Planning for the future is an important part of the services we provide. Planning can include direction about what you want to happen during your lifetime (powers of attorney, trusts, “living wills”), as well as after your death (wills and estate/probate administration). Many times people have questions about long-term care, nursing home, and Medicaid and other elder law issues.

Our attorneys are also experienced in advising clients and drafting special needs trusts to address issues involving family members with disabilities. As our society becomes more litigious, more clients are also considering the implementation of dynasty trusts for their children to provide an added layer of protection for inheritances being left to younger generations.

Whether the estate is large or small, our attorneys can counsel and advise you so that your wishes and needs, or those of the deceased, are understood and professionally accomplished.

Today’s tax laws can be complex. We can help reduce this complexity. For Illinois residents, this complexity has been heightened as a result of the Illinois inheritance tax exemption decoupling from the federal estate tax exemption. This decoupling can result in a significant inheritance tax liability being incurred where clients have estates in excess of $2 Million and have not undertaking proper planning.

Estate planning includes much more than the preparation and drafting of documents. An estate planning attorney must coordinate and determine the appropriate form of ownership of assets and the beneficiary designations on insurance policies, annuities, 401(k) and IRA accounts. In addition, planning for lifetime gifts to children or other third parties and assisting the client in their overall financial and business planning are important aspects of the services provided by our attorneys.

The use of trusts in estate planning has become increasingly popular. While not appropriate in every case, revocable or living trusts can play an important role in estate, business and tax planning. In addition, the use of trusts can play a central role in the avoidance of probate when appropriate.

Irrevocable trusts are also an effective estate planning tool, especially in life insurance planning, educational planning, and charitable gifting. Planning for retirement plan assets such as 401(k)s and IRAs have become increasingly complex. Because these assets are often a significant part of a client’s estate, careful analysis and understanding of the complicated income and estate tax rules relating to these assets is necessary to achieve the client’s goals and preserve the maximum savings of both income and estate tax. Our attorneys can provide valuable insight and expertise in helping clients coordinate their retirement and estate planning objectives in the most efficient manner.

When we work with a client in the preparation of an estate plan, we ask that they give some thought to the following topics:

1. Are there gifts of special property — jewelry or family heirlooms, for example — which you want to make to certain people?
2. Is any of your property, especially real estate or a motor vehicle, held in “joint tenancy” with another person? Under Illinois law, interests in joint tenancy property pass by operation of law on the death of the first joint tenant.
3. In a will, you should name an executor as well as a successor executor. The executor is the person who acts to see that the provisions contained in the will are carried out. The executor may be a relative, a friend, or a financial institution such as a bank.
4. Some people choose to make gifts to educational institutions, religious organizations, and other charities in a will. In some cases, as a part of an estate plan, a person makes a gift of property to such an organization, and still retains a right to receive income from that property for some time into the future.
5. A life insurance policy, IRAs and annuities have beneficiary arrangements which can override a will. We recommend that at client review beneficiary designations for these type of assets to coordinate their distribution with the client’s other estate planning documents.

No one comes into a meeting with an attorney having answers to all of these questions decided. The purpose of the list is merely to give our client an idea of the kinds of topics that we will want to discuss as we work together to prepare an estate plan that meets the client’s planning objectives.

If you believe that our office could assist you in these matters, please give our office a call to arrange for an appointment.