Estate Planning Guide for Parents in Illinois
Imagine the unthinkable: a catastrophic illness or accident happens to you tomorrow. This illness or accident leaves you unable to work, make decisions, or communicate your wishes about your children, your medical treatment options, your finances, or anything else.
- Do you know who will raise your children and make your personal decisions after your illness or accident? Is there a family member you prefer to exclude as guardian or fiduciary?
- Does your trusted person know you expect them to act after your emergency?
- Does your trusted person know your specific wishes about children, health, finances, and other personal matters?
- Have you signed legal documents so this person can “prove” to banks, hospitals, and others that he or she has the power to act for you?
What is Estate Planning?
“Estate planning” means answering important personal questions while you are clear-thinking, then using legal tools to memorialize your decisions.
An “estate plan” refers to a set of documents your trusted person can legally enforce to make your family, health, and financial decisions after an accident, illness, or even death, for example: a living trust, a will, a power of attorney, and so on.
Estate planning laws are an ever-evolving patchwork of federal and state statutes, regulations, and court opinions. The laws are complicated and vary state-to-state.
Most estate plans are not tested until loss of capacity or death, which means estate planning mistakes may be expensive and difficult – or impossible – to correct. It is important to work with an experienced lawyer who focuses on estate planning and is licensed to practice law in the state where you live.
Why must parents have an estate plan?
Do you have an estate plan? Yes. Even if you have not signed any legal documents, you already have a “default” estate plan from the state – but you may not like it:
If you experience a catastrophic illness or accident, then someone can petition a probate court to declare that you are disabled and appoint a guardian to make decisions for you.
After you die, then the “rules of descent and distribution” apply (also called “intestate succession”):
- Most parents are shocked to learn that if Parent 1 dies without a will or trust, then Parent 2 will share Parent 1’s estate assets 50/50 with the surviving children!
- If both parents die without an estate plan while children are under age 18 (“minors”), then the parents’ wishes about who will raise their children (“guardian”) may not be known or considered by the court.
- Other common problems include: young adult children receiving an inheritance too early (18 or 21 years old); children with special needs losing eligibility for Medicaid and other government benefits; increased costs due to court supervision and default rules of estate administration; and subjecting personal and family affairs to public scrutiny due to probate court requirements.
Most parents don’t want the default plan created under state laws. The only way to override the default plan is to create a legally enforceable estate plan.
We help parents like you.
If you’re like most parents, you already know you need an estate plan, but something is blocking you, for example:
- “My partner and I can’t agree who to name as our child’s guardian or fiduciary.”
- “I can’t meet with the lawyer yet because I don’t know what type of plan I need.”
- “We have simple affairs and assets and don’t want anything too complicated.”
- “This feels complicated. I’m confused where to even start!”
- “I don’t understand the difference between an online DIY will and working with a lawyer. How can the prices be so different? What am I missing?”
- “I don’t have time for this. Isn’t there a more convenient way to do this? My partner and I barely have time to see each other let alone meet a lawyer during the workday.”
If you agreed with any of those statements, we can help!
We have worked with hundreds of working-professional parents with limited time and budgets. We always start by answering your questions and explaining your options in a virtual meeting at no cost to you. Websites and online DIY wills cannot offer legal advice and recommendations, only a lawyer can. We provide comprehensive legal solutions and client satisfaction, not a stack of unintelligible documents.
When you work with Ross Law Firm, your best interests always come first, and we will not pressure you. It’s easy to schedule an appointment when convenient for you, including evenings and Saturdays. We offer customized estate plans to fit a variety of budgets, and we charge custom fixed prices based on the features you request in our virtual meeting. Online payment options include credit cards and e-checks, and no-interest automatic payment plans are available to make estate planning more affordable. We have a four-step process for clients to ensure that your estate plan becomes legally enforceable.
You can rely on our experience to help you create your estate plan. You will feel confident that you and your family are protected, whatever the future may bring!
Can we help you?
If you are a parent but do not have an estate plan or do not feel confident in your DIY will, sign up below to receive our email guide for parents that includes actionable steps. (You should also sign up a second time with your partner’s name and email address.)
This guide will explain basic estate planning options for parents, help you identify your trusted person(s) to be included as guardians and fiduciaries in your estate plan, and answer frequently asked questions about what’s included, price and payment options, estimated timeline, and more.
By completing our guide, you will be eligible to set a no-cost virtual meeting to discuss your estate plan with lawyer Patrick Ross, who is a working parent of two young children.
Important: Our first email should arrive within 10-15 minutes. Please check your spam or junk folders. If our first email gets stuck in spam or junk, please long-press or right-click on the email and “report not spam” and add the sender email address to your contact list. Taking these quick steps will make sure the 3-part email guide will be delivered to your inbox!
Disclaimers
Signing up for our guide does not create an attorney-client relationship between us. Please do not send us confidential information about yourself unless we specifically ask for it.
This email guide is intended as general information, not as legal advice to you. If you have questions, we first need to check for conflicts of interest, and then we can set a virtual meeting with you.
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