Andrew R. Gelman

Andy Gelman counsels individuals, executives, business owners and fiduciaries on estate planning, estate and trust administration and contested estate and trust matters, helping families protect assets, manage transfer taxes and plan for vulnerable loved ones. Based in Chicago, he is a past chair of Holland & Knight's Illinois Private Wealth Services Practice Group and a certified mediator for the Court-Annexed Mediation Program of the Probate Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Andy designs estate plans using various types of trusts. His advice often addresses federal and state estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxation, asset planning, and property transfers and rearrangements. He also uses trusts to safeguard disabled family members and has lectured on supplemental needs trusts for children with learning disabilities or mental impairments. He also handles probate proceedings involving disabled adults, including adjudications of incompetency, termination of such adjudications and estate planning for wards. Andy served as the court-appointed guardian ad litem in the Greenspan case, the first case in Illinois in which a court allowed the withdrawal of life support from a terminally ill individual.

When disputes arise, he represents corporate and individual fiduciaries and beneficiaries of estates and trusts in contested matters. Andy handles all aspects of decedents' and minors' estates and trusts in probate and chancery, including will contests, trust constructions, claims, awards, statutory rights and the rights of beneficiaries.

He also guides fiduciaries on federal and state estate tax, federal and state fiduciary income tax and post-mortem tax planning in the administration of estates and trusts, helping them fulfill their duties while managing tax exposure.

Andy advises on premarital matters and real estate transactions. This breadth allows him to address the legal needs of families across generations and life events. Andy has been recognized by Best Lawyers since 2007.