Skip to main content

Woodstock, Illinois

Estate Planning Attorneys

What happens once you pass away?

Who gets to inherit your things? How can you ensure that your children will be taken care of after you’re gone?

Our team of Woodstock, Illinois estate planning lawyers at Diamond Estate Planning Law can help you set up a will or a trust to ensure your family has a plan in place for your family’s future.

Click to schedule a free consultation

Estate Planning in Woodstock, Illinois

Estate planning is the process of creating an easy way for your spouse or loved ones to deal with your passing or becoming incapacitated.

Unfortunately, if you don’t have a plan for your kids and your stuff, then the state of Illinois will create one for you through a process known as probate.

But a good estate plan can keep you in control and make sure your wishes are protected.

Some of the assets you may want included in your estate plan:

  • Property and other real estate
  • Personal possessions (cars, furniture, jewelry, boats)
  • Bank accounts
  • 401K or simple retirement account
  • Investments
  • Life insurance

You want to decide who will receive all these assets, what exactly they should receive, and when they should receive it.

Making note of those wishes and organizing them into a concrete plan is estate planning.

Our Woodstock, 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!)

Find out more

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.

Find out more

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.

Find out more

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.

Why Having An Estate Plan Is So Important If You Have Children

You need to appoint someone you trust to take care of them, as well as a contingent if, for some reason, your first choice is unable to fulfill their obligations.

Guardianship is a huge undertaking that shouldn’t be agreed to lightly. You must discuss this with your desired guardian – and contingent guardian – beforehand so that they know what your wishes are.

Wills and trusts allow you to spell out the potential guardian(s) you have chosen for your children, as well as your wishes and desires for the children’s lives and futures.

Again, without an appointed guardian in place, the state will select one for you.

That’s why it is essential to have Diamond Estate Planning Law help you establish your choice of guardian in your will or trust.

Contact our Woodstock, Illinois Estate Planning lawyers today

Family life gets busy. But the future is unpredictable, and you want to make sure your family is protected in case the unthinkable happens. Whether it’s your kids, your grandkids, or other family members you want taken care of, we’re here to help. Contact Diamond Estate Planning Law today.
Click to schedule a free consultation
Contact Us





    Skip to content