How an Illinois estate planner can survive changing times

In Winning at Darwin’s Game, 97 Ill. B.J. 420 (2009), Katarinna McBride (Beerman Swerdlove, LLLP, Chicago, Illinois) explains how changes in federal law, plus the Illinois estate tax which is decoupled from the federal tax schedule and the new Illinois virtual representation statute “present survivor-style challenges and opportunities to estate planners.”

Here is the conclusion to her article:

Estate planning practitioners have developed new armor against economic hazards and shrinking sources of business. In addition to successfully focusing on local law, they have adapted and are focusing on marketing the other valuable aspects of estate planning, including asset management, disability planning, dispute avoidance for estates and trusts, discord avoidance in business arrangements, and alternate asset protection methodologies.

It seems that estate-planning practitioners have survived the most unfavorable variations to their environment. They are winning at Darwin’s game.