THE TRUSTS & ESTATES SECTION COUNCIL has members from throughout the State of Illinois with a variety of professional achievements, skills, and practices. In this newsletter, we continue a prior series of “spotlight” articles that highlights the backgrounds, interests, and experiences of members of the Trusts & Estates Section Council, in a question-and answer format, in order to get to know more about them.
Q: What got you into the Trusts and Estates practice?
A: My first job out of law school was with a general practice firm, where I was able to learn about a lot of different areas of practice: including real estate, corporate, and trusts and estates. For some reason, I enjoyed the trusts and estates area the most, and in my second attorney position, I was able to focus on my favorite area of the law.
Q: What is your favorite part of the practice?
A: I enjoy meeting with the clients and getting to know them and help them to achieve their goals, whether that is in the area of estate planning, or administration. A close second is doing research and drafting briefs-I am always learning something new.
Q: What is the most challenging part of the practice?
A: Managing time and managing client expectations. Everything takes longer than you think it will and ends up being more expensive for the client. And of course, there are no guarantees in litigation. I tell my clients it’s like Thunderdom-two go in and one comes out, and there is no guarantee you will be the one that comes out.
Q: What is the most interesting part of the practice?
A: To quote the late Sen. Everett Dirksen, I like to “unscrew the inscrutable.” I like to take on messy, complicated situations and find workable solutions. For example, we have had administrations where both grandparents’ and parents’ estates were never administered and now the children need to sell a house or transfer assets and we have had to do multiple probate administrations. In another situation, we had two deceased parents’ trusts that had no living trustees, and yet the trust had assets that needed to be distributed. We were able to open a probate to get a successor trustee appointed nd finally get the trust administered. I also enjoy doing post mortem planning and “fixing” problems with trusts through the use of non-judicial settlement agreements, disclaimers, and decanting.
Q: What do you like to do when you are not administering trusts/estates?
A: I like to read, golf, walk/hike in the great outdoors, travel, and knit, crochet, and needlepoint.
Please stay tuned for the next Spotlight article when we will feature another member of the Trusts & Estates Section Council.
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