WALNY LEGAL GROUP - Key Persons
Abigail R. McGowan is an attorney at Walny Legal Group, LLC, with offices in Milwaukee and Elm Grove. Her practice areas consist of estate planning and administration, probate, business succession and asset protection planning. Abigail's law practice involves preparing estate planning documents such as wills, revocable trusts, marital property agreements, powers of attorney, HIPAA waivers, and special needs trusts. Additionally, she has been published in the NAEPC Journal of Estate and Tax Planning.
She is a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Public Relations. She went on to graduate Magna Cum Laude and receive her Juris Doctorate from Indiana University Maurer School of Law. During law school she was a Dean's Writing Fellow, an Articles Editor for the Indiana Law Journal, and an executive board member for the Sherman Minton Moot Court Competition. Currently, Abigail is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin.
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Member of the State Bar of Wisconsin
Avery J. Mayne works with clients to resolve a variety of legal concerns pertaining to funding for long-term care, special needs planning, and adult guardianships. She concentrates her practice in elder law and special needs law.
Avery earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication, with honors, from the University of Missouri and received her J.D. from Marquette University Law School along with a certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution.
As part of Avery's elder law practice, she helps families and individuals with Medicaid (Title XIX) asset protection planning and appeals. She assists clients seeking eligibility for long-term care benefits in the pre-planning and crisis planning stages. When working with families for specialized long-term care and disability planning, Avery utilizes strategic gifting strategies, special needs trusts, pooled and community trusts (such as Wispact and Life Navigators), ABLE accounts, and other unique planning tools available for individuals with special needs.
She also represents clients with disabled family members in adult guardianship proceedings. In guardianship actions, Avery is experienced with petitioning, defending, and serving in the fiduciary guardian role in high conflict matters.
She regularly serves as a panelist for nationwide CLEs presented by the National Business Institute, Rossdale CLE, and State Bar of Wisconsin on the areas of long-term care planning, Medicaid asset protection, and elder and disability rights advocacy.
Avery is a recipient of the "Wisconsin Law Journal's Up and Coming Lawyers" award of 2019. She was also named a "Super Lawyers Rising Star" of 2020 and she was named a "Five Star Professional" award winner for 2021. In addition, she has two published works. The first is "Tough Conversations, When Medicaid Planning Goes Wrong" which is published in the Wisconsin Lawyer magazine https://www.wisbar.org/NewsPublications/WisconsinLawyer/Pages/Article.aspx?Volume=90&Issue=10&ArticleID=25979. The second of her publications, is that she is a contributing author on the Wisconsin Attorney's Desk Reference 2020 (guardianship chapters).
Avery is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, the State Bar of Illinois. In addition, she serves on the Board of Directors for Adaptive Community Approach Program (ACAP) of Waukesha; Trust Committee for Life Navigators; and LPGA Amateurs Milwaukee Chapter Board. She is a volunteer for the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic, and the Wills for Heroes Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Founder
- Managing Attorney
- President for the Village of Bayside
Eido M. Walny received his J.D. from the Boston University School of Law in 2001, where he was the Executive Articles Editor of Boston University International Law Journal. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, with honors, from The University of Chicago. Eido's practice focuses on estate planning, asset protection, business succession, probate, trust administration, and he is also experienced in business, tax, and real estate law. He is a noted national speaker, author, and commentator on issues effecting estate planning, charitable giving methods, and topical business issues.
Eido founded the Walny Legal Group in 2011 with an eye towards providing clients with high level legal care, but an equally high level of customer service. He provides counseling to protect multi-generational family wealth, including drafting wills, revocable trusts, and irrevocable trusts designed to mitigate the effect of taxes, leverage wealth, and minimize the risk of creditors' claims. His experience also includes structuring family and business succession plans, non-probate transfers, trust and probate administration, and preparation of guardianships. In addition, he commonly utilizes will alternatives, advances charitable giving, and does planning for families with special needs children.
In 2014, Mr. Walny was selected as one of five national "Advisors with Heart" by Trusts & Estates Magazine. Eido was recognized for his contributions to the legal professional as a 2013 "Leader in the Law" by the Wisconsin Law Journal, and named as a Fellow to the Wisconsin Law Foundation's class of 2013. He has been recognized as a "Leading Lawyer" in the area of estate planning by M Magazine. In 2012, he was named a "Forty Under 40" honoree by the Milwaukee Business Journal, and a Financial Advisor magazine 2012 Private Wealth All-Star Team nominee. Each year between 2008 and 2017, Eido has been named a Wisconsin Rising Star in Milwaukee Magazine, a recognition granted to fewer than 2.5% of attorneys in the state. He was also named a Five Star: Best in Client Satisfaction Wealth Manager each year since 2009 by Milwaukee Magazine. In addition, he was a 2019 "Best Places to Work" honoree from the Milwaukee Business Journal. In 2021, Eido was named to the US News and and World Report list of Best Lawyers in America. Through the National Association of Estate Planners and Counsels, Eido is certified as an Accredited Estate Planner (AEP) and an Estate Planning Law Specialist (EPLS), the latter of which is the highest designation for an estate planning attorney that is currently recognized by the American Bar Association. Fewer than 100 attorneys in the nation have attained the EPLS designation. He has also been awarded the international TEP designation from the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.
Eido serves on the national Board of Directors of the National Association of Estate Planners and Counsels. He is a member of the Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law section of the State Bar of Wisconsin, the New York State Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, and the American Bar Association, as well as a member of the Milwaukee Bar Association and past president in the Milwaukee Estate Planning Forum. He is also a member of the London-based Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), a group which offers resources for attorneys whose clients face international estate planning issues. Eido is admitted to practice in Wisconsin, New York, Illinois and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
In addition to numerous professional positions, Eido is the President for the Village of Bayside, Wisconsin, and serves on several subcommittees, and county-wide committees. He is the Past-President of the Wisconsin Association of Mediators. He also serves on the Planned Giving Counsel of the Zoological Society of Milwaukee, is a member of the President's Advisory Council of the Froedtert Hospital Foundation, and has been honored as a charter member by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation Mueller Society in recognition of the advancement of philanthropy.
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Partner
- Member of the State Bar of Wisconsin
Kelly Dancy is a partner with Walny Legal Group, LLC, in Milwaukee. Her practice areas include estate planning and administration, probate, business succession, and asset protection planning. Kelly prepares and implements estate planning documents, including wills, revocable trusts, marital property agreements, powers of attorney, and HIPAA waivers. In addition, she is also skilled in drafting complex estate plans, including irrevocable grantor trusts and life insurance trusts. She has extensive experience drafting modification and termination agreements for irrevocable trusts.
Kelly sub-specializes in probate and trust administrations, where she concentrates her practice on complex and contentious administrations. She has experience representing both fiduciaries and beneficiaries in such administrations and has a history of obtaining successful settlement outcomes for her clients as an alternative to litigation.
Kelly was recently elected to a three-year term on the board of directors for the Society of Financial Service Professionals (FSP). In addition, she is an active member of FSP's Milwaukee Chapter and recently completed a two-year term as president. She has presented on estate planning topics both locally and nationally. In addition, she has published articles in numerous publications, including the Journal of Financial Service Professionals, Trusts and Estates, Fox Business News, and the Wisconsin Lawyer. Her 2015 article on trust situs in the FSP Journal was recognized with the Kenneth Black, Jr. Journal Author award.
Ms. Dancy was named an "Up and Coming Lawyer" by the Wisconsin Law Journal in 2016 and a "Super Lawyer Rising Star" for 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. In addition, she was named a "Five Star Professional" award winner for 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. Kelly is certified as an Accredited Estate Planner (AEP) and an Estate Planning Law Specialist (EPLS) through the National Association of Estate Planners and Counsels.
Kelly is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Estate Planning Forum, the Society of Financial Service Professionals, and Professional Dimensions. She is on the Associate Board of the Zoological Society of Milwaukee, the national board for the Society of Financial Service Professionals and is currently serving as Vice President on the board of the Milwaukee Estate Planning Forum. She is a fellow with the Wisconsin Law Foundation, serves on the Planned Giving Advisory Council for the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and is a past member of the Young Advisors Committee for the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. She is currently serving as President of the St. Mary's College Milwaukee Alumnae Club. In addition, she is a volunteer for the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic and the Wills for Heroes Foundation, providing legal services to underprivileged communities and first responders.
She is a native of Indianapolis and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in both Political Science and Economics. She went on to receive her Juris Doctorate from Marquette University Law School.