About Tye J. Klooster

Tye Klooster counsels high-net-worth families on how best to preserve their legacies and transfer wealth to future generations. A fellow of the American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel, Tye serves clients who rely on him to design and implement sophisticated and personalized estate plans.

Estate planning and tax advice clients trust

Tye designs estate plans which allow high-net-worth individuals to leverage use of their gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer tax (GST) exemptions and to pass wealth to the next generation in a way that is both tax-efficient and creditor-protected. He implements sales to grantor trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), charitable lead and remainder trusts and business entities designed to achieve his clients' nontax and potentially tax objectives.

Tye advises principals in private equity, venture capital and hedge funds regarding strategies for transferring their fund interests to minimize the impact of estate, gift and GST taxes. He advises business owners on business succession planning and leverages an array of asset protection techniques. Tye counsels farmers, business owners and art collectors on strategies for handling illiquid assets, including the use of Graegin loans and qualifying for the benefits of Code Sections 2032A and 6166. He also represents fiduciaries in the administration of estates and trusts, the formation and operation of private foundations and sophisticated charitable giving techniques.

Tye is actively involved with the American Bar Association's Business Planning Group. He also is actively involved with the Chicago Bar Association, currently serving on the Trust Law Section's Executive Committee and as a member of the Illinois Uniform Trust Code Task Force. Tye is an adjunct professor at The John Marshall Law School, teaching a class titled "Wealth Transfer Taxation II."

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Practice Focus

  • Estate planning and wealth transfer
  • Estate and generation-skipping tax exemptions
  • Trust design and implementation

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Presentations and Events

Practices
Industries
Education
  • New York University School of Law, LLM
  • Drake University, School of Law, JD, with highest honors
  • The University of Iowa, BBA, with honors
Bar Admissions
  • Illinois
  • Florida
Community Involvements
  • American Bar Association, Vice-Chair Business Investment Entities, Partnerships, LLCs and Corporations Committee of the Trust and Estates Section's Business Planning Group; former Fellow of the Real Property, Trust and Estate Section; Member, Income and Transfer Tax Group
  • American Cancer Society, Chicago Division Planned Giving Committee
  • Florida Bar Association
  • Illinois State Bar Association
  • The Chicago Bar Association, Executive Committee, Trust Law Section; member, Illinois Uniform Trust Code Task Force; past Co-Chair, Young Lawyers Section, Estate Planning Committee
Recognitions
  • American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
    Fellow
  • Best Lawyers in America
    Trust and Estates, 2017–2020
  • Leading Lawyers Network
    Emerging Lawyer, 2015
  • Super Lawyers
    Illinois, 2018–2020
  • Super Lawyers Rising Stars
    Illinois, 2012–2013