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Ted A. Koester is a Lawrence Kamin partner focused on estate and asset preservation. His practice primarily consists of helping clients devise strategic plans to protect their wealth and assets from potential creditors, provide for the clients and their loved ones, plan for the future of their businesses, and avoid unnecessary taxes, administration and legal fees.
Ted takes a pragmatic and preventative approach to developing comprehensive and cost-efficient solutions for clients. Ted offers personalized recommendations for a wide range of estate preservation strategies and risk management solutions: life insurance planning, income, estate and gift tax planning, generation skipping tax planning, charitable planning, business creation and succession planning, asset and creditor protection, foundation establishment and family dynamics. Ted is experienced in drafting complex trust arrangements such as grantor retained annuity trusts, life insurance trusts, perpetual dynasty trusts, charitable trusts, IRA conduit trusts, special/supplemental needs trusts, as well as living trusts, wills, living wills and powers of attorney. Ted also prepares buy/sell agreements and related documents for business owners, and foundations for the charitably inclined. Ted also collaborates with financial advisors, brokers, accountants, insurance agents and other professionals when necessary to meet client needs.
Ted is relentless when it comes to finding ways to make the current tax laws and estate planning techniques work advantageously for his clients. For instance, he leveraged approximately $600,000 of a terminally ill client's tax exemptions to create a $3 million savings fund for the client's family tax free. As a result, the client's hard earned assets were protected and hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes were avoided.
Another service Ted provides to clients is legal representation in estate and trust administration. Ted often represents fiduciaries and beneficiaries through probate and non-probate proceedings to help settle estates efficiently.
Clients often compliment Ted for his honesty, compassion and ability to explain complex matters in simple terms. He is revered for serving as a calming force for clients caught in an emotional storm, navigating complex issues during times of grief and distress, such as when a loved one becomes disabled or passes away.
Judges have commented on Ted's thoroughness, high level of integrity and steadfast commitment to his clients and the law. When necessary, Ted has used an investigative approach to uncover unlawful practices and highlight the mistakes of the opposition to secure a "win" for his clients. In one case, Ted helped an elderly client recover 90% of an estate that had been usurped by a trusted family member. In another, he successfully thwarted an estate trustee from skimming $100,000 from a widow's trust.
Ted regularly attends industry conferences, reads legal journals and examines new tax laws to stay current in his practice areas. As one of eight children, Ted grew up in a working class family in rural Illinois and began cultivating his advocacy skills and entrepreneurial spirit early in adulthood when he helped an older sibling establish and manage a carpentry business.
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Contract & Transactions
Estate Planning
Mergers & Acquisitions
Real Estate
Succession Planning
Tax Planning
Bischoff Partners, LLC:
Senior Estate Planning Attorney, 2003-2010
Law Offices of Marc J. Lane:
Estate Planning Attorney, 2001-2003
Ayco Company L.P.:
Wealth Preservation Attorney, 1998-2001
Seton Hall University, School of Law, J.D., 1998
Eastern Illinois University,
B.S., Financial Management, 1994
State of Illinois
American Bar Association
Illinois Bar Association
Trust & Estates Section
Chicago Bar Association
Trust Law Committee Member
Probate Committee Member
Speaker
Chicago Estate Planning Council
Trust Law Committee Member
Probate Committee Member
Speaker
Seton Hall Alumni Association
Chicago Chapter Board Member
National Business Institute
Speaker
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