Spring Grove, Illinois

Estate Planning Attorneys

When people think of “estate planning,” they automatically assume only wealthy people create one.

That couldn’t be further from the truth.

An estate plan protects you and your family’s interests if anything were to happen to you. It determines how any assets or property are divided, what happens to your business (if you own one), who cares for your children, and more.

As such, everyone needs an estate plan. And if you live in Spring Grove, Illinois, our attorneys at Diamond Estate Planning Law can help.

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Spring Grove, Illinois Estate Planning Services

At Diamond Estate Planning, we take the time to understand your unique situation and guide you through the process, every step of the way. Our services include:

Advance Directive, also known as a Living Will

A living will is a document that tells your healthcare provider (or hospital) your end-of-life medical care if you become unable to communicate. For example, a living will clarifies whether you want to be on life support, etc.

Asset Protection

A good estate plan and organizing everything in a good trust can protect assets from family disputes.

Estate Planning Resources For Professionals

As a professional, you have a lot of personal exposure because of the possibility of malpractice claims. For many professional licenses, you can never get rid of your liability for negligence or malpractice. If you have a claim that is either declined by your professional malpractice insurance or that exceeds the limits, a good estate plan can protect your assets. Things like a land trust with a bank or title company can keep your name out of the public records for your home.

Trusts

We create trusts that avoid probate (the process of your family going to court after you die). Our trusts clearly explain your wishes to your family and set up protections for minor children and family members on government assistance. Trusts can also direct your family to make charitable donations to causes you care about. Additionally, a trust can make sure specific items (like your grandmother’s wedding ring, a Gutenberg bible, your grandfather’s flag, the vintage Mustang) go to who you want to have them. A trust can spell out your wishes regarding who you want to take care of your children, and even your wishes for your pets. (Because we want to help you make sure Rover still gets his rubber Wall Street Journal every morning!)

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Wills

Wills spell out your wishes to your family. Like trusts, wills can make clear who you want to inherit what, as well as explaining your wishes for your children and your pets. Unlike trusts, however, your family still has to go to court after you die to access your money and distribute your property the way you wanted them to. Your will also becomes public record, whereas a trust does not.

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Wealth Preservation

Diamond Estate Planning can help with wealth preservation by making sure that when someone dies or becomes disabled, proper contingencies are in place. That way, you can control what will happen to your wealth and avoid possible loss or unnecessary legal expenses.

Power of Attorneys (POAs)

A power of attorney designates a person you trust to make health care or financial decisions for you if you can’t do them yourself. You also designate additional, backup people to step in if you first choice is unavailable. There are multiple types of POAs.

Health Care Power of Attorney: Spells out your wishes for your medical care, and end-of-life wishes in particular.
Power of Attorney for Property: Designates a person or people who can take care of your possessions, financial affairs, and real estate for you, if needed. This avoids needing a guardianship if you are temporarily incapacitated or disabled. Your power of attorney can conduct your affairs for you (write checks, pay bills, buy or sell real estate, etc.)

It’s important to note that these arrangements only work when you are alive. If you are your grandmother’s power of attorney and she passes away, you cannot do anything with her property (bank accounts, investment accounts and real estate) without either probating an estate or using a trust that she set up when she was alive.

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Health care power of attorney for minor children

Parents can set up a health care power of attorney for their children, giving someone other than themselves permission to take the child to the doctor or emergency room. One example could be if you are out of town for a long weekend or a long vacation without your child, or if your child is with a babysitter and you cannot get to the hospital or doctor to get them prompt treatment.

Avoiding Probate in Illinois

Put simply, the probate process is when the court oversees the process of distributing the estate of someone who has died.

Some of the most common assets in the probate process include:

Property and real estate
Personal items (such as cars, furniture, and jewelry)
Money in checking and savings accounts
Stocks, bonds, and investments
Intangible assets (patents, trademarks, etc.)

It’s important to note that not all assets are subject to probate. Additionally, the entire process can be avoided if the person whose estate is being transferred created a trust before they died.

Luckily, many probate cases go smoothly.

On the other hand, we have seen plenty of probate cases where there is significant in-fighting between members of the family, or confusing instructions or debts that need to be paid.

Working with an experienced Spring Grove, Illinois lawyer to help you create an estate plan while you’re still alive allows your family to conduct the estate administration themselves and avoid probate court altogether.

Why Choose Diamond Estate Planning?

At Diamond Estate Planning, we help you create an estate plan that works for you now and will grow with you as your family and estate grow.

We understand that the majority of our clients are not excited to think about dying, but we also know how important it is for you to do this for your children.

That’s why we try to make the process as painless and as streamlined as possible.

We take a team approach to make sure that all the details are correct, ensuring that multiple people understand your file and your needs so you don’t end up waiting endlessly for one attorney who’s stuck in court to call you back.