC Colorado Membership Committee, 2012-Present
- Colorado Bar Association, Trust & Estate Section, Past President; Statutory Revisions Committee, Past Chair; Rules and Forms Committee, Past Chair
- Denver Bar Association
- Rocky Mountain Estate Planning Council
- Mensa
- The Best Lawyers in America guide, Colorado: Trusts and Estates, Colorado: Tax Law, 2010-2026
- Chambers High Net Worth guide, Private Wealth Law: Colorado, 2017-2025
- Colorado Super Lawyers magazine, 2010-2017, 2019-2025
- Rising Star, Colorado Super Lawyers magazine, 2009
- Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated