Planning For a $15 Million+ Estate in Illinois.
At $15 million, estate planning is no longer simply about having a Will or trust. The conversation becomes:
How do we preserve, protect and eventually transfer significant family wealth?
For an Illinois family, that requires looking at both Illinois and federal law.
Meet Robert and Anne
Robert and Anne are in their early 70s. Over the past 35 years, Robert built a successful business.
Today they have:
A business interest valued at approximately $8 million
$3 million in investment and retirement accounts
A $1.5 million primary residence
A $1 million Florida vacation home
A $750,000 Michigan Lake home
Approximately $1.5 million in other investments, cash and assets
Their approximate net worth is over $15 million.
They have three adult children. Their existing estate plan? Two simple Wills they signed 14 years ago. Robert’s response when the subject comes up is:
“Everything goes to Anne. Then it goes to the kids. What’s the problem?”
At $15 million, there can be several.
Illinois Estate Tax Is Already Part of the Conversation
Illinois currently has a $4 million estate tax exclusion. So a $15 million Illinois estate is well beyond the Illinois threshold. That alone makes tax planning important.
But at this level, federal transfer taxes also deserve attention. For 2026, the federal basic exclusion amount is $15 million per individual. For married couples, federal portability may allow a surviving spouse to use a deceased spouse’s unused federal exclusion if the required election is properly made. Illinois works differently. That’s why planning cannot simply look at one $15 million number and assume the family is safe because the federal exclusion is also $15 million.
The Business May Be the Biggest Issue
Robert doesn’t have $15 million sitting in a checking account. More than half of the family’s wealth is tied to his company. That raises an entirely different set of questions.
What is the business actually worth? Who will own it when Robert dies? Does anyone in the family want to run it? If one child works in the company and two don’t, should all three inherit equal ownership? Is there a buy-sell agreement?
Where would liquidity come from if taxes or other obligations became due? A sophisticated estate plan needs to coordinate the estate plan with the business succession plan—not treat them as separate worlds.
At This Level, Lifetime Planning Matters
For higher-net-worth families, planning shouldn’t necessarily begin and end with documents that take effect at death.
Depending on the family’s goals, the conversation may include lifetime gifting to reduce the size of the estate, irrevocable trusts, life insurance planning, charitable strategies, business succession planning and generation-skipping planning. For 2026, the federal annual gift-tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient, while the federal lifetime basic exclusion is $15 million per individual.
But good planning isn’t simply about giving assets away to avoid taxes. Every strategy has tradeoffs. Control matters. Cash flow matters. Income tax basis matters. Asset protection matters. And the family’s actual goals matter. Everything needs to work together.
The Plan Should Account for the Next Generation
At $15 million, another question becomes increasingly important:
What happens after the children inherit?
Leaving several million dollars outright to an adult child may expose that inheritance to risks the parents never intended.
Depending on the family’s circumstances and objectives, continuing trusts can potentially provide greater control and protection while still allowing children meaningful access to inherited wealth. Planning can also address what happens if a child dies, divorces, develops creditor problems or simply isn’t prepared to manage a significant inheritance.
Planning to avoid disagreements and create a legacy can be done for the family lake house, vacation home and business interest. The objective isn’t necessarily to control children from the grave. It’s to decide whether assets accumulated over decades should receive thoughtful protection before they’re transferred to the next generation.
A $15 Million Estate Needs a Team
At this level, estate planning shouldn’t happen in a silo.
The estate planning attorney may need to coordinate with the family’s CPA, financial advisor, insurance professional, business attorney and valuation professionals.
Why? Because changing one part of the plan can affect another. A business transfer can have income, gift and estate tax consequences. An irrevocable trust can affect control and access. A beneficiary designation can override what someone thought their estate plan accomplished.
The pieces need to work together.
The $15 Million Planning Question
At $1 million, the question may be:
“Will my family be protected and can they stay out of expensive, public probate court?”
At $5 million:
“All of the above plus, are we planning around Illinois estate tax?”
At $15 million:
“All of the above plus, how do we transfer what we’ve built as best, efficiently, privately and intentionally as possible?”
That’s the point where estate planning becomes broader wealth and legacy planning. And the earlier that conversation begins, the more options a family generally has. To schedule a private consultation to discuss your estate planning click here: https://markettilawfirm.cliogrow.com/book/251f4271d78bb0d2a5995810a5877e0f
This article is for general educational purposes and is not legal or tax advice. Higher-net-worth estate planning involves complex legal and tax considerations and should be coordinated with appropriate legal, tax and financial professionals.