Do I Need to Revisit My Estate Plan?

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 your estate plan.

Divorce

Divorce is one of the most common and most important reasons to revisit your estate plan. For most married people in Illinois, a spouse is a primary beneficiary and may be named in both financial and health care powers of attorney. When a divorce occurs, spouses typically want to make changes so that another party will inherit their assets (other than their ex-spouse) and so that someone other than their former spouse will have the ability to make important decisions for them in the event of incapacity.

Health Changes

Has your health changed recently? If so, you might have changed your mind about certain issues pertaining to the advance directives you created with your estate planning lawyer. Or, perhaps, your original estate plan did not include advance directives, and you now want to create a healthcare power of attorney and a living will. Revisiting your estate plan is the next step.

Revising Heirs or Beneficiaries

Beyond divorce, many different changes in circumstances can result in a person changing their mind about who will inherit their property or who should be named as an insurance beneficiary. If things have changed, you should revisit your estate plan with a lawyer’s help to make any necessary revisions.

Changes in Assets

With trusts in particular, it is important to revisit your estate plan on a somewhat regular basis with your estate planning lawyer. The value of the assets contained in one or more trusts you established might have changed, or you may need to reconsider issues of taxation, for example, if assets you plan to leave through your will have increased significantly.

Contact Oak Park Estate Planning Attorney Today

Estate planning can be complex, but an experienced Oak Park estate planning lawyer at our firm can assist you. Whether you are just beginning to think about estate planning and want to learn more about drafting a will, or you have existing estate planning documents and need to revisit them with a lawyer’s help, we can speak with you today about your circumstances. Contact the Emerson Law Firm to learn more about the services we provide to clients in Oak Park and throughout the Chicago area.



See Related Blog Posts:
What Single Parents Should Consider in Estate Planning
What is the Difference Between a Will and a Living Will?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Phantom Debt Collection Scams on the Rise in Illinois

Have you been contacted by a person claiming to be a debt collector who is seeking to recover a debt you allegedly owe? If so, you are not alone. According to a recent report from CBS Chicago , such parties claiming to be debt collectors are on the rise, and they are scamming Chicago-area residents. These alleged debt collectors are part of schemes known as “phantom debt collection scams,” since they involve the attempt to collect on a debt that the consumer does not actually owe. How can you avoid becoming a victim in a debt-collection scam ? What should you do if you have been targeted by a fake debt collector? How Do Phantom Debt Collection Scams Work? Now, you might be thinking to yourself: I would never agree to make payment on a debt that I did not owe. But the scam is not always that simple. Parties at the center of debt-collection scams often target consumers who do actually owe debts (to someone or to some entity), and they prey on the fact that these c...
Read more

Payday Lending and Predatory Lenders in Illinois

If you are in substantial debt in the Chicago area and are living in a paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, you may have taken out a payday loan to make ends meet. While payday lending is illegal in a number of states due to the predatory nature of these loans, it remains legal in Illinois. As a result, many debtors in the state have used payday lenders, and far too many of those borrowers cannot repay what they owe. According to a recent article from Progress Illinois , consumers have filed complaints about payday lenders in the state, illuminating a need for federal rules that address harmful lending practices . Predatory Payday Lenders and Protections for Consumers Due to the perceived predatory nature of payday loans, twelve states in the country have banned these lenders from operating completely, according to a fact sheet from loans.org . The states that currently have laws prohibiting payday lenders from operating include Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Mary...
Read more

New Information on Debts That Bankruptcy Cannot Discharge

If you are thinking about filing for bankruptcy in the Oak Park area, it is important to know that certain kinds of debts cannot be discharged in a bankruptcy case. Under U.S. bankruptcy law, these are known as non-dischargeable debts, or exceptions to discharge. There are certain types of debts that have long been identified clearly as non-dischargeable debts, while there are misconceptions about other types of debts that may or may not be dischargeable. As an article in CNBC discusses, the U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a ruling in the case of Bartenwerfer v. Buckley , which clarifies that debts incurred due to another party’s fraud cannot be discharged in an individual’s bankruptcy case. Our Oak Park bankruptcy attorneys can explain the Court’s recent ruling and provide you with additional information on dischargeable and non-dischargeable debts. Supreme Court Says Debt Incurred Due to Another’s Fraud is Non-Dischargeable The recent Bartenwerfer case involved a debtor attempti...
Read more