Estate planning is one of the few legal projects that almost everyone needs and almost everyone postpones. A young couple with a new baby probably has more reason to have a will than a retiree does — guardianship designations for the child alone are reason enough — and yet the retiree has usually thought about it more. The mismatch between who needs estate planning and who actually does it is one of the most consistent patterns in this practice.
At Naperville Law Offices, we work with DuPage County families to build estate plans that fit the situation in front of them rather than the situation a generic template assumes.
Three Statutes Shape Most Illinois Estate Planning
The Illinois Probate Act (755 ILCS 5/) governs what happens to estates after death, with or without a will. The Illinois Trust Code (760 ILCS 3/), substantially revised effective January 1, 2020, governs how trusts are created, modified, and administered. And the Illinois estate tax — separate from the federal tax — applies to estates exceeding $4 million, with a graduated rate that climbs to 16 percent at the top.
The $4 million threshold catches more DuPage County estates than people expect. Naperville home values, fully funded retirement accounts, and life insurance death benefits add up quickly. A married couple with a $1.5 million home, $2 million in combined retirement accounts, and $750,000 in life insurance is already at the Illinois threshold without anything unusual in the picture.
Services We Provide
Our estate planning practice handles:
- Wills, including pour-over wills for trust-based plans
- Revocable living trusts
- Irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs) to remove insurance from the taxable estate
- QTIP and marital trusts for federal and Illinois estate tax planning
- Illinois statutory powers of attorney (property and health care)
- Living wills and advance directives
- Beneficiary designation reviews on retirement accounts, annuities, and life insurance
- Charitable giving strategies, including donor-advised funds and charitable trusts
- Business succession planning for closely-held companies
- Designation of guardian for minor children
- Plan reviews following marriage, divorce, births, deaths, and major asset changes
A coordinated plan involves more than the will. Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance pass independently of the will and need to be aligned with it. Property titled jointly with right of survivorship passes outside the will entirely. Trust funding — actually retitling assets into the trust — is what makes a trust-based plan function. Drafting is half the work. Coordination is the other half.
How We Approach the Work
The initial conversation usually takes longer than people expect, because it should. A second marriage with children from prior relationships needs a different plan than a first marriage with shared children. A family-owned business creates considerations a portfolio of mutual funds does not. A child with special needs changes the structure of the whole plan. These are things we work through at the start, before any drafting begins.
Contact Naperville Law Offices
If you have been meaning to put an estate plan in place, or you have one that no longer fits the family it was written for, contact Naperville Law Offices for a confidential consultation.