Thomas M. Fafinski serves managed services providers and individuals or couples with regard to their legacy and estate planning.
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Detailed Explanation of the Buy-Sell Agreement Opportunity
Testimonials
from clients and financial advisors:
“You expanded my mind, Fafinski. Thank you for that.” —Z.L.
“Tom and I have worked with many common clients over the past 15+ years in the areas of asset protection, estate planning, real estate, business planning, etc. He is an excellent attorney who thinks outside the box. He can take the complex and make it simple which is important in communicating with clients. I recommend Tom in any of the areas mentioned above.” —J.L.
“Tom does a great job of explaining asset protection, estate planning and income tax planning strategies to non-professionals. Rather than threatening a financial advisor’s relationship with their clients, he actually makes the relationship deeper and broader. Tom credits me to my client for recognizing opportunities for them that are outside my relationship (i.e. legal issues, tax savings opportunities) and, nearly always, he generates a return on investment in legal fees for my client.
He believes that business owners and real estate investors should consider obtaining diversification by harvesting wealth, diversifying savings with non-privately held securities and does a great job of explaining the benefits of permanent insurance to these entrepreneurs. I think any financial advisor should consider including Tom’s services with existing clients and serious prospects.” —J.J.
“Tom is a brilliant attorney who continually thinks outside the box. The difference between Tom and other high-profile attorneys is that Tom cares.” —R.F.
“Tom is not only a fine, trusted friend but clearly one of this area’s top attorneys. With my 30+ years of real estate brokerage experience, Tom Fafinski is a recognized expert who I will continue to use for legal assistance, but I’m also very happy to recommend him to my friends and clients.” —S.H.
“I have worked with Tom for many years and am consistently amazed at his extensive knowledge and expertise. He truly takes his profession to the next level. I look forward to working with him for many years to come.” —J.C.
Professional History
Thomas is an attorney with Virtus Law who has served hundreds of professional service organizations, primarily in the technology sector. What sets Tom apart from others in his field is his primary legal services model: essentially, an outsourced general counsel department. He adopted this structure nearly 30 years ago.
Early in his career, Tom worked in house as a law clerk for, and later as outside counsel to, the largest subsidiary (revenues in excess of $1 billion in 1991) of a Fortune 100 company.
Since the early 1990s, Thomas focused on serving managed services providers, formerly known as IT network infrastructure, monitoring and maintenance companies. This experience led him to develop intricate, highly specialized knowledge of legal issues associated with the industry. As technology evolved, so did the laws surrounding it.
As a part of his work for tech sector clients, Thomas also became involved in business succession and estate planning—particularly in 2000 following the impact of Y2K on the tech sector. He began utilizing estate planning strategies as part of his asset protection and business succession planning services, including family business transitions from one generation to the next.
Following a decade of estate planning primarily for tech sector business owners, Thomas expanded his offerings to include wealth succession planning for higher-net-worth clientele.
For the last 10 years, Thomas has worked with both tech sector and non-tech sector individuals to design custom wealth plans consistent with their core values. Through his unique combination of experience, he has found ways to incorporate many of his business succession planning principles and techniques into his estate planning services.
The author of the Ultimate Guide to Estate Planning, Tom describes his philosophy to protect what you have earned with what you have learned. You can secure a copy of his book here.
Education
Tom graduated 13th in his class with honors at William Mitchell College of Law and was also an honors graduate of the College of St. Thomas, with a BA in Finance.
Achievements and Affiliations
- Facilitator for two Allied Executives CEO/business leader peer groups for 10+ years
- Founder of EPiC Peer Groups, a collection of mastermind groups for leaders of estate planning law firms with national membership
- Served as chairperson of Community Involvement Program, a $40M Twin Cities non-profit organization helping people with disabilities to live their greatest life, now known as Accord
- Served as chairperson of the Parish Pastoral Council and Parish Administrative Committee for St. Thomas Becket Catholic Church in Eagan, MN
- Continuing education instructor of courses relating to advanced estate planning concepts, especially for real estate investors, through Kaplan Education
- Previous continuing education instructor for WealthCounsel (has taught nearly 50 program hours)
- Member of the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement Upper Midwest
- Member of Roundbank Advisory Council
- Member of Dakota County Technical College Entrepreneurship Program Advisory Council
- Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) faculty member
- Speaker for Minnesota Real Estate Investor’s Association
- Proud father of 3 exceptional children and 3 average dogs
- The lucky guy who got to be the husband of Amy Kadow Fafinski
Outside of Work
Tom cherishes spending time with his family and extended family and enjoys reading mystery and suspense novels, golf, his dogs (for the most part) and attending sporting events. Tom is also a die-hard Bruce Springsteen fan.
Expertise
Thomas has been named as a subject matter expert for years by multiple Managed Service Provider peer group organizations. He has been a featured presenter for several national MSP conventions on MSP-specific legal topics and is recognized as a thought leader in this field.
Tom is also a contributor and member of the national asset protection, tax and estate planning organization, WealthCounsel.