Stephanie J Derks
Senior Counsel
Stephanie Derks concentrates her practice on estate planning for high-net-worth families and family offices, estate and business succession planning for closely-held business owners, trust and estate administration, tax compliance, and other wealth planning matters. Stephanie understands the unique dynamics involved when working with families and family-owned companies. She strives to provide creative and comprehensive solutions to achieve clients’ estate, business, and tax planning goals. She is a member of the firm’s Estates and Trusts Practice.
Representative Experience
- Achieved client’s goal of generational family ownership of closely held business through utilizing creative trust ownership structure.
- Applied advanced estate and tax planning techniques to allow for the gradual transition of a closely-held business to the next generation, while ensuring the current generation’s financial security and the company’s long-term sustainability.
- Implemented estate planning methods, such as irrevocable trusts, GRATs, SLATs, and installment sales, to transfer wealth to different family members while minimizing tax implications.
- Played an integral role in creating a family office and continued to work with the family office to implement creative tax-saving solutions.
- Administered large estates with complex assets and tax issues and advised family members through the estate administration process.
- Worked with businesses and other organizations to apply innovative special-purpose trusts.
Awards and Recognition
- Received, Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch recognition for:
- Corporate Law (2022)
- Trusts and Estates (2021-2024)
Community Involvement
- Board Member, Curative Care Network, Inc.
- Volunteer, Wills for Heroes
- Participant in the 2019 -2020 Young Professional Adviser Council (YPA) with the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.
Presentations and Publications
- Co-presenter, “Private Trust Company Workshop,” Family Office Exchange Family Office Forum (January 29, 2026)
- Co-presenter, “Trustees and Beneficiaries Workshop,” Family Office Exchange Family Office Forum (September 30, 2025)
- Presenter, “Charitable Gifts of Special Assets,” Planned Giving Council Series (Fall 2019; Fall 2020; Fall 2021, Spring 2022)
Ten Minute Interview: Family Vacation Homes
Brian Lucareli, director of Foley Private Client Services (PCS) and co-chair of the Family Offices team, sits down with Stephanie Derks, senior counsel in Foley’s Estates and Trusts Practice, for a 10-minute interview on family vacation homes.
Advanced Estate Planning with S Corporations: Tax Structuring, Trust Design & Succession Strategies for Closely Held Business Owners
QSBS Stacking: Leveraging Gifts and Trusts for Additional Section 1202 Exclusions
Section 1202 of the Internal Revenue Code provides one of the most valuable tax benefits available to entrepreneurs and investors who own...
Selecting the Right Trustee and Role of Trust Protectors within the Trust World
GC Bootcamp for Family-held Business: Introduction to Estate Planning, Taxes & Family Offices
Aimed at those who serve as general counsels for family-held businesses, Jason Kohout and Stephanie Derks sit down to discuss the basics of estate planning, from gift tax planning to succession planning and company foundations.
Ten Minute Interview: Income and Estate Tax Planning
Brian Lucareli sits down with Jason Kohout, partner and fellow co-chair, and Stephanie Derks, associate and member of our Estate Planning group, for a 10-minute interview to discuss income and estate tax planning opportunities for the sale of a business.