William R. Gustoff
Bill Gustoff is a founding partner of Whitaker Hagenow & Gustoff LLP where his practice is limited to wills, trusts, and probate matters and to nonprofit organization law. Bill’s legal career began in 1995 and, in addition to his years in private practice, included serving nearly four years as General Counsel of a national nonprofit organization dedicated to estate planning, planned giving, and assisting other nonprofit organizations with planned giving and tax issues.
Bill has extensive experience as an attorney working in estate planning, family business transactions, nonprofit organizations, and related areas. He has assisted businesses and individuals from around the country with their transactional, real estate, and estate planning matters. Bill has worked on transactions and estates ranging from the very modest and simple to the very large and complex to help clients minimize or eliminate taxes and administration expenses, meet their philanthropic goals, and plan for the passing of business and personal assets to future generations.
Bill received his B.A. from the University of Iowa and his J.D. degree, with distinction, from the University of Iowa through its two-year accelerated degree program. He is licensed in the states of Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska. Bill has been a frequent speaker at locations around the country for both professional and nonprofessional groups on estate planning and nonprofit organization topics, and he has written several articles and brochures on such topics.
In addition to being a member of the Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska State Bar Associations, Bill is also the President Elect of the Mid-Iowa Planned Giving Council (President for 2012-2013) and a member of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning (formerly the National Committee on Planned Giving), International Association of Advisors in Philanthropy, Mid-Iowa Estate and Financial Planners, and the Christian Legal Society. Bill currently serves on the Nonprofit Corporation Committee of the Business Law Section for the Iowa State Bar Association, and his past bar association activities have also included involvement with sections on Wills, Trust and Probate Law and on Taxation Law, the Committee on Services to the Elderly, and committees for Professionalism and for Public Relations of the Legal Profession.
Each year Bill attends several hours of advanced and comprehensive continuing legal education courses focused on estate planning, nonprofit organizations, and planned giving. He lives with his wife and four children in the Des Moines area and is active in local political and civic activities, including current and past service on the boards of directors and in other leadership capacities with various nonprofit organizations, local business leagues, and his local church.
Contact
William R. Gustoff
Direct Dial (515) 868-0211
Fax (515) 864-0331
wgustoff@whgllp.com
Whitaker Hagenow & Gustoff LLP
400 East Court Avenue Suite 346
Des Moines, IA 50309
