Nancy Franks-Straus

The more nuanced information and insight a lawyer has, the more effective the solutions they can bring to their clients’ challenges. Nancy’s unique strength is that over her 30-year career, she has learned to go beyond the “important and obvious” information to elicit the subtleties her clients aren’t telling her. These tiny details can be critical to a successful long-term result.

Nancy’s combination of personal savvy and technical skills enables her to develop sophisticated tax-planning strategies and resolve tough tax disputes. As both a Certified Public Accountant and a lawyer with an advanced LL.M. (“Masters of Laws”) in taxation, she brings a cross-disciplinary perspective and a wide array of solutions to estate planning and administration scenarios.

In her tax practice, Nancy’s CPA experience and deep technical knowledge of federal, state, and local tax laws empower her to aggressively and effectively defend those faced with audits or other tax disputes. She regularly counsels clients on tax relief, tax planning, back-tax issues, and disputes.

Nancy employs an especially personal approach in her estate planning practice. She takes pride in getting to know her clients, their families, their estate planning goals, and their desired legacy. In fact, Nancy now advises the children of her long-standing clients. She often works with high-net-worth individuals, generations of families, owners of family and closely-held businesses, corporate fiduciaries, and charitable organizations. Nancy assists clients with all aspects of estate planning and family wealth transfers, including structuring lifetime gifts, business succession plans, and sensitive prenuptial agreements. She also represents corporate and individual fiduciaries in probate and trust administration matters, gift and estate tax filings and audits, and disputed probate and trust matters.

Services

• Estate Planning
• Tax Law
• Wealth Transfer & Succession Planning
• Probate & Trust Administration
• Probate, Trust & Guardianship Litigation

1. Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, LL.M., Taxation
   • summa cum laude
2. Notre Dame Law School, J.D.
3. Ohio Northern University, B.A., Accounting
   • summa cum laude

Bar Admissions

1. Illinois

• Leading Lawyer, Leading Lawyers (2017-present)
  • Top Lawyer-Tax: Business (2021)
  • Top Lawyer-Tax: Individual & Trust/Will/Estate (2021) 
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
• Certifed Financial Planner (CFP)

Professional Affiliations

• Illinois State Bar Association, Chair of the Federal Taxation Council
• Chicago Estate Planning Council
• Bohemian Lawyers' Association
• Exclusive Professional Women's Networking Group (EPWNG)
• American Mensa, Ltd.