Estate Planning · DuPage County, Illinois
Wills, trusts, and the planning that keeps your family in control and out of court, from the same DuPage County firm since 1990.
This is a specialized area of estate planning. Most family-owned businesses don’t survive the second generation — and almost none survive the third. With proper succession planning, ownership transitions don’t have to mean lost value, family conflict, or unnecessary taxes.
At Chris J. Aiello, P.C., we’ve handled these matters for DuPage County clients for over three decades. We translate the complexity into plain language, recommend strategies that actually fit your situation, and integrate this planning with the rest of your estate documents.
Every situation is different. We design the right combination for yours.
Trust-based succession (GRATs, family limited partnerships)
We know the Illinois rules in this niche — not just generic estate planning principles.
Specialized strategies must coordinate with your wills, trusts, and POAs. We design them together.
We model the actual tax and benefit impact of strategies before you commit.
Tax law and rules change. We update strategies as needed over time.
Specialized work but predictable pricing — quoted at consultation, not hourly billed.
Chris or John handles this work personally. No handoffs to paralegals.
From our Villa Park office, we represent clients across DuPage County and the western suburbs of Chicago.
5-10 years before you intend to step back is ideal. Earlier is even better. Last-minute succession often forces fire-sale valuations and family conflict.
Multiple methods exist — capitalized earnings, EBITDA multiples, comparable sales, asset-based. Most succession plans require a qualified appraiser. We coordinate with valuation experts.
Common. The plan changes accordingly: sale to key employees (ESOP, management buyout), sale to outside buyer, or hybrid (some children stay, some get cash). All have different tax and structural implications.
It binds owners (or their estates) to sell their interests at predetermined terms when triggering events occur — death, disability, retirement, or dispute. Usually funded with life insurance. Prevents forced partnerships between original owners’ families.
Annual exclusion gifts ($18,000 per recipient in 2024) accumulate over years. Larger transfers may use lifetime exemption or specific gifting trusts. We design the strategy around your timeline and tax situation.
A free consultation tells you whether this strategy fits your situation — and what the realistic impact would be.