Who we Are
Rachel Brunfon
Phone: 720-689-8314
Email: Rachel.Brunfon@rains-law.com
As someone who is both a parent and has been involved in a variety of businesses, I understand the concerns of individuals, couples, families and business owners who wish to have a say in what happens after they are gone, protect their legacies, pass on more than just stuff, and create value and longevity for their businesses. I remember when my grandfather passed. My grandmother, my mother and uncle had incredible difficulties trying to navigate probate and all of the ancillary activities, because my grandfather never actually discussed his estate documents with anyone, or told anyone about his assets. Nowadays, with all of the online activity, that confusion is multiplied tenfold. My job is to help people with difficult conversations around legacy, promote family harmony, and to help create a plan that accomplishes a client’s intangible goals as well as their financial goals.
Before focusing on estate planning and business counsel, I engaged in a variety of careers. I have helped (a) charities form and raise money, (b) families obtain mortgages to buy a home, (c) self-employed people purchase health insurance, life insurance and securities, and (d) advised sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors, and fund sponsors on high-value cross-border investments and fund structures. I am a seasoned legal professional with over fifteen years of legal experience at top-tier global firms. My multidisciplinary background means that I have unique insights into the many and varied types of concerns that can arise in estate planning or business planning. It is my goal to use these skills to bring strategic, purposeful, collaborative and compassion-oriented legal solutions for individuals, families, entrepreneurs, and charitable organizations.
Education
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LL.M. Taxation, Georgetown University Center
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J.D., Georgetown University Law Center
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B.A. Soviet and East Europeans Studies, Russian Language and Literature, Macalester College
Affiliations
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Colorado Bar Association
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CBA Trusts & Estates Section
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CBA Solo Small Firm Practice Section
Practice Areas
- Estate Planning
Guiding clients through wills, trusts, tax planning, and legacy preservation. - Business Planning
Advising on entity formation, governance, contracts, and succession planning. - Nonprofit Support:
Assisting charities with fund formation, fundraising, fundraising compliance, and organizational structuring.
Schedule a Meeting with Rachel
Schedule a confidential consultation at a time that works for you.
Rachel’s Guiding Principles
Collaboration
I believe that an estate plan or a business structure and plan that meets the needs of clients cannot be accomplished by simply obtaining a list of assets and liabilities or selecting a corporate form. Estate planning is very personal and requires deeper conversations, and potentially multiple conversations, to discover a client’s desires and hopes for what comes after they are gone. True collaboration, asking the right questions, and active listening, results in the type of plan that embodies the desires of the client.
Comprehensiveness
Hand in hand with collaboration, comprehensiveness in planning, whether estate planning or business planning, is essential. While there is no way to account for every contingency, asking the right questions, creating a thorough plan, and ensuring the client’s understanding of the documents is all a part of providing comprehensive legal support.
Continual Innovation
Laws change. Technology changes. A good lawyer must keep up with these changes for the benefit of both the client’s legal needs and their wallets. Legal changes often require legal innovation to accomplish what a client needs. Artificial intelligence and other technological advances can help us become more efficient in the work that we do, so long as we still do the work and oversee the technology. Technology is just another tool for lawyers to do better work for clients, and it is important for lawyers to keep up with and use technology appropriately. We pride ourselves on staying on top of technological changes and using appropriate systems and efficiencies to the best advantage of our clients.
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