Two out of three Americans do not have a will. The number does not change much from year to year. The reasons are familiar: too uncomfortable to think about, too easy to put off, never quite the right moment. The cost of that delay only becomes visible when something goes wrong — and by then, the family is dealing with both the loss and the consequences of the missing plan.
At Naperville Law Offices, we help DuPage County families put wills and trusts in place while the time and clarity are still available to do it well.
Two Different Tools for Two Different Jobs
A will controls what happens to property at death. It names an executor to administer the estate, designates beneficiaries for specific bequests and the residue, and — for parents of minor children — designates a guardian. To be valid in Illinois under 755 ILCS 5/4-3, a will must be in writing, signed by the testator (or by another person in the testator’s presence and at the testator’s direction), and witnessed by at least two credible witnesses who sign in the testator’s presence.
A revocable living trust does something different. Property titled in the trust during the grantor’s lifetime passes outside probate at death, going directly to the named beneficiaries through the successor trustee. The trust also operates during the grantor’s lifetime — useful if the grantor becomes incapacitated, because the successor trustee can step in without a guardianship proceeding.
For many Naperville families, the right structure combines both: a revocable trust holds the major assets (the house, the brokerage accounts, the business interests), and a pour-over will captures anything that was inadvertently left outside the trust at death and directs it into the trust through probate.
The Illinois Trust Code Changed Things in 2020
Effective January 1, 2020, Illinois replaced the older Trust and Trustees Act with the Illinois Trust Code (760 ILCS 3/), based largely on the Uniform Trust Code. The new code affects almost every aspect of trust drafting and administration — fiduciary duties, beneficiary notice requirements, trust modification and termination, trustee removal, and the rights of qualified beneficiaries. Trusts drafted under the old framework still function, but Illinois trust practice today is conducted under the new code, and updates to older trusts often benefit from being reviewed against current law.
Services We Provide
Our wills and trusts practice supports clients with:
- Last will and testament drafting and execution
- Pour-over wills coordinated with trust-based plans
- Revocable living trusts
- Irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs)
- QTIP and marital trusts for tax planning
- Generation-skipping transfer (GST) planning
- Charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) and charitable lead trusts (CLTs)
- Children’s trusts for minor and young-adult beneficiaries
- Pet trusts under 760 ILCS 3/408
- Trust funding — actually retitling assets so the trust functions as intended
- Trust amendments and restatements
- Decanting under the Illinois Trust Code’s decanting provisions
- Trust administration after the grantor’s death
- Will and trust contests
- Modifications under the new Trust Code
The drafting is half the work. Funding the trust — moving bank accounts, brokerage accounts, real estate, and business interests into the trust — is what makes the plan operate. A trust signed but never funded ends up passing assets through probate anyway, which defeats much of the reason for having the trust.
How We Approach the Work
We approach wills and trusts as the foundation of the broader estate plan. The other pieces — powers of attorney, beneficiary designations, special needs planning, business succession — coordinate around the will and trust. Getting that foundation right makes everything else easier.
Contact Naperville Law Offices
If you need to create or update a will or trust, contact Naperville Law Offices to schedule a confidential consultation.