Chris counsels both individual and corporate clients on a wide range of legal issues with a special focus on tax and estate planning. His background in real estate development has also enabled him to effectively counsel clients on development, construction and sales of both land and building projects. He is dedicated to seeing his clients achieve their entrepreneurial goals and realizing their professional and familial visions.
Chris began his legal career at Pricewaterhouse Coopers after graduating from Georgetown University's tax law program. At PwC, Chris worked as a tax associate charged with advising and assisting national companies with various jurisdictional tax compliance goals.
Wanting to bring this same level of expertise and attention to individual clients and their families, Chris joined a boutique estate planning and business law firm in Charlotte. There, he served high-net worth families by advising and implementing estate planning strategies designed with the twin goals of wealth preservation and generational planning. He also assisted entrepreneurs at all stages of their business development.
Chris then served as general counsel at a real estate development and investment partnership where he was able to combine his legal background with his prior experience as a real estate broker. There, he supervised and helped administer multiple sales and development campaigns in addition to managing both commercial and investment real estate portfolios. He also provided individual estate and tax planning services to partners and their families.
Prior to attending law school, Chris worked as a real estate broker and as an award-winning newspaper journalist.
Representative Experience
Corporate
- Advised client on negotiating, administering, and brokering a business asset purchase sale of multi-generational family business.
- Counseled client on 1031 exchange options for $15 million gain in sale of real estate investment
- Counseled multiple out of state clients on achieving goals of moving business operations to North Carolina.
- Negotiated international warehousing agreement on behalf of North Carolina client
Construction & Real Estate Development
- Counseled North Carolina real estate developer on land purchase, lot recombination and rezoning for townhome development project
- Managed transactions for major commercial retail development project, including property management, leasing and eventual sale of property
- Advised developers on construction and leasing of flex warehouse project
- Assisted developer investors in determining sell and hold options for real estate portfolio based on tax liability and associated carrying costs
Tax
- Resolved tax controversy for client facing wage garnishment and property tax liens by the North Carolina Department of Revenue
- Represented client-witness throughout criminal IRS investigation of fraudulent tax preparation business
- Counseled client subject to IRS audit notice due to improper tax documentation being submitted by client's employer
- Represented client throughout NC DOR audit and advocated before NC DOR regarding client's out of state tax status for years in question
Estate Planning
- Drafted estate planning documents to achieve generational wealth transfer and asset protection goals
- Created plan to protect client's interest in passing estate assets to children of prior marriage in light of state laws providing for spousal allowances
- Counseled CEO of FinTech company on development of plan to protect future earnings from litigation and to assure his family's future financial status
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center - Master of Laws (LLM) in Taxation, Certificate in Estate Planning, 2012
- University of Georgia School of Law - Juris Doctor (JD), cum laude, 2011
- University of Georgia -Bachelor of Arts in Journalism (ABJ), Minor in History, 2003
Bar Admissions
- North Carolina
Court Admissions
- U.S. Tax Court
Additional Licenses
- North Carolina Real Estate Broker with B-I-C designation
Email: [email protected]
Recent Blog Posts
Recommendations
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"Extremely welcoming of my call & graciously took the time to answer all of my questions."
I was referred to Chris De Nittis by a mutual friend after expressing interest in setting up my estate documents and a trust. When I initially called Chris, I didn't have an appointment and called on a whim. He was extremely welcoming of my call and graciously took the time to answer all of my qu... - This company is very professional and very polite and they will treat you just like family, give you all the professional advice that you would need and also give you legal and professional services as needed
- As a new business owner they have been super helpful with pin pointing what I need specifically but also presenting other options as well! They went above and beyond especially with setting me up with a CPA capable of my needs. Will enjoy working with them more in the future.
- I worked with Chris De Nittis on a few business structure tax issues. Chris was well versed on the subject, professional, and patient in explaining the pros and cons of the different options. His due diligence on the subject after consultation, and follow-up conversation were above and beyond my ...
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"Worked with Chris on estate planning and couldn't have been happier with his service."
Worked with Chris on estate planning and couldn't have been happier with his service. He was proactive with his communication and explained everything perfectly for my wife and I who were new to this sort of planning. We have already recommended Chris to friends and family. -
"Extremely knowledgeable. I highly recommend this practice!"
Amazing! Chris helped my family so much with our parent's estate. He answered all our questions. He gave us options and was extremely knowledgeable. I highly recommend this practice. - When an unexpected death occurs in your family, it can be devastating to not only deal with the emotional aspect but also the financial ramifications. We hired Christopher De Nittis at Viebrock to help with our mother's estate after her death. We are a blended family across multiple states with c...
- Chris was amazing with his speed and ability to quickly resolve the tax issue with the state, even in the middle of this pandemic. He saved us a great deal of time and money by reversing all the tax liens and garnishments. I highly recommend his firm and its services.
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"Chris & Nate were great to work with. They made the legal process simple."
Chris and Nate were great to work with. They made the legal process simple, straightforward, and easy to understand. We live out of state and Chris was sure to research all the laws for our state so we could make informed decisions. We highly recommend working with these guys. - Chris helped my husband and me with our estate planning documents. He spent ample time taking to us prior to creating our documents. This allowed us to have all our questions answered and provided Chris with an understanding of our intentions. The finished documents were professionally present...
- Chris and his law firm have helped us so much. Chris spent a lot of time understanding our complex situation for estate planning and provided great options/solutions for our needs. Couldn't recommend a better firm than this one. Really easy to work with and understood what we were trying to accom...
- Chris and his firm Denittis Law have been a game changer for my company. If you're looking for a lawyer that will provide a personal experience and truly care about your needs, you've found him. We were introduced to Chris while we were in the midst of a high priority legal situation. He took u...
- My wife and I had the best experience at De Nittis Law! Chris and team were very welcoming and took their time explaining anything and everything we wanted in as much detail as we cared for during our sessions. I would highly recommend you talk to them if you need legal services in Charlotte!
- Chris and team have worked diligently to understand our core issue at hand on various projects. Chris has been upfront and honest about our given options, and prompt on getting the ball back in to our court so we can analyze on our end and work out a solution with him.
- Our experience with DeNittis Law firm was one where I had the confidence of the attorney in the first minute in speaking with him. Professionalism was provided from the very start to the finished work he completed in a timely manner.
- Mr Denittis has been very helpful in our estate planning process. My husband and I have throughly enjoyed working with him. He's insightful and provided advice on issues we had never considered.