Top Best Estate Lawyers | 14203 Available

Scott Keifer founded St. Louis Estate Planning to focus exclusively on helping clients establish quality and cost-effective plans. “When I was young I accompanied my parents on their visit to an estate planning attorney in downtown St. Louis. I was struck by the fancy law office in the tall building, the wood paneled walls in the conference room and windows overlooking other expensive buildings. I wondered how much my parents were paying to support all of this overhead. I thought, why can’t all of this overhead be reduced and the cost savings passed along to hard working people like my parents." This thought is the basis of St. Louis Estate Planning.. Not working at a big law firm gives Scott the ability to give his clients better service and a professional work product without all of the unnecessary overhead. Scott spends more time with his clients than most other attorneys, doesn’t sell them solutions they don’t need, and does so at about half of the cost. Scott graduated from Truman State University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and passed the Missouri Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam in 1994. In 1997 Scott graduated from University of Missouri School of Law and passed the Missouri Bar.. During law school, Scott worked as an unpaid intern for a Magistrate with the United States District Court while also working a blue-collar construction job at Extel Communications. After passing the Missouri Bar, Scott accepted a management position at Extel and later became a co-owner. For more than 17 years, Scott used his accounting and law degrees as a foundation for his role in handling finances, taxes, contract management, legal disputes, human resources, and state and federal legal compliance.. In 2015 Scott decided to focus exclusively on estate planning and opened St. Louis Estate Planning. Working from his office in southwest St. Louis County, he provides estate planning consultation and solutions to clients within a 2 hour drive of St. Louis.. Scott and his wife, Claire, have been married since 2002 and have two daughters and one son. They live in South St. Louis County and are members of St. Catherine Laboure Catholic Church. Scott enjoys cheering his kids on at their athletic events, as well as volunteering for the Boy Scouts. Scott’s (non-family related) highlight each year is taking a backpacking trip with his life-long friends on amazing trails in Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, California, and Utah.

Kathleen specializes in estate, business and executive benefits planning and estate and executive compensation planning with life insurance.  Formerly, she was a member at of the Advanced Markets Group of MetLife, where she provided training and advanced underwriting support for the top producers of MetLife and its subsidiaries.  Prior to joining GenAmerica Financial (a MetLife company) in 1996, she was in private practice.. She is a member of the Missouri, Illinois and Pennsylvania bars as well as an active member of the American Bar Association and the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis.   She is a nationally recognized speaker and author and adjunct professor in the LLM program at Washington University’s School of Law.  She is a founding member of Affinity Law Group, LLC, a firm dedicated to providing legal services to businesses, their owners and executives at every stage of their life cycles. She is a member of the Business Insurance & Estate Planning Committee of the Association of Advanced Life Underwriting (AALU), and was selected as a Registered Player Financial Advisor for the National Football League Players Association.  She was formerly on the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Chapter of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) and currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Legacy Advisors and as President of the Society of Financial Service Professionals-Greater St. Louis Chapter.  She was named one of Missouri Lawyers Weekly’s Up and Coming Lawyers and received the Accredited Estate Planner designation from the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils.  She has presented at AALU and the Top of the Table Meeting for the Million Dollar Roundtable.  Kathleen was selected for inclusion in Missouri and Kansas SuperLawyers in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Garry Reuter is an Officer in the Trusts and Estates Practice Group, representing clients in a broad range of estate planning matters. His practice includes estate planning (drafting revocable trusts, wills, and powers of attorney), planning for federal and state income and transfer taxes (gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes), tax return preparation, trust and probate administration, preparation of marital agreements, and planned charitable giving.  He also works extensively with different entities, including closely-held businesses, for tax planning, business succession planning, and general business needs.. Prior to joining the Firm, Garry was a member of the Private Client practice group at another large law firm in St. Louis.  He also worked as a legal intern for the Internal Revenue Service, Office of Chief Counsel in Miami, Florida.

Stephanie L. Butler founded her practice in 2012 in order to assist the Kaneland community in the legal transactions that affect their everyday lives.  Ms. Butler maintains a general practice, with particular concentration in Real Estate, Estate Planning, and Business Formation.  Born and raised in Elburn, Ms. Butler attended Vanderbilt University as an undergraduate, and was awarded her Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern University School of Law. Before moving into private practice, Ms. Butler was Vice President and Associate Major Claims Counsel with Fidelity National Title Group, the nation's largest family of title insurers.   Ms. Butler is a member of a number of professional organizations, including the Illinois State Bar Association and the Kane County Bar Association.  She has provided legal services for the underprivileged by volunteering with Prairie State Legal Services and Administer Justice.  She is a long-time member of the Community Congregational Church of Elburn and has served on the Board of Trustees of the Town and Country Public Library and the Kaneland Foundation.

Lauren Jackson focuses her practice primarily in the areas of real estate, estate planning, probate and business succession planning, although her background includes contracts and corporate formations as well.. Lauren’s unintimidating, caring approach has garnered her a respectable reputation all over Northern Illinois.  With her dedication for efficient cost effective services, you will learn that when you retain Lauren you have a reachable attorney with your best interests in mind.. Lauren prides herself on quality work over quantity and it has proved to be beneficial to all parties based on positive customer reviews.  Lauren eagerly represents individuals in the buying, selling, or leasing residential and commercial real estate properties as well as assisting individuals in making the transfer of their assets upon their death simpler and easier on their loved ones.. Lauren began her career clerking for Konicek & Dillon in St. Charles, IL assisting the attorneys with research, drafting petitions, motions and orders for the firm’s representation of its clients in insurance defense matters.   Upon graduation from law school, Lauren worked as an associate at Lavelle Law, Ltd. Located in Palatine, IL.  There she obtained experience in many areas of the law including estate planning, business succession planning, probate, collections and a variety of real estate transactions.. Lauren earned her B.A. from Northern Illinois University in 1999 with an emphasis in journalism.  She went on to attend the law program at Northern Illinois University and became licensed to practice law in the state of Illinois in 2003.. Lauren is an active member of the Kane County Bar Association (), the Elgin Downtown Neighborhood Association (?????); Board Member of Chicago Repertory Ballet () and the First Congregational Church of Elgin ().

We are a husband and wife team concentrating in the practice of real estate law. We handle everything from closings to evictions.

I help clients acquire assets, either by helping them purchase real estate, businesses, or other assets. Then, I help my clients protect those assets during their lifetime for their wealth-building and enjoyment. Finally, I help clients ensure that their assets are well protected for their loved ones after they die.

If you have questions about how well-protected you are, please don't hesitate to call me. I'd welcome the opportunity to sit down with you and discuss your personal situation.

Hi! If I'm not in front of the computer or at a closing, you will likely find me outside enjoying gardening and yard work.  I love to travel and spend a good amount of my free time in Florida where 3 of my 4 children live. In my younger (and dumber) years you'd likely find me entered in some mudder, Spartan, or triathalon race. Boy does my body feel it these days!  I look forward to the opportunity to work with you.

I have been practicing law with the same firm and its successor for over 40 years. My practice is concentrated on estate planning, real estate (both commercial and residential) and business transactions.. I have served on several Boards over the years such as United Way of Elgin, St. Edward Foundation (2 years as President), Well Child Conference, Oak Crest Residence and the Elgin Country Club.. My hobbies are walking, biking and golf. My wife and I will soon be blessed with our 10th grandchild. We spend a lot of wonderful time with the grandchildren.

Attorney Judith Schening is dedicated to providing her clients with excellent and thorough legal advice that is based on more than 28 years of practicing law. Ms. Schening is a member of WealthCounsel, a membership organization of more than 2,500 attorneys who are committed to a client-centric approach to estate planning.  Please contact her for assistance with any of the following: testamentary wills, trusts, powers of attorney for property, powers of attorney for health care, living wills, estate probate or administration, and trust administration.

Patrice is an experienced civil trial attorney and Registered Nurse.  Patrice considers her role as an attorney similar to her role as a nurse and, as a result, is a tireless advocate on behalf of her clients.  Patrice strives at all times to listen, understand and address her client’s legal needs in a uniquely qualified and empathetic manner.

Attorney Leia Lee is the founder of Logic Law. Her practice focuses on estate planning (trusts and wills), probate administration, and tax. Additionally, she takes related adoption cases.. After training in the number 1 ranked tax law program in the U.S., Leia worked in international tax in public accounting and law firms. Her work focused on tax planning ranging from multinational corporations to high net worth individuals.. Leia had also run a legal clinic program for a Chicago non-profit organization and helped socio-economically disadvantaged population access the legal system.. Her estate and benefit planning has helped many families develop asset protection and distribution strategies for their loved ones and organizations they care about. Her goal is to always provide individually tailored solution for each client's unique situation at the various stages of their lives.

I simply enjoy helping people. When I fell into the practice areas of Estate Planning and Elder Law in March of 2011, I truly found my calling. Thinking I would miss the hustle and bustle of being in the loop, wearing a suit every day, and “fighting” in court, I soon realized that there was more to the practice of law.. I grew up in Skokie with a younger brother (who is now a Chicago Police Officer) and three half siblings who live in California. My mother was a schoolteacher and my father sold commercial real estate.  I attended Niles West High School and then DePaul University. Upon graduation from John Marshall Law School (now UIC law school) in May 2009 and after passing the bar, I went out “on my own” for 18 months. I was fortunate enough to share office space with Conrad Szewczyk, a law school friend of my uncle’s, who became a great mentor to me upon starting my legal career. Working side-by-side with Szewczyk, I handled cases spanning all areas of the law, gaining great experience, understanding, and client advocacy.. After working with Szewczyk, I took a job with an elder law and estate planning firm on the North Shore where I stayed for 4 years.  I became a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) in 2011 and was on the board of the IL Chapter in 2015.. In the Spring of 2014, I joined the Board of Directors of Shore Community Services, an organization dedicated to assisting individuals with intellectual and other developmental disabilities. In February 2015, along with my partner Lauren Weldon, I started Margolis Weldon LLC, an estate planning and elder law firm. I assist clients with their Estate Planning and Elder Law needs, including various Trusts, Powers of Attorneys, Last Wills and Testaments, Asset Protection, Special Needs, Trust Administration, Probate, and Guardianship. I counsel my clients from birth to death and ensure that their Estate Planning documents reflect the different stages of their lives. I safeguard clients' legacies by confirming that Estate Planning documents are appropriately incorporated into their planning goals.. My wife and I live with our two children in the Northern Suburbs. I enjoy spending time with the family, playing golf when I can, and coaching my kids' various sports teams.