Stephanie G. Sarcone

I am of Counsel in the BrownWinick Law Firm’s Estate Planning and Probate and Trust Administration Practice Group. My practice primarily consists of working with multi-generational families on achieving their goals and objectives for the efficient and effective transfer of their wealth. To do this, I collaborate with families, all with unique family dynamics and situations, to develop a strategic and personal plan for their estate planning, retirement planning and philanthropic planning. I also assist these same families in the time of loss, ushering them through the probate, estate and trust administration phases of the life-planning cycle.

My Approach

As an estate planning attorney, it is my goal to assist and guide each of my clients through any situation that may arise. I understand that estate planning needs can be complex, and that each situation is unique to every family. It is my desire to get to know you, your family, and the goals you have. My hope is that I can make your vision for a business succession plan, retirement plan, trust or other estate planning needs a reality, while at the same time ensuring that you walk away feeling that you have received the best legal advice for your desired outcome. 

More About Me

Before joining BrownWinick, I worked in a couple private practice firms for about seven years, exclusively working as part of their Trust, Estate & Charitable Planning practice groups. Sandwiched between my years in private practice, I spent twenty-eight years with Wells Fargo Bank as a Senior Trust Officer and Wealth Planning Specialist, administering estates and trusts and working in partnership with practicing attorneys and financial advisors in crafting wealth transfer, retirement planning and investment planning strategies for the bank’s high net worth clients. 

I was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1989, to the United States District Court for the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States Tax Court, and the Supreme Court of the United States, all in 1992. I am currently a member of the Iowa State Bar Association and the Polk County Bar Association.

In 1989, I received my Juris Doctor degree with highest honors from Drake University Law School and am a member of the Order of the Coif.  During law school, I was a member of the Drake Law Review, and was a teaching assistant for the legal research and writing program.  In 1979, I graduated from Central College in Pella, Iowa, summa cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry.

I am a fifth generation Iowan, having lived in central Iowa my entire life. I currently live on the southside of Des Moines and have five grown children. In addition to my law practice, I keep busy with various volunteer positions on non-profit boards and working part-time at our family owned DQ businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, golfing and working in my flower gardens.

My Specialties

• Estate Planning
• Probate, Estate and Trust Administration
• Estate and Gift Taxation
• Charitable Planning
• Business Succession Planning
• Nonprofits and Tax-Exempt Organizations