Bill Hochstetler is a senior vice president at Shuttleworth & Ingersoll. Bill's work focuses on business and estate planning for closely-held businesses and their owners. His primary work also includes estate planning for non-business owners and estate administration. Prior to becoming an attorney, Bill worked for five years as a certified public accountant.

Typical business work for Bill includes:

• Using his accounting and law background and experiences to work with clients and their accountants in setting up new businesses--choosing the right entity (e.g. corporation, limited liability company, partnership) and making buy-sell arrangements.
• Preparing and reviewing contracts.
• Negotiating and preparing documents for the sale or purchase of a business or parts of a business.
• Negotiating the purchase and sale of commercial and farm real estate.
• Working with clients and loan officers on business loan transactions.

Typical estate planning work for Bill includes:

• Business succession planning for business owners who want to sell or transfer ownership of their business to family members or key employees.
• Assisting farm families with unique gifting and land transfer situations.
• Using wills and trusts to minimize or eliminate estate and inheritance taxes. These trusts includes bypass trusts, life insurance trusts, and other types of trusts.
• Establishing living trusts for clients who wish to plan for possible incapacitation and to avoid probate.
• Preparing durable power of attorney documents and advance medical directives (living wills).
• Forming partnerships and limited liability companies to take advantage of discounted gifting opportunities.

Typical estate and trust administration work for Bill includes:

• Probating wills and administering revocable living trusts.
• Working with executors and trustees to resolve family and beneficiary disagreements.
• Evaluating income tax and estate tax planning opportunities for estates and beneficiaries.

• St. Luke's Health Care Foundation (Board Member)
• Meth-Wick Community, Inc. (Board of Trustees-1998-present)) (Chairman-2004-2005) (Executive Committee-2000-present)
• Iowa Legal Aid (Volunteer Attorney)