Overview
Jeanette Suarez Hunter advises high-net-worth individuals, families, business owners and family offices on a wide range of tax, wealth-transfer, succession planning and charitable-giving matters. Jeanette takes a holistic approach to helping her clients implement and manage comprehensive estate plans and business succession plans that meet their immediate and long-term goals.
Jeanette has extensive experience working with individual and corporate fiduciaries and trust beneficiaries in complex post-death estate and trust administration matters. She also counsels her clients on the formation and ongoing administration of private foundations, including governance issues, best practices and federal and state compliance matters.
Jeanette assists a number of families on ownership issues involving their privately owned business, including governance issues, succession planning, privacy protection and shareholder agreements. She also regularly counsels younger generation family members on learning to be responsible stewards of wealth.
Jeanette speaks to local and national audiences on estate planning topics. Most recently, she spoke at the Heckerling 2020 Annual Estate Planning Seminar (on planning for the GST tax on nonexempt trusts) and presented at the ALI-CLE Estate Planning in Depth 2019 Course (on impact investing).
Results
- Represented a multi-generational family in the implementation of an integrated plan to transfer closely held business from terminating trusts in a tax-efficient transfer of wealth to irrevocable perpetual trusts
- Routinely works with family offices on a variety of ongoing and complex matters involving estate planning, philanthropy, wealth transfer transactions and investment structures
- Prepared straightforward and complex estate plans for individuals with net worth ranging from twenty million to multiple billion dollars
- Represented families in the creation and implementation of a private trust company and transition of family trusts to the new private trust company
- Managed complex estate administrations with unique assets, including management of Internal Revenue Service estate tax audits
- Developed long-term ownership strategies and governance agreements for a multi-generational family that owns a significant privately held operating business
- Served on McDermott team that orchestrated a complex transaction to accomplish a client’s objectives of restructuring the family office using profits interests while also obtaining significant income tax savings
Recognitions
- The Best Lawyers in America, Trusts and Estates, 2018 – 2023
- Selected by Law Bulletin Publishing Company’s Leading Lawyers Division for 2015, 2016 and 2017 Lists of Emerging Lawyers Under Age 40 in the area of Trust, Will & Estate Planning Law
Community
- Chicago Estate Planning Council, Member
- Chicago Bar Association
- American Bar Association
Credentials
Education
Northwestern University School of Law, JD, cum laude, 2004
University of Georgia, BBA, magna cum laude and with honors, 2001
Admissions
Illinois
Languages
English
Spanish
