Susan T. Bart

Partner

Susan helps clients transfer their wealth in meaningful, tax efficient ways.

Susan Bart Portrait

Susan’s practice focuses on estate and gift tax planning, trust and estate administration, charitable planning, and fiduciary counsel. Her clients include wealthy individuals and families, family business owners, corporate executives, banks and trust companies, trustees and executors and private foundations.

Susan is a fellow, former regent and former Illinois state chair of the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel (ACTEC), the leading national association for trust and estate lawyers. She was the Reporter of the Uniform Trust Decanting Act, which has been enacted in many states. She has also been active in Illinois trust law legislation, and co-chaired the drafting committee for the Illinois Trust Code and co-chaired the committee that drafted the Illinois Trust Code (enacted 2020).

Susan is listed in Band 1 by Chambers High Net Worth, Private Wealth Law. Susan has written extensively on trust and estate law topics with more than 30 published articles and several books. She has lectured to professional groups around the country, such as the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (University of Miami), ACTEC, the Notre Dame Trust & Estate Planning Institute, ALI-ABA, the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), and the American Bankers Association.

Susan has garnered many accolades for her work, including recognition as a 2017 National Law Journal Divorce, Trusts & Estates Trailblazer, a leading lawyer in Private Wealth by Chambers, and “best in wealth management” by Euromoney Legal Media Group in 2013. She also received the 2013 Austin Fleming Award from the Chicago Estate Planning Council for achievement in estate planning practices and the Addis Hull Award from the Illinois Institute for Legal Education.

Client Work

  • Developed and implemented wealth transfer plan from a $50 million trust likely to terminate in the next decade to dynasty trusts that can last indefinitely.
  • Restructured $200 million estate plan for clients with significant business that included transitioning assets to multigenerational group of owners with differing needs, liquidity for payment of estate taxes, and business succession planning.
  • Created innovative plan for list net worth estate, which included extensive modification of existing irrevocable trusts through decanting, restructuring of insurance program to provide liquidity for estate taxes, succession planning for company, and transition of control to next generation.

Previous Work

Susan started her private law career after clerking for the Hon. Richard D. Cudahy, United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Professional Activities

  • University of Michigan Law School, Lecturer (Winter 2009)
  • University of Michigan Law School, Visiting Professor (1996)
  • Various leadership positions including president at the Domestic Violence Legal Clinic, which provides legal services to victims of domestic abuse

Boards, Memberships & Certifications

  • American College of Trust & Estate Counsel (ACTEC), Fellow, and Former Regent Illinois State Chair, and Chair of Estate and Gift Tax Committee
  • Illinois State Bar Association, Trusts & Estates Section Council, Member
  • Chicago Bar Association, Trust Law Committee, Member and Past Chair; Probate Practice Committee, Member
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Publications, Presentations & Recognitions

Publications

  • “State-By-State Summaries of the Uniform Trust Decanting Act: Part 1 Uniform Trust Decanting Act States,” American Law Institute Continuing Legal Education’s Estate Planning Course Materials Journal (Jul. 2022)
  • “Who Are My Qualified Beneficiaries?” Illinois Bar Journal (May 2021)
  • Alberhasky v. Alberhasky: The Confounding Intersection of Trusts and 529 Accounts,” LISI Estate Planning Newsletter #2734 (Jul. 10, 2019)
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Presentations

  • “The Illinois Trust Code: Highlights for Fiduciaries,” Illinois Bankers Association, Webinar (Sep. 11, 2024)
  • “Illinois Trust Code Workshop,” Chicago Estate Planning Council, Webinar (Feb. 2, 2022)
  • “Trust Modifications,” ISBA Trusts & Estates Section, Webinar (Sep. 24, 2021)
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Recognitions

  • Chambers High Net Worth – Band 1 Private Wealth Law, Illinois (2017-2024); Private Wealth Law, Central Region, USA (2018-2023); Private Wealth Law, Central Region, USA and Nationwide (2016, 2024)
  • “Lawyer of the Year” – Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law, Chicago, The Best Lawyers in America (2021 and 2023)
  • Top 50 Women, Illinois Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters (2005-2009, 2013-2018, 2020-2023)
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Awards

Awards

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