Oak Park Real Estate & Estate Planning Blog

Whether you are young or old, single or married, wealthy or with limited financial means, healthy or dealing with a medical condition, it is important to make a will. Many people have incorrectly heard that wills are only necessary for particular people, such as those with a substantial amount of assets or for older adults in poor health. Yet wills are critical for adults of all ages, and an experienced Oak Park estate planning lawyer can help you to make one. Before you begin working with a lawyer on a will, you might start conducting your own research into wills in Illinois and the requirements for a valid will. In so doing, you are likely to come across information about many different types of wills, and you are probably going to wonder whether you will need more than one kind of will. In short, there are different terms that can be used to describe the form or function of a will, as well as some distinct types of wills. Our Oak Park estate planning attorneys can explain in more ...

Can you make a valid will if you have a disability? In general, the answer is yes. Having a medically documented disability — including a mental disability — will not typically impact a person’s ability to make a valid will. However, when a person has been adjudicated disabled such that they are not of sound mind or memory, then the disability can impact the ability to make a will. Our Oak Park estate planning lawyers can say more. Requirements for a Valid Will The specific requirements in the Illinois Probate Act for a person to be eligible to make a valid will are minimal and straightforward: “Every person who has attained the age of 18 years and is of sound mind and memory has the power to bequeath by will the real and personal estate which he has at the time of his death.” In other words, to make a valid will, you must: 1) be at least 18 years old and 2) be of sound mind and memory. This sounds relatively simple, but it can sometimes become complicated to determine whether a person...

It is critical for younger parents to have an estate plan, even if they know they are healthy and do not anticipate that anything will happen in the near future. Much too often, younger parents assume that they can wait until they are older to consider estate planning or until there is a health-related reason to begin the estate planning process. Yet estate planning is critically important for parents who have minor children. While estate planning is important for adults of all ages, it can allow parents to make important decisions about who will care for their children in the event that they become unable to do so themselves. Our Oak Park estate planning lawyers can explain in more detail. Naming a Guardian for Your Minor Children in Your Will Most importantly for younger parents, making a will allows you to name a guardian who can care for your child in the event of your unexpected death. Nobody anticipates a deadly accident or a sudden situation in which there is a need for another ...

Working with an Oak Park estate planning lawyer to create all of the documents that should be part of your estate plan and dealing with any issues that are likely to arise as part of the estate planning process might seem overwhelming. While there are many different facets to the estate planning process, and everyone’s individual needs will play a role in their own estate planning process, you can take some of the stress out of the process by being prepared. Your Oak Park estate planning attorney will be able to determine all of the necessary materials and issues to address in your estate plan, but you can also feel better prepared by making a checklist for yourself in advance and considering matters that are likely to come up. The following is an estate planning checklist for you to use as you prepare to meet with your estate planning lawyer in Illinois. Think About How You Want Your Assets to Be Distributed It is important to consider how you want your assets to be distributed. You ...

It is common for people to assume that they do not need to think about making a will until they are older or until they are dealing with certain health issues. Some people even think that they do not need a will at all unless they have a significant amount of assets of high market value or unless they own real property. While these are common misconceptions — to be clear, every adult, regardless of age, health, and economic status, should make a will — they often result in people wanting to make a will at what feels like the last minute. You may already know that if you die without a will, the intestacy law in Illinois will apply, and your assets will be distributed according to the state. In those situations, the people who you want to have your assets ultimately may not receive them. Whether you are getting older and are concerned about not having a will, or you have recently been diagnosed with a serious medical condition, you now might be wondering: am I too late to make a will? F...

When you are getting ready to work with an Oak Park estate planning attorney to make an estate plan, you should be thinking about a wide range of document types and estate planning tools that may be relevant to you. For most people, advance directives fall into this category — they are an important part of the estate planning process. Yet unlike wills or trusts — which most people have heard of, even if they do not have a will themselves or have any personal connection to a trust — many people do not know about advance directives or what they do. As such, when you first hear about advance directives, you might be wondering: do I need to have one, and do I need more than one? For most people, it is important not only to have at least one advance directive but to have multiple advance directives. Indeed, advance directives are important regardless of your current health because they can give you peace of mind concerning your health care no matter what unexpected events might occur. Our ...

Whether you have been with your partner for a relatively short amount of time or you have been with your partner for decades and have many shared assets, it is important to learn more about estate planning specifically for unmarried couples and how you should be thinking about estate planning given your marital status. In short, many couples who are not legally married have strong relationships that might seem akin to the relationship of a married couple, but they do not have the same legal rights and responsibilities with regard to one another under the law. Accordingly, it is essential to work with an estate planning lawyer to ensure that you can make clear what rights and responsibilities your partner has, even if you are not married. Our Oak Park estate planning lawyers can tell you more. Leaving Assets to Your Partner in a Will If you were to die unexpectedly or did not have a will for any other reason, you would die “intestate.” What this means is that your assets would be distr...

Most of us have heard about wills, either because a relative or friend has talked about making a will or because we have considered making a will ourselves in the past to ensure that our assets go to the people who we want to have them. While general knowledge of wills may be relatively common, many people in Oak Park and throughout Illinois have misconceptions about who should make a will and, specifically, when it is important to make one. You might wrongly assume that you should wait until you are older to work with an estate planning lawyer or that you do not need to think about making a will unless you find out you are experiencing serious health issues. Yet those truly are misconceptions. If you are wondering when to make a will, the answer is now (or as soon as possible). Our Oak Park estate planning lawyers can explain. When to Make a Will As we mentioned above, there are many incorrect assumptions about who should make a will and when. We want to be clear that every adult sho...

Are you considering buying or selling real estate, or are you currently in the process of doing so? You might be wondering if you can simply act as your own attorney when it comes to drafting, reviewing, and signing a real estate contract, especially if you have been involved in the purchase or sale of real estate in the past. While you may have some familiarity with real estate guidelines, it is critical to keep in mind that contracts can be extremely complex, and a minor error can result in major issues later on. As such, you should always plan to have a real estate lawyer in Oak Park review your real estate contract before you sign. What are some of the key reasons to work with a real estate attorney on your contract? Consider the following information. Real Estate Agents Do Not Have the Legal Experience of an Attorney Whether you are a real estate agent yourself or your agent has offered to look at a real estate contract with you, it is critical to remember that real estate agents...

Nobody wants to hear that their family members ultimately could contest, or challenge, the validity of their will. Yet that is what happens in a will contest. This is a legal term that refers to a specific type of proceeding during probate where a party challenges the validity of a deceased person’s will. What do you need to know about will contests, and how can you avoid one? Learn more from our Oak Park estate planning lawyers. General Requirements for Contesting a Will Under Illinois law , an interested party must move to contest a will within six months following the admission to probate of a will. When a party contests a will, Illinois law is clear that the “representatives and all the heirs and legatees of the testator must be made parties to the proceeding.” It is also possible to demand a jury trial. Party Contesting the Will Must Have Standing Illinois law makes clear that a party must have standing in order to contest a will. What is standing? This is a legal term that means...

When you have already worked with a lawyer to make a will in Illinois and to name an executor of your estate, you may be wondering if there will ever be a need to change the executor and if Illinois law permits you to do so. For example, you might have second thoughts about the person you have chosen as your executor, or you might experience certain life changes that could necessitate a change in an executor, such as a divorce or a family estrangement. In other words, various circumstances may arise under which you find yourself asking the question: Should I name a new executor, and am I allowed to do so? Our Oak Park estate planning lawyers can give you more information. Understanding the Role of the Executor In order to know if you need to name a new executor, it is important to have a clear understanding of the executor’s role and who can serve as an executor in Illinois. An executor is the party who administers a person’s estate after their death. This means that the executor wil...

If you have assets that are of limited value, or if you have only a handful of seemingly simple assets (such as a savings account or a home), you might be wondering if it simply makes more sense to give away — or gift — your property to a loved one before you die instead of making a will and having a loved one go through the probate process. While it might make sense to gift assets to loved ones while you are still living in certain circumstances, there are also important reasons to avoid doing so. In addition, regardless of whether or not you plan to give away assets during your lifetime, it is critical to make a will to ensure that any property and estate issues you did not consider will be handled appropriately by an executor, and that your loved ones will not have to contend with the complications of intestate succession. Our Oak Park estate planning attorneys can say more about the potential benefits and limitations under Illinois law of giving away assets during your lifetime t...

Making the decision to work with an estate planning attorney in the Oak Park area to create a will and advance directives, along with other relevant estate planning tools, is important for nearly all adults in Illinois. Yet for nearly everyone with an existing estate plan, an initial meeting (or initial few meetings) with an estate planning attorney should not be the last time you think about the documents and tools that are part of your estate plan. Circumstances can change, and unexpected life events can occur, necessitating changes to one or more of the materials in your estate plan. Accordingly, if you are wondering whether you should ever revisit your estate plan, the answer is yes. If you are currently wondering whether an event has occurred that necessitates revising a document that is part of your estate plan, it is important to talk with a lawyer. In the meantime, our Oak Park estate planning lawyers can tell you more about some of the reasons that you will need to revisit yo...

There are a lot of myths concerning estate planning. Because of many of those myths, Illinois residents mistakenly assume that they do not need to talk to an estate planning lawyer anytime soon, if at all. Yet, nearly all adults can benefit from estate planning, even if the process only involves creating a will and one or more advance directives. For single parents, estate planning is especially important — particularly when you have a minor child or a disabled adult child. What should single parents consider when it comes to estate planning? Our Oak Park estate planning lawyers can tell you more. You Can Designate a Guardian for Your Child During the Estate Planning Process For single parents with minor children, one of the most important parts of estate planning is designating a guardian to care for their minor children in the event of their death. While nobody likes to think about the possibility of a devastating fatal accident or a life-threatening illness, unexpected life events ...

If you have not yet worked with an estate planning attorney in Oak Park, Illinois , to create a will, formalize advance directives, and consider other tools of estate planning, learning that “wills” and “living wills” are two separate types of document can be extremely confusing. You might also assume that a “living will” is merely a type of traditional will that you make while you are living or that is different from other people’s wills in some capacity. Our Oak Park wills attorneys want to make sure you know that these are two entirely separate types of documents, and both of them serve important purposes. Regardless of your assets, your health, and other factors, you should talk with an attorney about creating both a will and a living will. Our lawyers can explain the difference between these documents to you in more detail, and we can help you to create both of them. Wills and Living Wills: Are They Really Different Documents Entirely? The answer to that question is yes. A will, i...

The idea of estate planning can seem daunting to many people, and residents of Oak Park frequently assume that they do not need to worry about estate planning until a particular issue arises or a life change occurs. However, it is essential to know that estate planning is important for all adults, and you should work with an experienced estate planning attorney in Oak Park to determine what types of documents and tools you should have in your estate plan given your particular circumstances. In the meantime, we want to dispel some common myths about estate planning and give you the facts so that you have the information you need to make an informed decision about getting started on the estate planning process. Myth: Estate Planning is Only for Older and Wealthy Adults Fact: Many people assume that you should only get started on estate planning if you are older or ill, or if you are wealthy, but this is a myth. Estate planning is important for adults of all ages, regardless of the value...

There is a wide range of misconceptions about how certain estate planning tools or documents work and whom they are designed to benefit. Very commonly, people mistakenly assume that trusts are only beneficial to wealthy or high-net-worth individuals who are working with an estate planning lawyer. While certain types of trusts might be more beneficial to individuals with significant assets, trusts can be helpful — and sometimes essential — for people regardless of the amount of wealth they have (or have not) accumulated. Most issues pertaining to trusts in the Oak Park area are governed by the Illinois Trust Code . Our Oak Park estate planning lawyers can tell you more about certain trusts that may be relevant to your situation and may be able to help you regardless of your net worth. Trusts can help you preserve and protect your assets in the event of certain health emergencies, and they can also allow you to continue to provide for a loved one who is eligible for asset-based governme...

Whether you are considering the possibility of establishing one or more trusts, you recently established a trust, or you have been named as a trustee for a particular trust, you may have questions about how the process works. The Illinois Trust Code governs most issues pertaining to trusts, including those that a person creates as part of an estate planning process. Yet parsing the Illinois Trust Code can be extremely complicated if you do not have familiarity with trusts more broadly or with statutory language. Accordingly, our experienced Oak Park estate planning lawyers want to provide you with more information about trustees and what they do when a trust has been established. If you have further questions, or if you want to begin the estate planning process in order to create a trust, we can start working with you today. What is a Trustee? In order to understand what a trustee does, it is essential to understand what a trustee is, more broadly. A trustee is a party that is respon...

Are you currently in the process of buying residential or commercial real estate in Illinois? Or are you considering a real estate purchase? Whether you have bought homes and businesses in the past or you are a first-time buyer who is new to the process, it is important to have an experienced Oak Park real estate attorney on your side to ensure that the purchase process goes smoothly — from identifying a home or business you want to buy and making an offer to the closing. While any checklist for a real estate closing is something that you should discuss with your real estate attorney, it is also important to have a good idea of the steps that you will need to take just before or at your closing. While Illinois real estate law does not require you to have an attorney at your closing in order for the sale to go through and to be finalized, you should keep in mind that closings can be complex, and an attorney can help to ensure that everything goes according to plan. When you sit down t...

Are you currently thinking about making a will , or are you planning to speak with an estate planning attorney about revising or adding to an existing will? You might have come across the word “codicil,” and you may be wondering if you need one or simply what it means. In short, a codicil is a legal document that allows you to make certain changes to your will without needing to rewrite the will entirely. Accordingly, if you are just beginning the estate planning process, you are unlikely to need a codicil at this point (since you will be newly making a will), but you could need to create a codicil in the future. As such, whether you already have a will or you are considering making one, it is important to learn more about codicils, their requirements, and why they exist. Our Oak Park estate planning lawyers can tell you more. When to Consider a Codicil As we said above, a codicil is a legal document that you can draft with assistance from an estate planning lawyer in order to change y...

For most people in the Oak Park area, the estate planning process will include drafting a will. Part of making a will includes deciding who to name as an executor. What is an executor? According to language provided by Illinois’s 19th Judicial Circuit, an executor is “the individual who is listed in the will as the person whom the decedent [the person who made the will and is now deceased] wishes to administer property and debts to assure that the will, or intent, of the decedent be fulfilled.” In other words, the executor makes sure the terms of the will are carried out and is responsible, in general, for administering the estate of the deceased person. As a CNBC article emphasizes, the average time it takes to settle an estate in the US is 16 months, so the “role of executor is a big job.” When you are making a will, you will decide on an executor of your estate. How should you choose an executor? There are a number of factors you should take into account. Consider the following in...

When you work with an Oak Park estate planning lawyer to create a will and advance directives and to establish trusts and other documents, you will often be doing so with an eye toward the probate process. Depending upon the types of estate planning tools you create, you may be trying to allow your loved ones to avoid probate for certain assets or, in some instances, to avoid probate altogether. The probate process is a process where a person’s property is identified after their death, assets are distributed to heirs, and the estate of the person is wrapped up by a party known as the executor of the estate. Probate is not necessary in all situations when a person dies, but it is typically required under Illinois law when a person dies with assets totaling more than $100,000 that must be probated (i.e., assets that are not held in a trust and assets that are not payable to a beneficiary upon death of the owner). The probate process can be extremely complicated, and it is important to w...

Having an attorney when you are buying or selling a house is extremely important in Illinois, particularly for the real estate closing . While your real estate attorney will assist you throughout the process of purchasing or selling residential or commercial property in the Oak Park area, the closing is especially complex. Whether you are considering buying or selling property, or you are already making a purchase or selling, you might be wondering: what happens at a real estate closing? Most laws concerning residential and commercial property are governed by Chapter 765 of the Illinois Code , but there are also other important laws that may be applicable to your circumstances. Our Oak Park real estate attorneys can discuss the process with you, and we can talk with you today about your needs for your real estate sale or purchase. Steps in Anticipation of Closing Before a buyer closes on a piece of domestic or commercial property and the transaction is officially closed, certain steps ...

Anyone who is working with an estate planning lawyer to make a will or establish a trust should also be thinking carefully about advance directives and their importance to any estate planning process. While many Oak Park residents already know about wills and what they often include and may have a general idea of how trusts work, advance directives are discussed less frequently among families in general. Yet advance directives are extremely important, and they can often provide important benefits not only to the person creating them but also to their loved ones, who can face anxiety and guilt over medical decision-making processes. There are different types of advance directives, and our Oak Park estate planning lawyers can explain how each of them works. What is an Advance Directive? What is an advance directive? Advance directives are documents that deal with a person’s health and their right and ability to make certain decisions about their health care. As the Illinois Department o...