Steve is the managing partner of Williams & Baerson, LLC, practicing in the areas of estate planning and tax matters, as well as trust and estate administration. Drawing from his many years of experience, Steve adeptly collaborates with clients on developing appropriate business succession and estate plans, including all forms of marital deduction and generation-skipping tax planning. In addition, he drafts and implements wills, revocable trusts, durable powers of attorney, irrevocable trusts (including insurance trusts, generation-skipping trusts, trusts for minors, grantor retained annuity trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, family limited partnerships and charitable remainder trusts) and related documents. He also regularly confers with clients concerning estate planning aspects of family and closely-held businesses, including reorganization and recapitalization of such businesses, and preparation of employment and shareholder agreements. Steve has worked with many clients throughout his career, but has developed a successful niche in counseling McDonald’s Restaurant owner/operators in matters pertaining to the purchase and sale of McDonald’s Restaurants and next generation planning.
Steve’s tax practice includes providing tax planning recommendations for individuals and fiduciaries concerning income, estate, gift and generation-skipping taxes; representing individuals and fiduciaries in income, gift and estate tax disputes before the Internal Revenue Service; and preparation of federal and state income, gift and estate tax returns. Steve's mastery of the tax consequences of business formation, including the entity selection process, has made him a valuable resource for individuals forming their closely-held business. In advising clients on choice of entity, Steve pays particular attention to the potential income, gift, estate, generation-skipping and self-employment tax consequences of such transaction. He ensures that the formation of the entity complies with the required local statutes and ensures that the ownership of the entity is titled properly from an estate planning and tax perspective. Steve also has assisted a number of charitable organizations (including private foundations and public charities) in their formation under state law and in securing tax exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service.
Steve is a frequent speaker to McDonald’s owner/operators and has lectured for the Chicago Bar Association. Steve is a Fire and Police Commissioner in Northbrook, Illinois and is a Trustee of Schools for Northfield Township, Illinois.
Steve is a graduate of the Cornell Law School. He is also a Certified Public Accountant with a bachelor's degree in accounting from Indiana University