Estate Planning
The greatest gift we can leave our loved ones is a well-constructed estate plan. No matter the size of your estate, having a detailed estate plan minimizes the stress on survivors and accurately captures your true wishes and intentions. Without an estate plan, your estate may be subject to the laws of intestate succession in Illinois and this may result in actions contrary to your intentions. The proper use of wills, trusts and other estate planning tools can simplify the probate process and ensure the orderly distribution of your estate.
Central Law Group P.C. is an experienced estate planning law firm that provides personalized and detailed legal service to help execute an estate plan and navigate the probate process. We provide a full range of estate planning services for individuals, business owners, executives, entrepreneurs, and professionals.
From drafting wills, trusts, living wills, and living trusts to powers of attorney for health care, powers of attorney for property, health care directives and HIPAA releases, we can help to make sure that your wishes are clearly articulated for the future. We discuss the various options to protect assets as well as the use of trusts to avoid the probate process in court. If you have children that are have not yet reached an age that want your assets to be distributed to them, we will discuss with you the various options of providing for them including guardianship and tursts. A trust can be established as part of your estate plan or can be addressed in your will to be established on a contingency basis. A trust is a useful way to make assets available to a beneficiary right away, rather than having your beneficiaries wait for a period of time, typically six months, before they can have access to an asset.
We will work with your financial advisers and accountants to develop an estate plan that enables you to meet your objectives. As financial situations and family circumstances change over time, we encourage our clients to periodically revisit these plans and will prepare the appropriate amendments so the estate planning documents meet the changing circumstances.
In addition to the preparation of estate planning documents, we also provide representation and prepare pre and post-nuptial agreements. If an estate has to be probated, we provide probate administration services and provide representation to the probated estate is handled in an expeditious manner. Another important aspect of estate planning is the preparation of documents that address circumstances when you are unable to handle your financial or health care decisions. These documents, known as power of attorney, are for property and health care. These documents are described in more detail in the section entitled Power of Attorney on our website.
A summary of the documents we can assist you with for your estate plan include:
- Trust Preparation
- Will Preparation which includes provision for guardianship and contingency trust
- Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care
- Durable Power of Attorney for Property
- Pre and post-nuptial agreements
- Probate administration documents