Meet Jennifer
Jennifer Hannon is a member of the Estate Planning, Estate & Trust Administration Practice Group. Jennifer serves as the office managing partner of the firm’s Madison office and is a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. Jennifer’s practice focuses on estate planning, business succession planning, probate and trust administration, and fiduciary, estate and gift taxation.
Jennifer advises individuals, couples, fiduciaries, and business owners on how to accomplish their objectives while minimizing their taxes. She also counsels private foundations and other charitable organizations on tax and governance issues.
Jennifer’s experience includes:
- Drafting wills, trusts and related estate planning, including generation-skipping trusts and split-interest trusts
- Representing Personal Representatives and Trustees on probate and trust administration issues
- Preparing Federal gift and estate tax returns and fiduciary income tax returns
- Charitable planning, including the creation and administration of multi-generational private foundations
- Counseling closely business owners on succession planning and implementation of succession plans which include grantor retained annuity trusts, redemptions, and installment sales to grantor trusts
Jennifer speaks publicly on a variety of estate planning, business succession, and planned giving topics and she was also an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School. She is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, American Bar Association, the Madison Estate Council, and the Planned Giving Council of Eastern Wisconsin.
Prior to her career in law, Jennifer was an enlisted member of the United States Army serving as a combat medic.
Education
Juris Doctor, New England School of Law, 2000, cum laude, New England Scholar Award
Bachelor of Arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1997, Political Science & International Relations
Activities
Foundation for Madison's Public Schools, Inc. (2012 – 2018)
- Director
- President/Board Chair
- Chair of the Fund Development Committee
- Chair of the Governance Committee
- Member – Finance Committee, Executive Committee and Strategic Planning Committee
Junior Achievement – Volunteer (2011-2013)
Leadership Greater Madison
- Class of 2008
- Alumni Association Director (2009-2012)
Madison Children’s Museum – Committee Member (2011-2015)
Madison Public Library Foundation (2018-Present)
- Director
- Chair of the Donor Development Committee
Meriter Foundation, Inc. – Director (2012-2015)
The Business Forum (2004-2010)
- Director
- Chair of the Mentoring Committee
United Way of Dane County (2016-present)
- Director – United Way of Dane County Foundation
- President/Board Chair – United Way of Dane County Foundation
- Member – Affordable Housing Committee
- Member – Key Club
- Member – Women United
University of Wisconsin – Madison (2018-Present)
- Board of Visitors – Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies
- Guest Lecturer – Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies
University of Wisconsin – Law School Adjunct Professor (2019-2021)
YWCA of Dane County – Committee Member (2012-2013)
Honors
Named a 2017 recipient of the Wisconsin Law Journal's elite Women in the Law award
Listed in Best Lawyers in America (Trusts and Estates, 2013 - present)
Recognized as a Wisconsin Rising Star (2010 - 2015)
Admitted To Practice
WisconsinProfessional Associations
Forum of Women Estate Counselors, Madison Estate Council, Partnership for Philanthropic Planning, Planned Giving Council of Eastern Wisconsin, State Bar of Wisconsin