Ellery Estate Planning Lawyers

Philip M. Fornaro is the managing attorney at Fornaro Law. Adopting a “never give up” attitude, Philip has become known for his ability to succeed where others fail for the last 20 years. His decision to diversify his practice in 2004 has resulted in the creation of a full service law firm which provides quality representation in a variety of legal areas. Philip follows the rule that positive energy will yield positive results. This energy is the driving force behind the success of Fornaro Law. He has become adept at creating a network and team between clients,...

I work with senior citizens, their families, and small business owners to get their affairs organized, safeguard their estates, and prepare succession plans. In matters of probate or trust administration, I work with personal representatives to properly manage the administration of the estate and advise them of their legal duties along the way. My experience in these practice areas has been exclusive since I have been private practice. In 2010, I expanded my practice territory to include Lake County, Indiana by obtaining an Indiana law license.

Bill is an Illinois and New York licensed attorney operating a general law practice in Chicago. He represent clients throughout the Chicagoland area on matters ranging from tenant evictions and judgment collections, to divorces and much more. Having grown up on the South Side of Chicago, Bill understands the value and importance of high quality service at a reasonable price. His main goal is to carry that mantra into his law practice and provide excellent and effective representation at an affordable price. By operating a virtual law office, he has been able to operate a more mobile...

Admitted to practice law in 1982, Maureen Sullivan Taylor graduated with a J.D. from Northern Illinois University Law School. In addition to interning at the United States' Attorneys' Office, Maureen was awarded the American Jurisprudence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Matrimonial Law and also served on the Law Review. Founder of the firm, Maureen is a trained and experienced mediator, and is both a Fellow of the Collaborative Law Institute of Illinois and a member of the International Association of Collaborative Professionals. Maureen is admitted to the United States Supreme Court and the Northern District of Illinois Federal Court and...

Lauren Jackson focuses her practice primarily in the areas of real estate and estate planning, although her background includes probate, contracts, corporate formation and business succession planning. 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 with Lauren on your side you have a reachable attorney with your best intentions in mind. Lauren prides herself on quality work over quantity and it has proved she is a success based on past customer positive reviews. Lauren eagerly represents...

In my past life as a former prosecutor, I prosecuted literally thousands of traffic cases. I know the ins and outs of the system, where things can go wrong and exactly how harsh traffic penalties can be. After spending years as a prosecutor, I got tired of being on that side of things. I got tired of being the “bad guy” and having to charge people ridiculous fines.

As an attorney, I have worked in the areas of corporate law, criminal defense and divorce, but the majority of my experience is with traffic violations. As a prosecutor in the Pulaski County,...

I am a lifelong Chicagoland resident with a passion for helping families plan their estates so their loved ones are cared for upon their passing. I utilize wills, trusts, powers of attorney for property and healthcare, with the goal of both ensuring that assets pass to your intended loved ones and to make sure that the right people are acting on your behalf if you are unable to make decisions. For families with a recently deceased loved one, I will represent the appointed fiduciaries in administering the estate, be it probate administration or trust administration. I am licensed to practice in...

Sarah A. Nolan is a founding partner of Suburban Law Group, LLC with over 10 years of experience. She primarily practices Family Law, including Divorce, Paternity, Child Support, and Parenting Time and handles cases in Cook County and Will County. Ms. Nolan received her Bachelor of Arts degree, Cum Laude, from the Loyola University of Chicago in 2005. In 2009, Ms. Nolan earned her Juris Doctorate from DePaul University - College of Law. She is admitted to practice in the State of Illinois.

Founded in 2009 by Lee Zeidman, Zeidman & Associates Ltd. set out to provide legal services to clients in a unique and ambitious manner. Focused first on the goals of each client rather than the bottom line, Zeidman & Associates built its foundation upon not only providing legal services but advising clients on the most efficient manner to resolve their legal issue or create their new business. In each of its practice areas, Zeidman & Associates strives to provide a unique experience for its clients so that they continue to return for each of their legal and consulting needs....

Christine’s focus as an attorney is on helping her clients through the most difficult situations life offers. Whether her clients are facing criminal charges, the end of a marriage, issues related to children, or end of life concerns, Christine’s passion for helping them through these issues is evident through her honesty, patience, and ability to make even the most complex legal issues make sense to her clients. Christine attended the Northern Illinois University College of Law, where she graduated cum laude with Juris Doctorate degree. During her tenure at NIU College of Law, she earned a Certificate in Criminal Practice. She...

Lisa A. Copland has significant experience in several areas of the law including domestic relations, civil litigation, probate, breach of contract and real estate law. She represents men and women in divorce cases, which includes division of property, allocation of parental responsibilities, child support and parenting time. Lisa routinely represents buyers and sellers in residential and commercial real estate transactions. Through the firm's full service approach, attorneys also assist clients in estate planning and civil litigation.

Denice A. Gierach is a business and estate planning lawyer with more than 30 years of experience representing business owners in the formation, franchising, and dissolution of businesses; contract negotiation and reviews; business litigation; partnership disputes, succession planning; commercial real estate; and aiding individuals in matters of advanced estate planning, and charitable giving. She also leads her firm’s YourOGC program providing Outsourced General Counsel services to small and medium size businesses to assist them in preventing legal issues, providing proper planning for reaching goals, and insight into issues preventing them from further success. As a Certified Public Accountant with a master's degree...

Michael A. Otte concentrates his practice on estate planning, trust administration, and contested and litigated estates and trusts. Additionally, Michael's particular area of focus is in elder law matters, including Medicaid planning, Medicaid appeals, guardianship, contested guardianships, nursing home contract review, general elder law matters requiring litigation or other court involvement, and other issues affecting the legal needs of older people. Michael has given dozens of both public and private seminars on his areas of experience in order to educate the public and fellow attorneys on important estate planning and elder law concepts. Michael is a member of the Chicago...

Ann Leone is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. She graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and Psychology. She then attended The John Marshall Law School and received her Juris Doctorate. She has worked in various government agencies, including the Department of Children and Family Services and The Cook County Office of The Public Guardian as a Guardian ad litem. Through these agencies, she gained invaluable experience working on various complex juvenile immigration cases and handling many domestic relations cases, including custody disputes and divorces. Additionally, she has worked with numerous non-profits, specializing in...

Benedict Schwarz, II has limited his practice to matrimonial and family law for over 40 years. He is a past director of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) and is also a trained divorce mediator; Mr. Schwarz has taught numerous 40-hour divorce mediation training and conflict resolution seminars and has also co-authored chapters on the subject in the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education publications.

In 1992, Mr. Schwarz was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court as a Commissioner of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC). In 2001, Mr. Schwarz was appointed the Chairperson of the Commission from January...

After 8 years defending employers with a respected Chicago defense firm, Arik started Hetue Law, P.C. with a mission of helping people navigate the legal issues surrounding starting and growing their businesses as an outside general counsel, and protecting their finances and families via proper estate planning.

Arik is a skilled business law attorney, with experience in risk management, HR planning, business entity formation, corporate dispute resolution, technology planning, technology licensing agreements, and has enjoyed outside general counsel status to a variety of small businesses and technology start ups. He is also an experienced estate planning attorney,...

Attorney Justin J. Karubas has been a Principal at Rolewick & Gutzke since April of 2006. He obtained his law degree from the Chicago-Kent College of Law and was admitted to practice law by the Illinois Supreme Court in 1998. Attorney Karubas is a graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign from where he has a B.A. degree in Economics, Finance. Before joining Rolewick & Gutzke, P.C., as an Associate Attorney in 1998, he was a legal clerk both at Illinois Masonic Medical center in 1997 and McKeown, Fitzgerald, Zoller, Buck, Hutchinson, & Ruttle in 1996....

Nick Nelson was admitted to the Illinois bar in 2008. Since then he has focused on serving his clients and offering practical legal advice that accomplishes the goals of his clients and serves their best interest. Nick's personality, knowledge, and skills have proven beneficial for clients in legal disputes ranging from divorce, civil litigation, business guidance, and negotiations. Nick has won numerous awards and recognition from the legal community, including AVVO Excellent Rating, AVVO Featured Attorney Divorce, AVVO Top Contributor, AVVO Clients' Choice, American Institute of Family Law Attorneys 10 Best for Client Satisfaction, The National Advocates Top 40 Under...

Kerry Peck is the past president of the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) and founder of the Elder Law Committee of the CBA. He is also the managing partner of the Chicago law firm, Peck Ritchey, LLC, whose clients include families, hospitals, banks, the State of Illinois, County of Cook, and City of Chicago. He provides legal representation for trust and guardianship litigation, business planning, and estate planning.

Mr. Peck is well experienced in guiding his clients through the probate process, assisting in the transfer of assets and resolution of claims, and implementing estate plans. He is also very dedicated in...

Robert J. Boszko (“Bob”) is an experienced family law attorney and partner at Suburban Law Group, LLC. Bob concentrates in complex financial divorce and disputes concerning the allocation of parental responsibilities in Cook, DuPage, Kane, and surrounding collar counties. Bob is a zealous advocate and skilled negotiator, he knows when to aggressively litigate and how to reasonably settle contested matters. Bob utilizes compassion and his background in psychology to counsel his client’s through the tumultuous and emotional litigation process.

Within the field of family law, Bob has handled a variety of contested and uncontested cases including pre-decree and...

P.K. Johnson V, born in 1970, gained admission to the Illinois Bar in 1995 and the Missouri Bar in 1996. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree with honors from the University of Illinois in 1992 and attained his Juris Doctor degree with honors from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1995. During his leisure hours, P.K. finds joy in quality time with his wife and two sons, indulging in golf, and exploring new destinations. Beyond his personal pursuits, P.K. contributes actively as a member of the Swansea, Illinois Board of Police Commissioners and holds a position on the Wolf Branch School District...

Christopher J. Maurer is a licensed Illinois attorney with over two decades of litigation experience primarily in the areas of divorce and family law, as well as estate planning. He practices in DuPage County, Cook County, Kane County, and the other collar counties. Chris has focused his practice in the area of family law, including divorce issues (contested and uncontested divorces, complex financial and business divorces), and paternity cases, preparation of prenuptial agreements and postnuptial agreements, custody disputes, establishing visitation schedules, child support calculation and alimony/maintenance determination, grandparent rights, disputes regarding removing children from Illinois, and enforcing court orders. Chris...

Sean Robertson is an experienced business law and real estate attorney with more than 14 years of experience. He graduated from DePaul University College of Law and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and he gained a strong background in taxation law during his time in law school. Sean Robertson's legal experience has been varied and has involved issues surrounding business litigation, wealth management, estate planning, divorce, and family law.

During the last recession, Sean worked to litigate a wide variety of cases involving loan disputes, business interests, creditor/debtor contracts, and post-judgment law. This background gives him the understanding needed to...

Cherissa "Reese" Loire Krajniak obtained her undergraduate degree in Sociology from Marquette University before going on to attend Florida Coastal Law School. She graduated with honors in 209 and was active with the school's Pro Bono Clinic, donating more than 200 hours of legal work to underserved members of the community. While taking a full course load and giving her time to the clinic, Reese was still able to complete her Juris Doctorate program in just over two years. She passed the bar exam in 2010 and opened her own practice in downtown Chicago. After medical issues sidetracked her career for...

Misty has worked hard to become an attorney, which was her dream. She earned her two undergraduate degrees while being on active duty in the United States Air Force. She graduated summa cum laude from North Carolina Wesleyan College with dual degrees. During her four years in the military, Misty was responsible for producing a weekly flying and aircraft maintenance schedule for a fleet of 24 F-15 fighter jets. Misty also provided support for Operation Noble Eagle in response to the 9/11 attacks.

At the core of Misty’s practice is her love of the law and her desire to help people....

Izabela concentrates her practice in estate and trust planning, probate, and estate and trust administration and litigation. Izabela also assists clients in planning for disability and special needs. Izabela also handles guardianship proceedings and serves as a volunteer Guardian Ad Litem for the Cook County Circuit Court. Additionally, Izabela has experience with domestic and international income tax and business planning, and corporate and individual tax controversies. She also advises clients on business succession matters, wealth transfer and preservation, and corporate, partnership and limited liability company transactions, including drafting various business arrangements and agreements. Izabela was named as an Illinois Super...

Mary Ludwig received her J.D. and M.B.A., along with a Certificate in Food and Agricultural Law from Drake University in 2005. Prior to that she received a Bachelors of Science in Agriculture Economics from the University of Illinois. Mary concentrates her practice in agricultural law, estate planning, real estate transactions and probate. Her agricultural law experience includes organization and representation of production agricultural farm operations, agricultural cooperatives, grain elevators, agricultural input suppliers, ethanol and bio-diesel plants, and specialty farm product companies, wind tower and cell tower leases and easements, pipeline, gas, public utility and fiber optic easements,...

At the Wheaton, Illinois Law Firm of Cynthia Hayes Hutchins, we have spent the last 10 years helping people throughout DuPage County and beyond plan not just for their own future, but for what happens afterward. Contact us today, we can help if you or a loved one has any estate planning or elder law needs. You can feel welcome with our firm. We will listen to your needs and will carefully study the options to meet those needs. We will also treat you the way we would expect to be treated: with the respect you deserve. At the Law Office of...

Angel M. Traub is a civil litigation attorney & principal owner of A. Traub & Assoc.. She graduated in 98 from NIU with her B.A. & was awarded the Outstanding Woman Student Award & Outstanding Communication Major Award in 98. Angel graduated from The John Marshall Law School with a J.D. In 01 where She was selected as a John Marshall Distinguished Scholar & was a member of the Order of John Marshall, Honorary Scholarship Society. She was admitted to practice in the State of Illinois & the Northern District of Illinois in 2001. Angel is trained & certified...

Lindsey Paige Markus assists business owners and families plan their estates, protect assets, transfer wealth, and minimize taxation. Lindsey works closely with clients to formulate succession plans, advise on business formation, wealth preservation and gift and estate taxation. A Principal at the law firm of Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. since 2006, Lindsey received her J.D. degree from Loyola University of Chicago. Lindsey was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 2006 and the Florida Bar in 2007. Founded in 1987, Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. has over sixty attorneys who concentrate in a variety of areas which include estate planning,...

James is the principal attorney at the Law Office of James C. Siebert & Associates, P.C. / Elder Law & Estate Planning Attorneys, P.C. The Office provides legal services throughout the Chicago area concentrating in Elder Law, Medicaid Planning, Asset Preservation, Medicaid Application Representation, Child Caretaker Agreements, Appeals of Medicaid Denials or unfavorable decisions, Nursing Home Contract Review, Nursing Home Injuries and Abuse, Estate Planning, Revocable Trusts, Irrevocable Trusts, Alzheimer’s & Dementia Planning, Parkinson’s Planning, Addicted Beneficiary Planning, Special Needs Trusts, Special Needs Planning, Probate Administration, Trust Administration, Guardianship and Real Estate. James C. Siebert is one...

Jonathan Anderson is the owner and founder of Anderson Attorneys, PC. For more than 35 years, Jon Anderson owned Anderson & Associates, P.C. which grew to be a leading law firm with 12 attorneys in four offices who represented clients in divorce, family law, estate planning, probate, bankruptcy, and debtor/creditor relations and other matters. In June 2022, he sold Anderson & Associates, P.C. In 2023, he founded Anderson Attorneys, PC, a smaller, high-quality, specialized, boutique law firm that focuses on financially sophisticated divorce litigation and estate planning, and probate matters. For over 35 years, Jonathan Anderson...

Janice, lovingly known by the nickname “Apple” in her family, is a passionate attorney specializing in family law. She was born in Angeles City, Philippines at the location previously known as Clark Air Force Base and relocated to Chicago, Illinois with her family when she was just three years old. Fluent in Tagalog, Janice is particularly interested in serving the legal needs of the Filipino community in Chicago. Janice graduated in 2005 with honors from the University of Chicago and earned her Juris Doctorate from DePaul University in 2012. She has been a practicing attorney in Illinois since...

Since 1991 Steve's practice has grown tremendously. Steve practices in foreclosure defense, estate planning, real estate and mortgage loan modifications and his practice has grown to include several lawyers and support staff. (Steve's partner Gary Newland and his team practices in personal injury_ Due to Steve's experience and expertise he is often asked to speak at bar association seminars to other lawyers on areas of law that he practices in. Steve has also volunteered his services to the foreclosure court help desk at the courthouse to assist individuals who are facing foreclosure. Due to Steve's success...

Over 30 years ago, Bill Wilson began his legal career along side his dad, James T. Wilson and practiced with him until his passing in 2008. Bill carries on the legacy of compassionate, expert legal counsel concentrating in the areas of Elder Law, Estate Planning, Business Succession, Medicaid Planning and Estate Planning for Families that have Children with Disabilities.

Bill feels a “profound obligation to provide counsel that ensures the safety of the hard earned assets of families.”

He extends that obligation outside of his practice too. Currently, he serves as President of Aging Care Connections Board, a not-for-profit agency in La...

Admitted to practice law in 1995, Juli A. Gumina graduated with a J.D. from Illinois Institute of Technology-Kent College of Law, where she was on the Dean's List and a member of the Bar & Gavel Society. Juli received her B.A. from Loyola University in Chicago, where she graduate cum laude and was a member of Alpha Sigma Nu, the national Jesuit honor society. Juli honed her litigation skills for several years as a public defender in DuPage County, prior to joining the firm to focus on family law. Juli is a trained and experienced mediator, and is frequently appointed...

Jennifer Bunker Skerston has worked in the Illinois Valley legal community for the past seven years handling many litigation related matters including will contests, property tax appeals, breach of contract, and personal injury claims.

Jennifer Bunker Skerston is actively involved in the Illinois State Bar Association Trusts and Estates Section Council. She is the Editor of the Council’s monthly publication distributed to members throughout Illinois. She also assists the Council in providing continuing legal education to attorneys, determining the need for new legislation, and reviewing and suggesting changes to current legislative proposals affecting wills, trusts and estates....

Karrsten Goettel concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial and residential real estate, real estate development, leasing, zoning and land use, business, merger and acquisition transactions (sales and purchases of assets and/or stock), corporate and business law and estate planning and administration. He has practiced among our firm's attorneys since 1997 and as a partner since 2002.

Mr. Goettel currently serves on the Board of Commissioners of the St. Charles Park District (where he is President), as a member of the St. Charles Housing Commission and as a Board Member of the Celtic Sports Foundation. From 2000 to 2002, he...

After attending the University of Illinois for Undergraduate school I attended Northern Illinois University School of Law. I was a Prosecutor for the McLean County State's Attorney's office for a year and a half, before leaving the office to practice with my father Jim Finegan. I will be working closely with my father on bankruptcy, real estate and other civil cases in the Bloomington, Illinois area.