About The Estep Law Firm
Creve Coeur, MO Estate Planning and Elder Law Firm
We are a full service Estate Planning and Elder Law Firm located in Creve Coeur, Missouri. We have served hundreds of families and individuals in Eastern Missouri since 1996. We help our clients protect themselves and their loved ones personally and financially through custom planning.
The firm approaches Estate Planning and Elder Law as an opportunity to assist new and long-term clients with transitions through each phase of their life.
Our relationship with our client’s is one based on mutual understanding and shared learning; Client’s share their family story and unique life experiences with us and we provide legal education and guidance. Our objective is to help our clients translate their wants and needs into tangible goals that can be achieved through implementation of appropriate strategies.
Shawn has been practicing law since 1996 and has focused exclusively in estate planning and elder law since 1999. Prior to practicing law, he was as an engineer and supplier program manager at McDonnell Douglas and Boeing. He received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Missouri Columbia in 1984, Juris Doctorate from Saint Louis University in 1995 and Master of Laws in Taxation from Washington University in St. Louis in 2009.
As a memeber of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorney’s and a member of the Aging Ahead foundation board Shawn is dedicated to making a difference in the elder and special needs communities. As the Wealth Counsel Missouri forum leader, Shawn is at the forefront of legal technical issues facing Missouri estate and elder law attorneys.
Shawn lives in Fenton , Missouri with his wife, Donna. Shawn and Donna spend their free time with their five grandchildren at soccer games, sleep overs and “rocket day”. When they are not entertaining grandchildren, Shawn and Donna can be found sharing a bottle of wine while Shawn prepares a gourmet meal.

Thomas J. Ray, Jr
Of Counsel
Thomas J. Ray, Jr. is a principal and executive editor / legal support manager for WEALTHCOUNSEL LLC, working out of its satellite office in St. Louis, Missouri. He has been an attorney for over 30 years, and is a member of the Missouri and Oklahoma Bars. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Oklahoma City University. From 1992 to 2010, Tom was also founder and principal of RAY LAW OFFICES, P.C., a boutique estate planning law firm in the metro-St. Louis area.
Attorneys nationwide consider Tom a leading authority in the areas of estate, charitable tax planning, and IRA distribution planning. In 2006, the American Bar Association published his 800-page treatise Charitable Gift Planning: A Practical Guide for the Estate Planner. In addition, he is the author of two technical training manuals for attorneys on Charitable Remainder Trusts and Charitable Lead Trusts, Private Foundations and Supporting Organizations. His articles on charitable planning have appeared in Lawyer’s Weekly, Charitable Gift Planning News, and Family Foundation Advisor. He is also much sought after as a lecturer, and makes presentations throughout the United States on these topics to professional advisors and their clients.
Tom and his wife, Linda, maintain homes in rural Barnhart and Monett, Missouri. The couple has two adult sons, David and Daniel.