Insurance agent specializes in protecting real estate families.

New York City is home to some of the greatest real estate entrepreneurs in the world; remarkable individuals who have all built empires.

They accomplished this not through feats of magic, but rather with sound strategic planning; carefully executed strategies that became the bywords of their business. Ironically, these same individuals tend to neglect the premise of strategic planning in one of the most critical areas in their lives - their inevitable demise and its potential for the devastation of their assets.

The same thoughtfully designed strategic methodology can be applied to empower these entrepreneurs to deal successfully with this issue.

Ina Stern does exactly that. She is president of Stern Slavutin-2, Inc., a life insurance agency headquartered in New York City, specializing in strategic estate tax planning with a market niche in the real estate community.

Industry veteran Eugene M. Grant refers to Ina as "the most tenacious and thoroughly professional insurance executive-completely dedicated to the interest of the client."

"There is a natural fit with my special life insurance products and our local real estate families, because the U.S. government doesn't take bricks for estate taxes, which must be paid within 9 months of the date of death," Stem said. "The only problem I have with my clients is getting them to focus on my blueprint and away from their architect's. Once they do focus and get through the process, they are greatly relieved."

With their unique compilation of talent, Stem and her partners do motivate the industry's most successful icons to address their estate planning issues. Ina has a masters degree in psychology; her partner, Lee Slavutin, is a medical doctor who is a certified pension consultant and chartered life underwriter; and Dee Slavutin has an MBA in finance. Using their combined skills, the partners of Stem Slavutin-2 help their clients identify and implement strategies to preserve their estates.

Of their 200 plus estate planning clients, they have secured the liquidity needs for almost a billion dollars of assets that will be estate taxed before they pass from this generation to the next within the next 20 years.

"They are a dynamic team of industry experts who are committed and most informative to their clientele," said Michael Laub, president of the Bronx Realty Advisory Board, for whom Ina and her partners organized a seminar for their members and secured the former Mayor Ed Koch as a speaker.

Ina has been in the insurance field for almost 20 years and has a strong background in pension plan design and administration. She added estate tax planning for high net-worth individuals to her specialty as the estate tax laws became more and more complex over the last 10 years. She stresses that the estate tax planning team for clients who have millions of dollars at stake must include at least three professional advisors: the client's trust and estate attorney; his or her accountant; and a specialized insurance agent who understands gift and estate tax issues.

"Ina and her partners are knowledgeable, competent, thoroughly expert in their field and totally responsible," said Arnold Sollar, CEO of Delta Realty Co.

Her partner, Lee is the author of a new book, Life Insurance Strategies, which is read by attorneys and accountants in order to grasp the applications of life insurance in the sophisticated estate tax planning area.

"Our firm is completely unique because, not only is my partner Lee a prolific author, public speaker and educator in the field, he is the only insurance agent in the tri-state area who is also a doctor," said Stem. "People are usually ready to deal with estate planning issues in their 60's and 70's, and often they have medical conditions that will impact the pricing of life insurance policies. Once a person is no longer a standard risk, pricing for his or her policy will be influenced by effective presentation of the medical history. After reviewing the client's medical history, Lee powerfully intervenes with the medical directors and underwriters at insurance companies to get the most competitive pricing for our clients."

The core values of Stem Slavutin-2 are "completion in life, the expression of love in business and the power of integrity," according to Stem. With this as their driving mission, Ina adds, "My commitment is to make sure people experience being complete and intentional regarding their estate planning; that they take the opportunity to decide on a future for their families while they have control of those decisions. Our work is very intimate and we always consider ourselves privileged to serve people on matters of such importance to them. Our integrity means the client's needs always comes before our own."

To get the word out, Ina heads their Institute for Advanced Tax and Business Planning, which provides educational seminars for advisors and families on the strategies used for reducing estate tax liabilities and funding estate taxes. One of the fundamental techniques, Ina explains, is family limited partnerships, which permit valuation discounts on minority interests that are gifted to the next generation. However, President Clinton's current budget proposal targets limited partnership discounts and seeks to eliminate them for non-business assets.

Another popular technique is the "grantor retained annuity trust" (GRAT), which works with property that has a good cash-flow. These trusts enable the senior generation of the family to keep control for a good number of years, get income from the property and, at the end of the period of the trust, the asset is out of the estate, provided the grantor (the donor) is alive at that time.

When it comes to insurance, Stem is crystal clear: "Insurance is a powerful financial tool, appropriate to use in the context of estate planning. Why? Because nothing except insurance gives you the money you need the moment you need it. It saves families from divestitures, from obtaining mortgages at uncontrollable rates. It gives the family working capital so the portfolio doesn't have to be broken up. It provides protection, options and certainty."

All these techniques are explained in a 17-minute audio tape Stern Slavutin-2 published especially for the real estate community. Their Institute for Advanced Tax and Business Planning also publishes a weekly news bulletin which reviews court cases, IRS rulings, technical advice memorandums and any proposed or enacted legislation that impacts insurance and estate planning. Their bulletin is eagerly read by 400 trust and estate attorneys and CPAs, because "estate planning is a moving target: estates keep growing, families are dynamic, and major tax law changes impact plans. That's why professional advisors need constant surveillance of these technical matters," said Stern.

An estate plan usually takes about six months to a year to put into place. The client is provided with all the strategies to minimize taxes, including various ways to divest, issues of control, natural successor concerns, non-family partner matters, cash-flows, generation skipping concepts, and equalization for non-working family members.

"It's difficult material to learn and many decisions are irrevocable, which means 'decision making' is tougher," Stern said. "Our clients much prefer to focus on today's deal and let this subject drift along. Our job is to interrupt that drift."

With a gentle but persistent manner, and the intention of a Samurai warrior, Ina guides them to make decisions so the true value of the family's assets can be transferred.

Readers of Real Estate Weekly who would like their advisors to receive a copy of Life Insurance Strategies, the news bulletin Well Informed is Well Insured, or a copy of Look What We Did for the Shapiros, a 17-minute audiotape and workbook guide, call [phone] and ask for Ina Stern.