Union County Probate Lawyers

Ray recieved his J.D. at Northwestern University in 1974 and M.B.A. at Northwestern University in 1972 with a B.A. at California State, L.A. in 1968. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and Rock Island County Bar Association.

Former Public Administrator of Rock Island County

Former Public Guardian of Rock Island County

HUD Foreclosure Commissioner

Kerry Peck is the past president of the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) and founder of the Elder Law Committee of the CBA. He is also the managing partner of the Chicago law firm, Peck Ritchey, LLC, whose clients include families, hospitals, banks, the State of Illinois, County of Cook, and City of Chicago. He provides legal representation for trust and guardianship litigation, business planning, and estate planning.

Mr. Peck is well experienced in guiding his clients through the probate process, assisting in the transfer of assets and resolution of claims, and implementing estate plans. He is also very dedicated in...

Mary Ludwig received her J.D. and M.B.A., along with a Certificate in Food and Agricultural Law from Drake University in 2005. Prior to that she received a Bachelors of Science in Agriculture Economics from the University of Illinois. Mary concentrates her practice in agricultural law, estate planning, real estate transactions and probate. Her agricultural law experience includes organization and representation of production agricultural farm operations, agricultural cooperatives, grain elevators, agricultural input suppliers, ethanol and bio-diesel plants, and specialty farm product companies, wind tower and cell tower leases and easements, pipeline, gas, public utility and fiber optic easements,...

Mr. DeBlasio is the founder and managing member of DeBlasio & Gower LLC. Tony has over 22 years of experience as a trial lawyer and advisor. He has counseled individuals, business executives, for profit and not-for-profit companies and government bodies in complex litigation matters, internal investigations and dispute resolution strategies. Tony has been selected as an Illinois Super Lawyer in Business Litigation on many occasions. Only 5% of attorneys receive this distinction. Tony has represented clients from a multitude of industry sectors, including, health care, technology, communications, financial, education, real estate, manufacturing, construction, management...

Mark Varboncouer is the founder of Varboncouer Law. Mr. Varboncouer is an experienced trial attorney who previously spent 10-plus years with Kirkland & Ellis LLP (“one of the nation's largest and most prestigious law firms”/ “known for its world-class litigation practice”/ “one of the ‘Fearsome Foursome’ — the four firms most likely to strike fear in opposing counsel”); and 4-plus years with another highly-prestigious 1,000-plus attorney law firm, McGuireWoods LLP, where he litigated a variety of issues: contracts, non-competes, tortious interference, unfair competition, fraud, licenses and complex intellectual property issues (e.g., patents, trade secrets, trademarks, copyrights, false advertising etc.)....

Lisa A. Copland has significant experience in several areas of the law including domestic relations, civil litigation, probate, breach of contract and real estate law. She represents men and women in divorce cases, which includes division of property, allocation of parental responsibilities, child support and parenting time. Lisa routinely represents buyers and sellers in residential and commercial real estate transactions. Through the firm's full service approach, attorneys also assist clients in estate planning and civil litigation.

Jonathan Anderson is the owner and founder of Anderson Attorneys, PC. For more than 35 years, Jon Anderson owned Anderson & Associates, P.C. which grew to be a leading law firm with 12 attorneys in four offices who represented clients in divorce, family law, estate planning, probate, bankruptcy, and debtor/creditor relations and other matters. In June 2022, he sold Anderson & Associates, P.C. In 2023, he founded Anderson Attorneys, PC, a smaller, high-quality, specialized, boutique law firm that focuses on financially sophisticated divorce litigation and estate planning, and probate matters. For over 35 years, Jonathan Anderson...

Following in his father’s footsteps as a legal advocate, Springfield personal injury lawyer James Ackerman established his practice in 1989.

Our approach to the law and to meeting our clients' needs comes from Jim Ackerman's belief that clients are best served when they are fully informed and engaged in every aspect of their case. Jim is a former prosecutor who handles injury claims and who coaches other attorneys on the finer points of case preparation, taking a case to trial, and the art of handling juries. Jim brings years of legal and courtroom experience to bear on every case.

Jim Ackerman...

A native of Illinois, Mr. Sotelo is the proud son of a working class family. Mr. Sotelo graduated third in his law school class, summa cum laude, at Northern Illinois University College of Law. Practicing law since 2012, Stephen prides himself in providing legal services in the areas of real estate, probate, and civil matters. A s a former real estate agent, he provides a unique perspective to the legal side of real estate transactions.

Attorney Michelle Bugajsky focuses her practice on probate, estate planning, and family law. Whether assisting clients in planning for their futures or helping clients through problems in the here and now, Michelle provides caring and thoughtful legal services. Michelle takes great pride in combining her keen legal expertise of probate and estate planning law with a plan uniquely crafted for each specific client or family.

Michelle attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree, double majoring in Political Science and Criminal Justice. Thereafter, Michelle accepted an academic scholarship to attend the Illinois Institute of...

Aaron J. Lytle is one of the firm's suburban Chicago attorneys who practices in several key areas: estate planning and wealth protection, wills and trusts, probate administration, trust administration, business planning, taxation, real estate and special needs planning for children with disabilities. Mr. Lytle has spent several years working in the business sector on corporate issues relating to succession planning, valuation, acquisitions and generating capital. Before joining AHR, he worked for companies such as American Express and Bank One (now JP Morgan Chase).

Mr. Lytle also previously served on the Board of Trustees for DayOne Reliance, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that...

John L. GreenLeaf, Jr. has been in practice over 37 years representing consumers and businesses in Central Illinois. The firm concentrates in all forms of Bankruptcy, Business formation, and the preparation of Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning and administration of Probate Estates and Guardianships.

Brian J. Banahan has been practicing law in DuPage, Kane and Cook County Illinois for over 20 years. He began his legal career and learned his way around the courtroom in 1997 as a full time 711 prosecutor with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office. From there, Mr. Banahan moved to serve as chief legal counsel and Deputy Public Administrator for DuPage County for 17 years. In that job, Mr. Banahan managed, administered, litigated, settled, and closed hundreds of decedent’s estates and an extensive number of related legal matters in nearly every area of the law. In the process, he...

Bill was born and raised in Peoria, IL. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. degree in Government. He received his law degree (JD) at the University of Iowa graduating with honors. He has been practicing law in Central Illinois since his graduation and admission into the Illinois Bar. Legal ability and ethical standards ratings are published each year by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory.Bill has the highest possible rating of AV. The legal ability rating is "A" which means he is rated as very high to preeminent. The "V" rating means that he embraces faithful adherence...

Rick was affiliated with and became a partner in the law firm Chandler & Greenswag, P.C. from 1979-1993. Thereafter, he operated the Law Offices of Richard A. Greenswag, P.C. from 1993 until he then became a founding member of Kaplan & Greenswag LLC until March of 2011 when Greenswag & Associates, P.C. was formed.

Rick is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Rick is also a member of the Board of Directors and is President of PADS Crisis Services, Inc., a charitable organization serving the needs of the homeless in...

Ben Schneider is a client focused which means that it is important to him to cultivate a personal relationship with each of his clients. By doing this, he is able to give each new client’s case individual attention and analyze every legal issue thoroughly and completely.

Ben Schneider acts as the one of the principal bankruptcy attorneys for Schneider & Stone where he focuses on individual Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 filings as well as business Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 filings. Ben also practices in the areas of family law and litigation and is the point attorney for divorce and...

Jeffrey Li joined Kralovec, Jambois & Schwartz in 2017 as a law clerk and in 2018, following his admission to the Illinois Bar, became an associate attorney at the firm. Mr. Li focuses his practice in nursing home negligence, medical malpractice, motor vehicle accidents, personal injury, and probate matters. Mr. Li is also involved in the Opioid litigation, a mass tort case involving a pharmaceutical manufacturer’s deceptive marketing practice of a highly addictive prescription medication. Mr. Li received his J.D. from The John Marshall Law School (now known as UIC John Marshall Law School) in 2018. While attending law school, Mr....

Born and raised in Chicago, Mr. Thompson earned his B.A. from the University of Iowa in 1984. In 1987 he graduated with his J.D. at the Northern Illinois University in Chicago. He is fluent in Spanish.

Mr. Thompson has 18 years of experience litigating Personal Injury claims, Workers' Compensation, Criminal Law, Chapter 7 Bankruptcy & Traffic cases. He is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Admission to Federal Trial Bar, and is a board member in good standing with multiple charitable organizations.

Mr. Thompson has been married for thirteen years and...

Kiley M. Whitty is a licensed attorney specializing in the areas of family law, child custody, bankruptcy, and creditor negotiations in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Will and surrounding collar counties. While in law school at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Kiley earned a certificate in Child and Family Law as well as a certificate in Advocacy which aided in her success as a litigator. As an associate with Anderson & Associates, P.C., Kiley has handled complex custody cases involving issues with legal and residential custody, parenting time, allegations of abuse and neglect, and child removal. Kiley has also handled a...

Misty has worked hard to become an attorney, which was her dream. She earned her two undergraduate degrees while being on active duty in the United States Air Force. She graduated summa cum laude from North Carolina Wesleyan College with dual degrees. During her four years in the military, Misty was responsible for producing a weekly flying and aircraft maintenance schedule for a fleet of 24 F-15 fighter jets. Misty also provided support for Operation Noble Eagle in response to the 9/11 attacks.

At the core of Misty’s practice is her love of the law and her desire to help people....

I am an Aurora, Illinois probate and guardianship attorney. Currently, I serve five counties in the Chicagoland area: Kane, DuPage, Cook, Will, and Kendall. In my law practice, I help families settle probate estates of loved ones who have passed away, including estates with contested issues. I also assist clients with guardianship cases for mentally disabled adult loved ones, as well as settlements to Minor children’s estates. Since starting out as a probate attorney in 2006, I have handled literally hundreds of probate and guardianship cases across several counties of the greater Chicago area. Because of...

Since entering private practice, Attorney Smith has maintained a general practice with a concentration in family law. He has been a member of the American Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association and Winnebago County Bar Association for over forty years each. Attorney Smith is currently a member of the family law section of each of these associations. He is currently on an advisory panel for the American Bar Association. He has been a presenter to other attorneys locally on family law and child related topics.

For over forty years Attorney Michael J. Smith has provided experienced family law representation. Family law...

Marcia worked with the Federal Communications Commission as an attorney in the Mass Media Bureau and as Branch Manager in the Common Carrier Bureau from 1982 through 1987, and at MCI Telecommunications as a senior attorney from 1987 through 1994. Thereafter, she worked as a consultant until joining Kaplan & Greenswag LLC in January 2007.

Marcia is admitted to practice in Illinois and the District of Columbia and is a member of the Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association. Marcia also serves on the Northbrook Plan Commission.

Angela M. Iaria is a licensed attorney specializing in the areas of civil litigation, family law, child custody and support, and estate administration in DuPage, Kane, Will, Cook and surrounding collar counties. Ms. Iaria's practice involves uncontested and contested divorce, post-decree conflicts, including child support, child-related expenses and child custody issues, as well as pre and post-nuptial agreements and estate administration. Additionally, Ms. Iaria has conducted multiple bench and jury trials in state and federal court for cases involving breach of contract disputes, breach of fiduciary duties, premises liability and real estate disputes.

Angela Iaria has served on the board...

Since 1996, Illinois elder law attorney Carol A. Nolan, has been providing valuable legal advice for seniors and their families. As a skilled Wheaton estate attorney, Ms. Nolan is devoted to the rights and legal options of elderly and disabled people in DuPage County and Chicago's western suburbs. Her Lisle law office handles a wide range of financial, health care, and estate planning matters, including Medicaid applications and planning, disability planning, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), guardianships, wills, trusts, and probate administration.

Carol A. Nolan has been a frequent speaker on Elder Law, Medicaid issues, estate planning, probate and trust administration,...

Andrewe W. Johnson was born in 1970, in Canton, Illinois. Andrewe graduated from Lewistown Community High School in Lewistown, Illinois. He attended Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, from 1988 to 1990, before transferring to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Rhetoric. Andrewe attended law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, receiving his Juris Doctor degree with Honors in 1995. During law school, Andrewe served on the staff of the North Carolina Law Review and worked with the University of...

Along with his years of experience, Lake County divorce attorney Van A. Schwab has a solid educational basis for his divorce and family law practice. After receiving his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, he received his law degree from Southern Illinois University School of Law. Because of recent, up-to-date training, Mr. Schwab is a certified divorce mediator, and is prepared to handle family law issues through collaborative law methods. He has published an article on cohabitation in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. Licensed to practice family law in the states of Florida, Illinois, and New Jersey, he...

Carin Brio started her practice at one of the largest real estate law firms in the State of Massachusetts as one of a handful of associates who represented clients in over 200 real estate cases every month. Since then, she has added estate planning, probate, family law, and other areas of law to her practice and helped hundreds of clients with the legal matters that are important to them. Now based out of Knoxville, Tennessee, Carin and her staff work diligently on their cases - whether it is a contested divorce case, setting up a trust for your family, or...

I work with senior citizens, their families, and small business owners to get their affairs organized, safeguard their estates, and prepare succession plans. In matters of probate or trust administration, I work with personal representatives to properly manage the administration of the estate and advise them of their legal duties along the way. My experience in these practice areas has been exclusive since I have been private practice. In 2010, I expanded my practice territory to include Lake County, Indiana by obtaining an Indiana law license.

Denice A. Gierach is a business and estate planning lawyer with more than 30 years of experience representing business owners in the formation, franchising, and dissolution of businesses; contract negotiation and reviews; business litigation; partnership disputes, succession planning; commercial real estate; and aiding individuals in matters of advanced estate planning, and charitable giving. She also leads her firm’s YourOGC program providing Outsourced General Counsel services to small and medium size businesses to assist them in preventing legal issues, providing proper planning for reaching goals, and insight into issues preventing them from further success. As a Certified Public Accountant with a master's degree...

Owner and Principal Attorney at DLAW, PC As an attorney with more than 25 years of legal experience, Deanna Aguinaga Walker enjoys the flexibility that having her own law practice gives her. She is able to become personally involved with each of her clients, and she appreciates the opportunity to assist them on a wide range of legal matters. Deanna earned her Juris Doctorate degree from the Northern Illinois University School of Law in 1995. Since then, she has dedicated her career to meeting the needs of her clients. When you work with Deanna, you can expect her to provide legal advice...

Robert J. Boszko (“Bob”) is an experienced family law attorney and partner at Suburban Law Group, LLC. Bob concentrates in complex financial divorce and disputes concerning the allocation of parental responsibilities in Cook, DuPage, Kane, and surrounding collar counties. Bob is a zealous advocate and skilled negotiator, he knows when to aggressively litigate and how to reasonably settle contested matters. Bob utilizes compassion and his background in psychology to counsel his client’s through the tumultuous and emotional litigation process.

Within the field of family law, Bob has handled a variety of contested and uncontested cases including pre-decree and...

Michael A. Otte concentrates his practice on estate planning, trust administration, and contested and litigated estates and trusts. Additionally, Michael's particular area of focus is in elder law matters, including Medicaid planning, Medicaid appeals, guardianship, contested guardianships, nursing home contract review, general elder law matters requiring litigation or other court involvement, and other issues affecting the legal needs of older people. Michael has given dozens of both public and private seminars on his areas of experience in order to educate the public and fellow attorneys on important estate planning and elder law concepts. Michael is a member of the Chicago...

At O’Flaherty Law, we are your community law firm. We are committed to providing personalized, efficient, and quality legal service. We pride ourselves on our “above-and-beyond” approach to client care, affordable fees, and communication. Please call us today at (630)324-6666 to schedule a free in-person or phone consultation. We are located in Downers Grove, Illinois. Our attorneys are happy to meet with you at our office or any other location convenient to you in order to work to accomplish your legal goals. Our team has experience in many areas of law including but not limited to divorce and family...

Attorney Robert (Bob) Canfield was born and raised in Rockford, IL. He graduated from Guilford High School in 1965. After joining the Army in February of 1968, he went on to Army flight school and graduated 2nd in his flight class. He spent a year in Vietnam flying CH-47 Chinook helicopters for the 101st Airborne Division and then returned to Fort Rucker, Alabama, as an Instrument Flight Instructor.

Following active Duty, he attended the University of Minnesota where he received his BA in psychology in 1976 and his Law degree in 1978. After taking and passing both the...

Mr. White has practiced law for thirty years. He graduated from Indiana University in 1986 and received his law degree from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago in 1989. He was admitted to the Illinois Bar, and admitted to practice in the Federal Court in the Northern District of Illinois, in 1989. While attending law school, he was a law clerk with the law firm of Carey, Filter, White & Boland. He became an associate of that firm upon graduating, and in 1996 became a partner.

Mr. White served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Summit Homes beginning...

Jennifer Bunker Skerston has worked in the Illinois Valley legal community for the past seven years handling many litigation related matters including will contests, property tax appeals, breach of contract, and personal injury claims.

Jennifer Bunker Skerston is actively involved in the Illinois State Bar Association Trusts and Estates Section Council. She is the Editor of the Council’s monthly publication distributed to members throughout Illinois. She also assists the Council in providing continuing legal education to attorneys, determining the need for new legislation, and reviewing and suggesting changes to current legislative proposals affecting wills, trusts and estates....

For over 26 years, Margaret Szymansky has provided experienced representation to clients through Probate and Trust Administration proceedings. She assists clients in effective resolution of existing claims and transfer of assets. Margaret guides executors, trustees and personal representatives of the estate and assists them in the successful closure of the estate. She further concentrates her practice in the area of Estate Planning such as: Wills and Trusts including Special Needs Planning for disabled individuals and guardianship proceedings, Elder Law with a focus on Medicaid issues, and Real Estate law. For her dedication, leadership, and excellence in legal service, she has...

I founded Corporate & Estate Legal Services, Ltd. to focus on business contracts, commercial litigation, estate planning and probate cases. I have decades of experience handling civil litigation and commercial contracts. I represent both plaintiffs and defendants. I have a broad spectrum approach to B2B litigation. I can negotiate deals, document agreements, litigate, pursue post judgment collection, and prosecute or defend judgments on appeal. I was a scholastic debater in high school and college. I am very comfortable with contract litigation, declaratory judgments, decedent's estates, and business torts. My experience affords me the luxury of handling all phases...