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 ...

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...