Winnetka, Illinois · Estate Planning
Winnetka Estate Planning Attorney — From $500
Lysinski & Associates P.C. plans for wealth that is meant to last in Winnetka, and Adam Lysinski writes plans that read like family-governance documents: who controls the business, what happens to the residence, and how children and grandchildren are protected. Plans start at $500.
Winnetka families often hold wealth built across generations — substantial homes, investment portfolios, and family businesses or practices — that they intend to preserve for children and grandchildren. The planning here reaches past a single generation, which brings in tools and governance an ordinary will does not contain.
What a Winnetka generational plan covers
- Skipping a generation by design. Generation-skipping transfer (GST) trusts can pass assets toward grandchildren without a second layer of estate tax at the children's level, which may reduce overall exposure depending on the assets.
- Both exemptions. Marital and credit-shelter structure and careful titling preserve both spouses' Illinois exemptions against the no-portability rule.
- Family business. Succession terms for control and ownership are integrated with the estate plan so the business passes without a forced sale.
- Family governance. The plan can set trustee discretion, rules for a shared residence or lakefront property, and a framework for how the next generations are provided for.
Why Winnetka families plan with Adam
You get an attorney who plans for grandchildren as deliberately as for children and ties the business and the estate together. Adam can meet you in Winnetka, by phone, or by email at info@lysinski.com.
Winnetka Estate Planning Questions.
We want to provide for our grandchildren directly. How?
A generation-skipping transfer trust can pass assets toward grandchildren while limiting tax at the children's level, and Adam builds it into the broader plan.
Our family business should stay in the family. Can the plan ensure that?
Yes — succession terms for control and ownership are written into the plan so the business transfers cleanly rather than being sold.
Can the plan set rules for a shared family home?
It can — trustee discretion and use rules for a residence or vacation property can be built in, reducing future disputes.
We pay significant Illinois estate tax on our Winnetka estate. Is there a way to cut it for a married couple?
Illinois has no spousal portability, so leaving everything to the survivor wastes the first spouse's exemption. A credit-shelter, or bypass, trust directs an amount equal to that exemption into trust for the surviving spouse; when the survivor dies, those assets pass estate-tax-free and the survivor's own exemption shelters more, roughly doubling what passes tax-free. Adam drafts and helps fund it.
One of our children runs the Winnetka family business and the others don't. How do we be fair?
Adam separates control from value: trust provisions, buy-sell terms, voting rights, a valuation method, and equalizing gifts, sometimes funded with life insurance, let the active child run the business while the others are treated fairly, so the plan doesn't create a fight over both money and management.
Estate plan pricing
Estate plans from $500. Filing and recording costs and unusually complex matters are separate from the plan fee.
Call (773) 777-9888 to plan Winnetka wealth across generations and protect the family business.
Estate planning in nearby communities: Bannockburn, Highwood, Harwood Heights, Long Grove, Lincolnshire, Glencoe, Riverwoods, Norridge, Vernon Hills, Highland Park, Deerfield, Lake Zurich, Wilmette, Niles.