Maureen C. Strauts received her undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1973 and her law degree, with honors and the Order of Coif, from Northwestern University in 1976 where she served on the Law Review.  She is a member of the Illinois Bar Association and the DuPage County Estate Planning Council.  Ms. Strauts was named an Illinois Super Lawyer in 2005 and 2006.  She joined Martin, Craig, Chester & Sonnenschein in 2007 as a partner.

 

Ms. Strauts concentrates her practice in estate planning, trust and estate administration, business succession planning, disability and special needs planning and guardianships.   She regularly advises individuals, business owners and executives on ways to transfer their wealth to the next generation or to charity while minimizing taxes, avoiding probate and protecting their assets from creditors. This often involves the use of wills, living trusts, powers of attorney and irrevocable insurance trusts.  To achieve greater tax savings or for business succession planning, she frequently uses sophisticated techniques such as dynasty trusts, family limited partnerships, qualified personal residence trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, sales to defective grantor trusts and charitable trusts.

 

Ms. Strauts also represents probate estates and trusts, including the preparation of the federal estate tax return and the use of qualified disclaimers to achieve post-death tax savings. She has substantial experience in advising families about the problems facing the elderly and the disabled, including the preparation of special needs trusts and irrevocable income only trusts and the appointment of a court approved guardian.

 

Ms. Strauts also has expertise in land use law, zoning and commercial real estate.  She has represented clients on issues related to annexation, special uses, easement agreements and commercial real estate sales, including 1031 exchanges. This depth of experience in real estate matters allows Ms. Strauts to structure real estate family limited partnerships or limited liability companies that meet both estate planning and business goals. She also has experience in municipal law and represents a local fire protection district. 

 

Ms. Strauts is active in community affairs.  She currently serves on the advisory board of the Center of Concern, an agency that assists the elderly.  She served as an Alderman on the City Council of Park Ridge from 1993 to 2002 and during her term as the Chairperson of the Procedures and Regulations Committee and as liaison to the Planning and Zoning Commission.  She also served on the Board of Directors of the Economic Development Corporation of Park Ridge from 2002 to 2005.  Born in 1950, she currently resides in Park Ridge with her husband and two children.