Mike concentrates his practice in estate and trust planning, including estate tax reduction; asset protection; wealth succession; probate and estate administration; business transactions and real estate; and technology licensing and contracting.

Mike is the updating author of Post Mortem Tax Planning, published by Warren, Gorham & Lamont; a co-author of Estate and Gift Planning for the Business Owner, published by RIA, the current author of Post-Mortem Estate Planning, also published by RIA, and has written several articles for Tax Management Estates, Gifts and Trusts Journal, Estate Planning magazine and The Journal of Taxation. Mike is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, DePaul University, and Chicago-Kent College of Law, and is a member of The Order of the Coif.

Education

• Chicago-Kent College of Law, J.D. with high honors (1998)
• DePaul University, M.B.A. (1994)
• University of Wisconsin at Madison, B.S. (1992)

Licensed to Practice

• Illinois

Recognition

• The Order of the Coif, Member

Publications

"A Matter of (Estimated) Life and Death — Calculating the Effect of the Overstatement of Mortality Under §7520 on Split-Interest Charitable Trusts" Bloomberg Tax (March 2022)

"California Estate Planning," CEB, 2021 principal update co-author of Chapter 25A (Intrafamily Loans and Sales) (June 2021)

“A Noteworthy Dichotomy: Valuation of Intrafamily Notes for Transfer Tax Purposes,” Bloomberg Tax (January 2020)

"Reliance on Expert's Erroneous Advice for Filing and Payment Dates," Estate Planning (April 2018)

"The Value of Worthlessness: Non-Business Bad Debt Deductions for Intra-Family Loans," Journal of Taxation (May 2017)

"Applying the OID Rules to an Intra-Family Promissory Note," Estate Planning (September 2016)

"Using Technology to Enhance a Trusts and Estates Practice," Estate Planning (November 2015)

"Unwrap Some 'Gift Loan' Complexities of Section 7872," Journal of Taxation (June 2015)

"Unwrap Some 'Gift Loan' Complexities of Section 7872," Estate Planning (May 2015)

"Qualified Disclaimer Can Cover Partial Interest in Trust," Estate Planning (April 2014)

"Post Mortem Tax Planning" (updating author), Warren Gorham & Lamont

"Estate and Gift Planning for the Business Owner" (co-author), RIA

"Post-Mortem Estate Planning" (current author), RIA

Recent Presentations

"Filing and Payment Deadlines for Federal Estate Tax Returns and the Reasonable Cause Exception Under Section 6651(a)," CBA's Probate Practice Committee (April 21, 2020)

“Can an AFR Loan be Treated as Not Issued for Full and Adequate Consideration if Later Valued in the Note Holder’s Gross Estate at a Discount?”,
ABA Tax Section 2020 Midyear Tax Meeting, Boca Raton, Florida (February 1, 2020)

"How § 7872 and the OID Timing Rules Impact Intra-Family Notes and Their Valuation for Transfer Tax Purposes,"
Notre Dame Tax & Estate Planning Institute, South Bend, Indiana (September 25, 2019)

"The Perils and Pitfalls of Promissory Notes" (§ 7872, the OID Rules and § 166(d)),
Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, Chicago, Illinois (May 7, 2019) and Champaign, Illinois (May 15, 2019)