Thomas W. Abendroth is the leader of Schiff Hardin’s Private Clients, Trusts and Estates Group. He concentrates his practice in the fields of estate planning, federal transfer taxation, and estate and trust administration.

His practice encompasses all phases of wealth preservation and transmittal, ranging from the preparation of wills and trusts to the implementation of multifaceted transactions that reorganize business holdings in order to minimize transfer taxes.

Mr. Abendroth also advises banks and trust companies on fiduciary law and charitable issues. He has extensive trust and estate litigation experience, representing both beneficiaries and fiduciaries.

Experience

After assuming representation of one of the executors of the estate of George S. Halas Sr. (founder of the Chicago Bears Football Club) in 1988, Mr. Abendroth successfully resolved several longstanding disputes with claimants and beneficiaries and closed the estate.

Mr. Abendroth worked with the owners of a privately held company to transfer stock out of their estates as it began to diversify its ownerships and then go public. Through the use of grantor retained income trusts and grantor retained annuity trusts, the owners were able to transfer over $200 million out of their estates.

Mr. Abendroth has taught classes in estate planning and generation skipping transfer tax at the American Bankers Association National Graduate Trust School since 1990.

Publications

"The Game Changer: Maximizing Use of $5M gift and GST Exemptions," (co-author) ABA Trust and Investments (January/February 2012)

"Drafting Considerations and Trustee Concerns Over Concentrated Stock Holdings," ABA Trust and Investments (September/October 2011)

"2010 Tax Act Impacts Estate Planning," (co-author) ABA Trust and Investments (March/April 2011)

"Estate Planning in 2009: A New Playing Field," (co-author) ABA Trust & Investments (January/February 2009)

"The Doctor Is In, School Is In Session," (co-author) ABA Trust & Investments (May/June 2008)

"Ticking Time Bombs in Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts," (co-author) ABA Trust & Investments (March/April 2008)

"Competency Issues With Elderly Clients," (co-author) ABA Trust & Investments (September/October 2007)

"Rethinking Marital Deduction Planning," ABA Trust & Investments (May/June 2007)

"Outright Does Not Always Mean Outright," (co-author) ACTEC Journal (Spring 2007)

Estate Planning Strategies After Estate Tax Reform: Insights and Analysis, (co-editor) CCH (2001)

Illinois Estate Planning, Will Drafting and Estate Administration Forms - Practice (two-volume treatise, supplemented annually), Lexis Law Publishing, 3d ed. (1999)

Estate and Personal Financial Planning, chapter on sophisticated tax planning techniques, Thomson/West (1988)

Speeches and Presentations

American Bankers Association's 2013 Trust and Estate Planning Telephone Briefing Series:

• Has the Sun Set Yet? Estate Planning in 2013 (Feb. 7, 2013)
• Planning for the Elderly and Incapacitated (March 7, 2013)
• Do Trusts Really Create Trust Fund Babies? The Challenges in Wealthy Beneficiaries Leading Fulfilling Lives (April 4, 2013)
• Developments and Trends in Fiduciary Litigation (May 2, 2013)
• State Trust Law and Its Influence on Estate Planning (June 6, 2013)
• ABCs of Estate Planning (Sept. 12, 2013)
• Defining the Benefits of Discount/Valuation Planning (Oct. 3, 2013)
• Ethical Issues for Trustees and Their Legal Counsel (Nov. 7, 2013)
• Recent Developments in Estate and Trust Administration (Dec. 12, 2013)

"Portability: The New Estate Planning Wonder Drug?," 46th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (January 10, 2012)

"Covering Your Assets: The Illusory Protection of LLCs and the Eroding Protection of Trusts," Louis Sussman Memorial Tax Seminar (November 10, 2011)

"The Tax Relief Act of 2010—The Less Than 1% Solution, and Other Recent Developments," Spring Tax Institute, Iowa City, Iowa (May 6, 2011)

"Concentrated Stock Positions," OCC Trust & Asset Management Conference (September 21, 2010)

"2010 and Beyond," Family Office Exchange (July 15, 2010)

"FLPs and LLCs: Is there Still a Pulse?" and "Concentrated Stock Positions and Other Investment Issues," Fiduciary Education Foundation, CTFA, Harrisburg, Penn. (May 26-27, 2010)

"The Fantastic Flexible Charitable Remainder Trust," Illinois CPA Society, Chicago, Ill. (May 19, 2010)

"Tales from the Crypt," ACTEC Annual Meeting, Bonita Springs, Fla. (March 11-12, 2010)

"FLPs and LLCs: Is there Still A Pulse?" Estate Planning Council of Louisville, Louisville, Ky. (February 24, 2010)

"Planning for the Closely Held Business - Exit Strategies During Life," Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (January 28, 2010)

"(Estate) Planning Ahead: Numbers to Consider for 2009 and Beyond," Chicago Botanic Garden (October 28, 2009)

Awards and Honors

APEX 2007 Award for Publication Excellence – for his Writing with ABA Trust & Investments

Best Lawyers in America, Chicago Litigation – Trusts & Estates Lawyer of the Year (2013)

Best Lawyers in America, Trusts and Estates; Litigation – Trusts & Estates; Tax Law

Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC)

Illinois Super Lawyers — Estate Planning & Probate

Leading Lawyer - Trust, Will and Estate Planning Law, Illinois Leading Lawyers Network

Leading Lawyer - Wealth Management, Chambers USA - America's Leading Lawyers for Business

AV Rated — Martindale-Hubbell

PLC Which Lawyer? - U.S.A. - Private Client Lawyer

Top 100 Attorneys - Worth Magazine (2007)