Hugh F. Drake

Partner

Hugh Drake practices in the areas of estate planning, estate administration, and business planning. He represents clients in all manner of wealth transfer, trust and estate administration matters.

Hugh is experienced in designing and implementing sophisticated and personalized estate plans. He can develop estate plans which leverage the use of gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions to pass wealth in a manner which is both tax-efficient and creditor-protected. He regularly advises clients with illiquid estates, like business owners and farmers, to achieve their tax and non-tax objectives, such as succession planning. Hugh also represents fiduciaries in the administration of estates and trusts, the formation and operation of public charities, private foundations, and sophisticated charitable giving techniques.

Hugh graduated from the University of Illinois (B.A. 1992), Southern Illinois University (M.A. 1994), and the University of Illinois College of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1999). He is a Fellow of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He is the 2023 Section Chair of the American Bar Association Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section. He has served in various leadership positions with the Illinois State Bar Association, the Sangamon Valley Estate Planning Council and the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln. He is a frequent lecturer, both nationally and locally, has published numerous articles on tax and estate planning, in such publications as Trusts & Estates, The Practical Tax Lawyer, and Probate & Property, and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal.

BAR ADMISSIONS

  • Illinois, 1999
  • U.S. District Court Central District of Illinois, 2000
  • U.S. District Court Southern District of Illinois, 2000
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, 2000

EDUCATION

  • University of Illinois College of Law, Champaign, Illinois (J.D., cum laude - 1999)
  • Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois (M.A., Anthropology - 1994)
  • University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois (B.A. - 1992)