S. Craig
Shamburg

Bio

Craig is an attorney at MacDonald Illig and chair of the firm’s Business Transactions Group. He is also a member of the Trusts & Estates and Tax Practice Groups and serves on the firm’s Management Committee. Craig advises individuals, families, business owners, and nonprofit organizations on a broad range of estate planning, tax, and business matters. He focuses on making complex legal issues understandable and helping clients achieve their goals as efficiently as possible.

Craig Helps Clients With:

• Estate planning
• Wills and trusts
• Estate and trust administration
• Will contests and fiduciary disputes
• Guardianship matters
• Tax compliance and tax planning
• Medicaid-related trust planning
• Estate and inheritance tax planning
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Business formation and corporate governance
• Business succession planning
• Executive compensation matters
• Equity financing and divestitures
• Nonprofit tax-exempt organization matters

Craig regularly assists clients with both personal and business planning strategies designed to support long-term financial, family, and organizational goals.

Approach to Client Service

Craig works closely with clients to understand their priorities and explain legal processes clearly without overwhelming them with unnecessary complexity. Clients value his responsiveness, honest guidance, and practical approach to resolving sophisticated legal and business matters efficiently and effectively.

Experience and Professional Background

Craig’s trusts and estates practice includes assisting individuals and families with preparing both simple and sophisticated estate plans, including wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and advanced healthcare directives.

He also advises clients on estate and inheritance tax planning strategies and has experience drafting trusts designed to preserve Pennsylvania Medicaid eligibility and protect assets from Medicaid recovery claims. Following a client’s death, Craig assists executors and trustees with estate and trust administration matters to help carry out the client’s planning objectives.

Craig has also represented beneficiaries in disputes involving fiduciaries and estate or trust administration matters. While he often works toward negotiated resolutions before litigation becomes necessary, he also has experience litigating contested estate and trust matters.

Business Transactions and Tax Experience

In addition to his estate planning work, Craig advises both for-profit and nonprofit organizations on a variety of business and tax matters. His practice includes:

• Business formation
• Corporate governance
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Divestitures
• Executive compensation matters
• Equity financing
• Tax and succession planning

Craig has also assisted numerous nonprofit organizations in obtaining recognition of tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service.

Professional Leadership

Craig serves as:

• Chair of MacDonald Illig’s Business Transactions Group
• Member of the Trusts & Estates Practice Group
• Member of the Tax Practice Group
• Member of the firm’s Management Committee

As an Erie native, he remains committed to serving clients and organizations throughout the region.