Christopher S. Nudo

Chris Nudo has spent more than three decades helping Chicago-area clients protect their assets, plan for the future, and navigate important financial and legal decisions. Since earning his law degree in 1993, he has prepared estate plans for more than 5,000 clients across Illinois, ranging from young families creating their first wills and trusts to business owners, physicians, professional athletes, elected officials, and individuals with multimillion-dollar estates. While estate planning is the primary focus of his practice, Chris’s experience also encompasses extensive work in commercial and residential real estate, probate and estate administration, business formation and transactions, and charitable giving.

While there is no shortage of capable estate planning professionals in the Chicago area, Chris brings an uncommon breadth of experience to the practice of law, combining an extensive background in real estate with sophisticated planning for high-value estates using laws and strategies available in other domestic and international jurisdictions, as well as an insider’s understanding of how substantial charitable and philanthropic gifts can be structured to accomplish a donor’s long-term goals. As a business owner himself, he also understands that estate planning rarely exists in isolation: business interests, real estate, taxes, investments, charitable goals, and family considerations are often closely connected.

Chris is a man of deep Christian faith who believes his faith provides an important foundation for everything he does in life, including the way he practices law and serves his clients. His longstanding involvement in church leadership and men’s ministry has reinforced his belief that clients should be treated as people rather than files. He approaches each relationship with integrity, honesty, and a commitment to achieving positive results, taking the time to listen carefully, understand what matters most to each client, and develop a plan that reflects the client’s family, financial circumstances, values, and long-term goals.

Early in his career, Chris worked as a title examiner, first at Intercounty Title Insurance Company and then at Chicago Title Insurance Company, then the largest title insurer in the country. During this period, he developed extensive experience reviewing public records, liens, judgments, and taxes to determine whether a property’s title could be insured. That work gave him a unique understanding of how property passes, where title problems arise, and how disputes between owners are resolved—experience that remains invaluable in the work he does for estate planning clients today. In the mid-1990s, he became Chicago Title’s first attorney agent and, for years, was one of its top agents in the Chicago market.

For clients with significant or complex estates, Chris develops strategies designed to preserve wealth, minimize estate taxes, protect assets, and efficiently transfer property to future generations. His work has included planning for estates exceeding $20 million and using limited liability companies, irrevocable trusts, and other planning vehicles to address estate-tax and asset-protection concerns. Because Illinois does not provide the same domestic asset-protection trust opportunities available in certain other jurisdictions, Chris regularly employs strategies involving other states such as Nevada, South Dakota, and Wyoming, as well as offshore Cook Islands trusts when appropriate. Most importantly, he understands that no single professional has all the answers. For this reason, he often enlists the assistance of some of the region’s leading accountants, financial professionals, valuation experts, appraisers, and other advisors to coordinate the legal and financial components of a client’s plan.

Perhaps most unique is Chris’s experience with charitable and planned giving. From 2012 to 2019, he served as the sole in-house General Counsel for Harvest Bible Chapel, after previously serving as legal counsel to the organization. Harvest operated more than 100 churches in the United States and abroad, giving Chris experience with a remarkably broad range of legal and operational matters. Among his responsibilities, he developed and oversaw the church’s planned-giving ministry, helping structure scholarships, endowments, and other charitable gifts for more than 100 donors. Individual gifts reached approximately $3 million, with more than $33 million in planned gifts overall.

Chris is a leader in both the legal and business communities.  He has held several positions with the Northwest Suburban Bar Association, including roles on its Board of Governors and Executive Committee.  Chris hosts Your Life and Legacy, a weekly program produced by Now Media and streamed on Roku, and regularly appears as a guest on other leading podcasts and educational programs. In 2024, he accepted an invitation to appear on Get Down to Business, a popular financial show hosted by original Shark Tank star Kevin Harrington. Chris has also taught continuing legal education seminars on topics including Illinois trusts and has spoken on estate planning to organizations including Half Moon CLE and the IEEE Foundation.  In 2021, he wrote Estate Planning Without Fear: Avoid the Nightmare, a comprehensive guide for Illinois residents looking to protect their assets, reduce taxes, and give their loved ones the gift of a well-designed estate plan.

Chris represents clients throughout the Chicago metropolitan area, including Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties. He offers consultations by phone or in person and is available to meet clients at their homes when appropriate.

Practice Areas

Estate Planning – Wills, Living Trusts, Powers of Attorney
Advanced Estate & Tax Planning
Asset Protection Trusts – Domestic & Offshore
Charitable & Planned Giving
Trust Administration & Probate
Business Succession Planning
Real Estate – Residential, Commercial & Industrial
Business Formation & Transactions – Corporations, LLCs, Partnerships, Buy-Sell Agreements
Not-for-Profit & Church Law

Admissions

Illinois, 1993

Awards

Super Lawyers Honoree – Estate Planning, 2026

Education

Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Juris Doctor with honors, 1993
Creighton University, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration: Finance and Marketing, 1989

Representative Matters

High-net-worth estate – estate tax planning. Designed an advanced estate plan for a client with an estate of more than $20 million, using multiple layers of limited liability companies and irrevocable trusts to eliminate an estimated $5 million to $8 million in potential estate tax.

Asset protection – domestic and offshore trusts. Used the domestic asset protection trust laws of Nevada, South Dakota, and Wyoming to shelter client assets from future creditors, and established Cook Islands trusts for clients seeking international asset protection.

Megachurch – planned giving program. Built and ran the planned-giving ministry for Harvest Bible Chapel, structuring scholarships, endowments, and gifts designated for children and camps, women’s ministries, church planting, and worship and music production. The program served more than 100 donors and brought in more than $33 million in planned gifts.

Christian school – formation and accreditation. Established a Christian school and guided it through accreditation, handling its teacher contracts, retirement plans, and insurance.

Religious organization – real estate, financing, and insurance. As in-house General Counsel to Harvest Bible Chapel, oversaw the acquisition of more than $28 million in real estate, negotiated more than $60 million in loans, and created a captive health insurance program for the organization.

Professional athletes and coaches – estate planning and real estate. Represented internationally known professional soccer players, as well as Chicago Bears coaches and players, in estate planning and real estate matters.

Publications

Estate Planning Without Fear: Avoiding the Nightmare, Speakeasy Marketing, Inc., 2021
Wedding and Portrait Photographers’ Legal Handbook, co-authored with Norman Phillips, 2004

Speaking Engagements

HalfMoon Education, LLC, CLE presentation on Illinois Trusts, December 19, 2024
IEEE Foundation, Blueprints for Life & Legacy: An Engineer’s Guide to Estate Planning, May 21, 2026
Parkway Bank and Wintrust, estate planning seminars, 1990s

Media Appearances

Host, Your Life and Legacy, Now Media (streamed on Roku), 2025–present
Guest, Get Down to Business with Kevin Harrington, 2024

Professional Memberships & Affiliations

Northwest Suburban Bar Association
• Secretary and Executive Committee Member, 2026–present
• Board of Governors, 2019–2026
• Chair, Estate Planning Committee
• Chair, Golf Outing Committee

Illinois State Bar Association, Member, 1993–present
Kane County Bar Association, Member, 2012–2017

Prior Positions

Harvest Bible Chapel

• In-House General Counsel, 2012–2019
• Harvest Bible Chapel, Legal Counsel, 2006–2012

Bazos, Freeman, Shuster & Pope, LLC, Of Counsel, 2014–2023
DiMonte & Lizak, Partner, 2006–2012
Nudo, Poteracki & Associates, PC, Managing Partner, 1993–2006
Chicago Title Insurance Company, Title Examiner and Attorney Agent, 1994–1996
Intercounty Title Insurance Company, Title Examiner, approximately 1993–1995
Strategic Health, Claims Adjuster, 1989–1991