Garrett (“Garry”) Reuter, Jr. has built a practice that provides the benefits of a family lawyer and outside general counsel to high-net-worth families, individuals, and business owners. He is known for his sound business and tax advice and ability to navigate those intricacies with personal wealth and comprehensive estate planning. Garry builds clients’ trust through a personable and relatable approach that draws on his advanced knowledge of complex estate and tax planning. 

Garry is co-leader of the firm's Trusts & Estates Practice Group. Licensed in Illinois, Missouri, and Florida, his estate planning services include:

• Drafting trusts (revocable and irrevocable), wills, and powers of attorney for financial and health care matters
• Tax planning for transfer taxes (estate, gift, and generation-skipping taxes) and federal and state income taxes
• General counsel and planning for multi-generational families
• Tax return preparation for individuals and fiduciaries
• Trust and probate administration, providing general advice and counsel for fiduciaries and beneficiaries
• Will and trust contests and litigation
• Premarital and post-marital agreements
• Planned charitable giving

Garry also advises and assists closely held business clients in a general counsel role. His services include: the formation of business entities (e.g. corporations, limited liability companies, general and limited partnerships); advice on ownership structures, including preparation of shareholder agreements, operating agreements, and buy-sell agreements; and instruction on other general business needs in areas such as employment, intellectual property, real estate, and litigation. Garry also helps business owners with succession planning and tax planning, helping them develop strategies for passing a business to the next generation of owners.

Garry represents a wide array of clients in different industries and professions, including:

• Professional athletes
• Physician and dental practices
• Family-owned restaurants and franchises
• Banks and trust companies
• Construction companies
• Real estate developers
• Auto dealerships
• Wholesale distributors and retailers
• Industrial and food manufacturers

Garry has an added background in tax, having earned an LL.M. degree in taxation and worked as a legal intern for the Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel in Miami, Florida. Before joining Greensfelder, he spent several years in the practice of trusts and estates at another large St. Louis-based law firm.

Community/Civic Activities

• St. Louis Sports Commission, board member (2016-present)
• St. Louis Sports Commission Associates board member (2008-2016; vice chair, 2013-2016)
• Memorial Hospital Foundation, board member (2019-present)
• Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois (2014-present)
• Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, Probate & Trust Committee (2015-present)
• Belleville CEO Class, board member (2015-present)
• The Sheldon's Planned Giving Committee (2021-present)
• Garrett C. Reuter, Sr. Foundation, founder and president (2017-present)

Honors & Awards

• Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, Rising Star, Estate Planning & Probate, 2009, 2014-2015
• Illinois Leading Lawyers, Emerging Lawyer, 2016-18
• Illinois Leading Lawyers, 2020-2022
• The Best Lawyers in America, Trusts and Estates, 2022-2023

Representative Matters

• Provided complex tax and estate planning for a high-net-worth family with an estate valued over a billion dollars.
• Assisted a banking institution as fiduciary for a trust and estate in the administration matters after the death of a client.
• Assisted a client in the representation of the client’s rights as beneficiary of a trust in a complex litigation matter.
• Provided strategic advice, estate planning, and marital counsel for professional athletes.
• Facilitated a lease arrangement that segregated liability for a thriving dental practice.
• Provided outside general counsel to a construction company with multi-state operations and complex personal wealth and estate planning for the business owners
• Advised an entrepreneurial restaurant owner on proactive COVID-19 risk, liability, and business planning.
• Assisted business owners with successful appeals on real estate property taxes.
• Collaborated with the Greensfelder construction team to provide representation for a general contractor to mitigate risk and reduce financial exposure.
• Helped a real estate developer acquire new holdings for a residential project development while coordinating optimal estate and tax planning for family asset protection.
• Provided outside general counsel to an auto dealership owner across growth, litigation, and personal legal matters.
• Helped a start-up retail business owner with formation issues and production matters in the U.S. and globally.
• Advised a product sales, distribution, and installation company with a strategic acquisition of a key longstanding distributor business.
• Facilitated a stock sale to a family trust for an industrial manufacturing business to optimize family tax planning.

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