Oak Park Real Estate & Estate Planning Blog

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 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...

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...

Do you currently have a will? If you do not, it is essential to consider getting in touch with an Oak Park estate planning lawyer and making one. Many Illinois residents assume that they will consider a will when they get older or if they learn they are ill and need to worry about their own long-term health or the care of their minor children. Another common belief is that you only need to make a will if you have substantial assets. Yet making a will certainly is not only an essential task for an elderly adult, a wealthy person, or a terminally ill person. Indeed, wills are important for any adult, regardless of your age, how much money you have, and the status of your health. It is also critical to know that you cannot simply write a document with your wishes, keep it with your belongings or in a place known to your family, and assume that your wishes will be honored. To be sure, Illinois law has specific requirements for making a valid will, which includes having at least two witne...

Part of the estate planning process for many people involves thinking about how to avoid the probate process, as well as thinking about how to transfer real property to loved ones. For most Illinois residents, making a will is an essential part of the estate planning process, but there are many other considerations, as well, such as the creation of certain trusts and, for some, the benefits of the Real Property Transfer on Death Instrument Act . If you have never done any estate planning before, you may not have heard of this law or even realized that such a law exists. In short, it is a law that allows real property owners to designate a beneficiary to receive their real property upon death without going through probate. Our Oak Park estate planning attorneys can tell you more about this law and how it might be relevant to your estate planning process. Learning More About the Real Property Transfer on Death Instrument Act When you are considering working with an estate planning lawye...

Estate planning involves the creation of many different documents and the use of various tools for transferring property upon death or ensuring that loved ones are financially cared for upon your death. One of those tools is a “trust,” which is, according to Fidelity , “a fiduciary arrangement that allows a third party, or trustee, to hold assets on behalf of a beneficiary or beneficiaries.” There are many reasons that people establish trusts, including allowing beneficiaries to avoid probate, controlling financial distributions to particular individuals, planning for Medicaid and long-term care needs, and supporting a disabled loved one without putting their government benefits at risk. While many trusts are established by adults with significant assets, there are also many reasons that middle-class Illinois residents would also want to consider establishing a trust. Our Oak Park estate planning lawyers can give you more information about some of the different types of trusts that yo...

Have you thought about estate planning and what types of documents you might need to prepare with assistance from an Oak Park estate planning lawyer ? Many people mistakenly assume that estate planning is something that they can put off until they are older or until they learn about an illness. In reality, estate planning is a process that all adults should consider, regardless of age and health and regardless of whether they have minor children. If you are beginning to learn more about estate planning or if you want to create important estate planning documents, it is important to learn more about the general process and the most common documents and tools. Drafting a Will A will is one of the most common documents that you will want to draft in the estate planning process. Almost every adult should have a will. Under Illinois law , this document allows you to do a number of important things (including leaving assets to specific parties or entities and naming a guardian for your minor...

Do you currently have a last will and testament ? If not, you might be under the misconception that making a will is only necessary for people of a certain age or economic bracket. To be sure, many Illinois residents have heard the myth that only wealthy people need to make wills or that only people with assets of significant monetary value need to consider estate planning. There are also myths about age and estate planning, and the misconception that only older adults need to make wills is pervasive. In fact, every adult can benefit from having a will. Wills can help you to have a sense of security for the future, knowing that your property will be taken care of and your children will have someone to look after them. If you do not have a will, the laws of “intestate succession” will apply instead. What is intestate succession in Illinois? Consider the following information from our Oak Park estate planning lawyers. What Does it Mean to Die Intestate? Dying intestate means that you hav...