Estate Planning for Business Owners, High Net Worth Individuals, and Complex Estates

Illinois Attorneys Creating Plans for High Net-Worth Estates

Regardless of the size of your estate and its complexities, the fundamental purpose of estate planning is always to ensure the assets you have are held for you and for the benefit of those for whom you care in a manner that is tax-efficient, responsible in how it transfers wealth to others, not excessively complex, and otherwise in accordance with your long-term desires. The necessary components of your estate plan depend heavily on your goals and the nature of your assets. Larger, more complex estates and estates that include business interests often present complexities during the estate planning process and generally require the guidance of skilled counsel.

At Sosin, Arnold & Schoenbeck Ltd., our lawyers have more than 100 years of combined legal experience, and we have helped many wealthy clients throughout Northern Illinois develop estate plans customized to meet their needs. Even in the most complex of situations, our approach is simple. We take the time to get to know our clients, giving us exceptional insight into their lives, finances, and goals for the future. From there, we establish our clients’ objectives and engage in a collaborative process with our clients and their trusted advisors to craft solutions designed to satisfy their various tax minimization, business succession, asset protection, and general estate planning objectives.

High-Value Estates

If you have accumulated substantial wealth, it is likely the product of hard work and perseverance. Without careful estate planning, however, much of what you have earned could be subject to more taxes than would be the case with proper planning. Moreover, transitioning significant wealth to younger generations and other beneficiaries often requires careful planning to ensure the wealth has protection from third-party creditors and that it enables, rather than hinders, the sound development and maturation of those family members and other beneficiaries. At Sosin, Arnold & Schoenbeck Ltd., we work with high net worth individuals and families to develop strategies for reducing your liabilities for federal and state estate taxes, gift taxes, and other taxes commonly associated with estate planning and the transfer of assets through a variety of lifetime gifting, asset structuring, and trust planning strategies. We customize those strategies to satisfy the concurrent asset protection and wealth transfer concerns of our clients.

Business Owners and Estate Planning

Our firm’s considerable and ongoing practices in both estate planning and business counsel provide us with a superior perspective of the challenges our clients face in achieving their business succession planning objectives. Generally, a business owner may either sell the company or pass it on to the next generation. The most successful transitions of family businesses from one generation to the next typically include a mix of careful planning that includes the input of members of the younger generation and the gradual or otherwise careful implementation of those plans. Sosin, Arnold & Schoenbeck Ltd. regularly assists its clients in implementing strategies to gradually and responsibly shift ownership, control, and risk in owning a business to younger generations.

At Sosin, Arnold & Schoenbeck Ltd., our plans also include contingency-based succession plans, which are designed to protect a business in the event an owner or key person becomes unable to fulfill his or her duties due to death, disability, resignation, or termination. The skilled attorneys at our firm will work with you in determining the best ways to protect your company as well as your family's interests. We assist with business succession planning, tax planning, and asset transfers to ensure that your company will continue to succeed in the future. If a restructuring is necessary, we can provide the guidance your business needs to begin the next phase of its operations.

Problem-Solving Attorneys Who Get Results

At Sosin, Arnold & Schoenbeck Ltd., we have earned a reputation as a knowledgeable firm dedicated to serving our clients' best interests. Many of our clients have been with us for decades, and we look forward to forging new relationships that will also stand the test of time. To learn more about how we can help with your estate planning needs, contact our office. Call 708-448-8141 for an appointment.