Top Estate Planning Lawyers Near Me in Northbrook Area

I have been in private practice for the past 40 plus years.  In the first 20 years there was  extensive experience in the areas of GENERAL CIVIL LITIGATION, REAL ESTATE, PROBATE, FEDERAL & STATE TAXATION, CORPORATE, PARTNERSHIP, ESTATE PLANNING, BANKRUPTCY, and GENERAL PRACTICE.  All this occurred before my practice began a concentration in the FAMILY LAW LITIGATION ISSUES.  As a result of my back ground and experience, I have developed skills in accounting & legal areas that are involved in every divorce and family law case.  There are few cases where the assets or liabilities are not affected by laws relating to real estate, estate planning, business (corporate & partnership) and taxation.  Experiences in these areas are a definite asset in my practice.

I am an attorney and principal with Rhoades Levy Law Group P.C., Northbrook, Illinois - with offices in Chicago and Lake Forest.Specialties: The Supreme Court of Illinois does not recognize certifications of specialties in the practice of law, and I do not hold myself out as a specialist. However, I concentrate my practice in the areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration, business / corporate law and commercial real estate. I provide comprehensive business and personal services to small and medium sized business and the owners of these businesses. My business practice focuses on counseling clients on business entity choices, organizing corporations and limited liability companies, advising clients with regard to day-to-day business operations (including confidentiality, employment, independent contractor, employment separation, supplier, vendor, website development and software development agreements) and handling a multitude of other matters including purchases and sales of businesses, real estate transactions and commercial leases. In addition, I have considerable experience in the areas of estate planning and estate and trust administration, including preparing and coordinating estate plan documents, counseling clients with regard to business succession planning and wealth preservation planning, handling estate and trust administration and preparing estate and gift tax returns. I am committed to building collaborative relationships with clients and providing cost-effective, comprehensive, client-focused service utilizing sound legal strategies and judgment in a responsive manner.

I am a lifelong practitioner in the area of international tax, starting with my early years after college in Buffalo, NY along the Canadian border.  I live in Winnetka, IL with my family and spend my off-time driving my kids in car pools for swim team, karate and orchestra.

Ben concentrates his practice in the areas of sophisticated estate and gift tax planning, asset protection planning and estate and trust administration. Ben also devotes a significant portion of his practice to complex will and trust litigation. This includes representing trustees, executors and beneficiaries in a variety of matters such as: (a) breach of fiduciary duty claims, (b) disinheritance planning, (c) trust reformation and construction disputes, (d) claims of undue influence, (e) competency cases, and (f) tortious interference matters.  He is also a prolific author and an accomplished speaker for many of Illinois’ leading estate planning organizations.  Ben graduated from the University of Illinois and Northwestern University School of Law.

As an estate planning attorney, David consults with individuals regarding their estate planning and estate administration needs, including business succession planning, leveraged gift giving, philanthropic goals and the structuring of estate planning documents. He has extensive experience – including more than 16 years as a practicing attorney – with tax compliance issues affecting trusts and estates and the preparation of both simple and complex federal estate and gift tax returns, fiduciary income tax returns, and various postmortem tax issues. Among his accomplishments, David:. Used a little-known provision in the Internal Revenue Code to help a family avoid the loss of a family farm due to the imposition of federal and state estate taxes. David helped structure a payment plan that not only allowed the farm to remain in the family, but helped the family avoid further indebtedness that may have resulted from procuring further financing to pay the estate taxes.. Through careful research of the IRS regulations, David restructured the payout terms of a decedent’s IRA that was left to his surviving spouse under a defective beneficiary designation. Through David’s assistance, the surviving spouse was allowed to rollover the money and defer income taxes, rather than pay significant income taxes as a result of the defective beneficiary designation.. Administered both smaller and larger estates ensuring proper accounting methods, distributions, tax compliance and income tax planning.. Employed estate planning techniques such as gift giving, charitable planned giving, family limited partnerships, life insurance programs and trusts, to save clients from the imposition of unnecessary federal and state estate taxes.. In addition to having established his own law practice, David was the former Director of Estate Planning for the accounting and consulting firm of Frost Ruttenberg & Rothblatt (FR&R), a 130+ member firm located in Deerfield, Illinois. He is a graduate of the accounting program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (one of the highest regarded accounting schools in the United States). In addition to being a CPA, David is a licensed attorney and received his Master’s in Law (LL.M. in taxation) degree at DePaul University College of Law. David is a former speaker for the Illinois CPA Society and a former chairman of the Chicago Bar Association's Estate Planning Committee for the Young Lawyer's Division. Currently, David is a member of the Chicago Bar Association's Probate Practice Committee, Estate Planning and Trust Law Committee, and Federal Taxation Committee. He is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Illinois CPA Society, the North Shore Estate Planning Council, the Northwest Suburban Bar Association Estate Planning Committee, the Lake County, Illinois, Estate Planning Council, and the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys. David is also a member of the Skokie Chamber of Commerce and the Wilmette Chamber of Commerce.