Alan D. Port, President

Captive Insurance, Trust and Estate Planning
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Mr. Port serves as counsel to many major and multi-nation corporations, regional corporations, and business groups seeking alternative risk solutions. He also represents traditional insurers in connection with regulatory and organizational issues.

A member of the captive insurance team at Paul Frank + Collins since the early 1980s, Mr. Port advises clients in captive formation and operation, regulatory and tax issues, entity structure, insurance programs, and policy documentation.  He has helped a number of clients move between domiciles, both onshore and offshore. As a result of this re-domiciling practice, Mr. Port is familiar with offshore captive regulations, particularly in Bermuda, where he maintains active associations with captive insurance attorneys.

Mr. Port was instrumental in the drafting and lobbying for the passage of important captive insurance legislation in Vermont, including the redomestication statute in 1991 and the reciprocal insurer act in 1997. Since 1981, when Vermont's captive statutory framework was passed, Mr. Port has been a key participant in the establishment and ongoing development of various legal aspects concerning the Vermont captive domicile. He regularly works with industry groups toward the development of future Vermont captive legislation.

Mr. Port provides legal support for unique insurance coverage situations, such as post retirement benefit programs.  

Mr. Port also works with Vermont captive insurers for privately held corporations, in which the insurer advances the owner's estate planning goals.

Trust & Estate Planning

Mr. Port serves as counsel to many individuals, including small business owners, seeking to plan their estates for the benefit of their spouses and descendants, while reducing the adverse effects of estate, gift and generation skipping transfer taxes. He represents fiduciaries and others with various trust and estate issues, and advises on the resolution and income and transfer tax implications of those issues. The thrust of Mr. Port’s practice is the education of clients in the legal and tax rules relating to estates and trusts so that the clients can make reasoned decisions for the future. 

A member of the Paul Frank + Collins estate planning team since the late 1970s, Mr. Port advises clients in sophisticated estate, gift and income tax planning and transactions, in addition to traditional estate planning services.  A significant portion of the legal work involved relates to the structure and transfer of interests in corporations, partnerships and various other forms of business entities, as well as other aspects of business such as executive compensation and benefits.  While a substantial portion of Mr. Port’s work relates to those with moderate to large estates that require tax analysis, Mr. Port also advises clients with respect to various estate and trust issues that do not necessarily involve tax questions.

Mr. Port’s experience in the insurance regulatory realm is of value to estate planning clients due to his familiarity with the insurance industry and various insurance products.  Mr. Port works with individuals with regard to the most effective and tax efficient disposition of death benefits from insurance policies and retirement plan, including 401(k) plans and IRAs, assets. 

Mr. Port provides advice and education on various forms of contingency planning for heath care, terminal illness and incapacity, so as to increase the opportunities to meet all of the client’s long-term desires and so as to lessen the administrative and economic burdens associated with illness and incapacity.

Mr. Port has served as President of Paul Frank + Collins since 2002.  Under his guidance, the firm has continued to prosper, adding PF+C Insurance Services, which provides Audit, Consulting and Claims Management Services for a variety of domestic and international clients.

EDUCATION:
Middlebury College, B.A. (cum laude), 1969
Boston University, M.A., 1971
Cornell Law School, J.D. (cum laude), 1976
Board of Editors, Cornell Law Review, 1975-76

BAR ADMISSIONS:
State of Vermont, 1977
U.S. District Court, District of Vermont, 1977
U.S. Supreme Court, 1981

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS:
Fellow, American College of Trust & Estate Counsel
American Bar Association
Vermont Bar Association
Chittenden County Bar Association

PROFESSIONAL HONORS:
Best Lawyers in America
Chambers USA America's Leading Lawyers for Business
Martindale-Hubbell AV Rating
New England Super Lawyers, 2007

INDUSTRY ORGANIZATIONS:
Vermont Captive Association, Strategic Planning Committee

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:
Vermont Business Roundtable, Member
Education and Training Working Group, Member