Mary Kruit McWilliams

Mary Kruit McWilliams is a partner at Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella, P.C. Mary is the Chair of the Wealth and Succession Planning Group at Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella, and is also a member of the firm’s Not-for-Profit and Planned Giving Group, and Religious Organizations Group. Mary also specializes in the unique needs of elder orphans and solo agers. Mary joined the firm in 2009 after fourteen years of practice at two international law firms headquartered in Chicago.

Mary specializes in family wealth preservation and philanthropy and is a trusted advisor and confidant for high-net-worth individuals, multigenerational families, corporate executives, and entrepreneurs. Mary also represents several charitable organizations, including large private foundations, donor advised funds, and public, operating charities.

Mary brings a unique blend of compassionate care, technical knowledge, and strategic advice to the estate planning process.  Mary helps families understand, in plain English, their options for preserving wealth in a way that accomplishes their goals and honors their underlying values.  Legacy planning involves more than updating wills and minimizing taxes. A meaningful estate plan comes from personal values and integrating life experiences and family dynamics within that plan.  Mary encourages and advises her clients to collaborate with family at appropriate life states to ensure that their wealth will have a positive impact during their lifetime and for many generations to come.  The result for the client is peace of mind knowing that there is a thoughtful plan in place for the future, emanating from personal values.

Generosity is one of Mary’s core values, and her clients reflect this in their generosity toward their families and the causes they care about.  This shared value is why, in addition to helping clients transfer their wealth to their families, Mary also focuses her law practice on helping clients in their philanthropic endeavors, from making simple outright gifts of appreciated stock to forming charitable trusts or establishing and running their own philanthropic entities.  Mary helps individuals and families structure their charitable giving to achieve both personal goals as well as beneficial tax treatment.  

• Selected as an Illinois Leading Lawyer - Leading Lawyers Network^® within the designated categories of "Association & Non-Profit Law" and "Trust, Will & Estate Planning Law"
  

• Strategic Partner, Chicago Family Business Council at DePaul University
• Secretary, Corporate Leadership Center, of Chicago, Illinois (collaborative business-academic forum)
• Member, Chicago Estate Planning Council
• Member, Christian Legal Society
• Certified Kingdom Advisor
• Past director and corporate secretary, Chicago Hope Inc., of Chicago, Illinois (food pantry and poverty assistance in Logan Square)
• Past director and officer of National Christian Foundation Greater Chicago (donor advised fund charity)
• Past women’s coordinator, Pinnacle Forum’s Emerging Leaders Initiative (mentorship program for next generation of leaders)
• Recipient, Commission on Chicago Landmarks Award for Preservation Excellence, 2006 (restoration of exterior façade of Queen Anne Victorian cottage in Chicago’s Oakland neighborhood)