Our Minooka Wills Attorneys Know How To Handle All Types Of Cases

Wills

A will is a legally-binding document that identifies who should inherit your property or care for your minor children. We can assist you in preparing a valid will and what to include in your will. In a will you will need to appoint an executor and a custodian if you have any minor children. If a person dies without a valid will and did not make alternate arrangements to distribute property, survivors may face a complicated, time-consuming, and expensive legal process. We also recommend that you include financial and healthcare powers of attorney to take care of all your estate needs.

Trusts

A trust created for the trustor and administered by another party while the trustor is still alive. A living trust can be either revocable or irrevocable. A living trust avoids probate and therefore gets assets distributed significantly more quickly than a will does. It also offers a higher level of confidentiality, as probate proceedings are a matter of public record. Additionally, trusts are usually harder to contest than wills. On the downside, a living trust takes longer to put together than a will, and requires more ongoing maintenance. Although both a will and a living trust can be modified or revoked at any time before death, such changes are slightly more time-consuming for a living trust. Additionally, assets that a person wants to move to a living trust, such as real estate and bank or brokerage accounts, have to be re-titled.

Probate

Probate is the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person, resolving all claims and distributing the deceased person’s property under a will. The court officially appoints the executor, generally named in the will, as having legal power to dispose of the assets in the manner specified in the will. Distribution of certain estate assets such as real estate requires the liquidation of the assets. If there is not will, usually the closest relative is appointed as the executor of the estate. Through the probate process a will may be contested. We are happy to assist you with the complex nature of probate court.