Estate Planning, Wills and Trusts

Estate Planning, Wills and Trusts Attorneys Serving McHenry County and Northern Illinois

Planning for your family’s future can be daunting, both emotionally and practically. It is unsettling to consider your spouse, children, and grandchildren’s lives after you are gone. It can also be tough to figure out the best way to help them financially yet protect your assets while you are alive. Fortunately, the skilled attorneys from Botto Gilbert Lancaster, PC, can help you create or update your will and draft a trust that best suits your needs. We are experienced in estate planning and can help ensure you have all the necessary documents and a clear plan for your personal items and business property.

If you think that a will or trust may be the right plan for you and your family, contact us today at 815-338-3838. We are happy to sit down with you to review your current situation and offer our advice on the best estate plan for your family’s future.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an Estate Plan?

A carefully crafted Estate Plan provides direction on how your assets should be distributed upon your passing. When properly executed, an Estate Plan can provide security in knowing how your spouse or children will be supported in the event that you are not there to care for them; in knowing to whom your assets will be distributed; or in knowing what will be the process and cost for administering your estate. 

 

Why Do I Need an Estate Plan?

If you pass way without Estate Plan documents, the probate laws of the applicable jurisdiction will provide for distribution based upon your familial relationship with certain individuals. However, if you wish to take control over the distribution of your assets, reduce costs to your estate or provide individualized support for particular individuals, as Estate Plan is a critical component of planning for the future. 

 

What Is the Difference Between a Will and a Trust?

Wills and Trusts are individual documents within the toolbox lawyers use to draft estate plans for their clients. A will includes provisions such as a list of beneficiaries to whom heirlooms or other assets are to be distributed, appointment of a guardian for minor children, and nomination of individuals to be the executor of the estate. A properly executed trust can provide for the transfer of assets without the necessity of going through the Probate courts, and it may allow an individual to provide detailed directions on how to provide for the financial needs of children or other individuals to whom the individual wishes to distribute his or her assets after death.

 

How Do I Go About Setting Up an Estate Plan?

There is no requirement that legal counsel be sought to execute an estate plan. Nevertheless, several factors must be considered when planning one’s estate. Issues such as the level to which children, spouses, or other individuals depend upon the individual for support; tax considerations; future financial needs and economic circumstances of the individual during his or her lifetime; available resources for end-of-life care; existing liabilities; and the ability for an individual’s family to pay for funerals or other costs all should be considered and incorporated into the Estate Plan.

Get In touCh

Contact us to schedule a free consultation!

Botto Gilbert Lancaster

970 McHenry Avenue
Crystal Lake, IL 60014
Phone: 815.338.3838
Toll-Free: 800.338.3833

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