Schaumburg Estate Planning Lawyer

Cook County Attorney for Wills, Trusts, and Powers of Attorney

There are many different legal instruments that may be used to create a comprehensive and effective estate plan. These tools can help protect and preserve assets owned by a person or family while ensuring that money or property will be distributed correctly to heirs or beneficiaries. At Anderson Attorneys, P.C., we are skilled in drafting all types of estate planning documents and making sure our clients are fully protected. Everyone's personal and financial situation is different. Our firm creates personalized estate plans that are designed to meet your family's needs and effectively convey your wishes. We can help you understand the best options available, and we will ensure that all documents are created and executed correctly.

Essential Estate Planning Tools

The types of legal documents used in your estate plan will depend on your unique circumstances. We will carefully review your financial situation and discuss your personal goals prior to recommending an estate plan. This will include a thorough examination of the assets you own, ensuring that you understand the value of different types of property and the benefits that these assets can provide to you and your loved ones in the future. We will then help you make decisions about how you want different assets to be handled, and we will advise you on the best steps to take to put your plans into effect.

We can also advise you on how to address incapacity planning and address situations where you or other family members may become seriously ill or suffer injuries. If you or a loved one loses the ability to communicate your wishes and make decisions for yourself, decisions you make ahead of time can provide guidance for your loved ones and make sure the right steps will be followed when providing medical treatment or handling financial issues.

A comprehensive estate plan could include documents such as:

• Last will and testament – The foundation of most estate plans, a will specifies how your property and assets will be distributed upon your death. It also allows you to nominate a guardian for your minor children (and dependent adults). Making decisions about these issues can ensure that specific assets will go to different loved ones based on your wishes, and it can help your family avoid disputes about how different types of property will be divided among your heirs.
• Trusts – These financial tools can be used to immediately transfer assets to beneficiaries without going through probate. You can use a trust to protect certain types of assets, and you can use the assets in a trust to provide for your own needs later in life while including provisions for the distribution of assets to other beneficiaries either before or after your death. There are many types of trusts, including revocable living trusts, irrevocable trusts, special needs trusts, and charitable trusts.
• Living will – Also known as an advance directive, this is used to express your wishes regarding life-prolonging medical treatments for yourself in situations where you are terminally ill and unable to make your preferences known. By addressing these concerns ahead of time, you can make sure you will receive the medical care based on your preferences, and you can help your family make difficult decisions while avoiding uncertainty about what you would have wanted.
• Powers of attorney – These documents give legal power to a trusted agent to make medical and financial decisions for you if you are incapacitated. They can act in conjunction with a living will to ensure that you will receive the proper medical care if you become incapacitated. They can also help you ensure that your financial affairs will be handled correctly. With powers of attorney, you can make sure someone you trust will be able to assist you when necessary.

Prenuptial agreements, postnuptial agreements, and cohabitation agreements may also be used for estate planning purposes, and we are skilled in the preparation of these documents as well.

Contact Our Schaumburg, IL Estate Planning Attorney

To learn more about the estate planning tools available to you and how to best protect yourself and your family in the future, contact us at 847-850-8899 and schedule a free consultation. From our office in Schaumburg, we work with clients throughout the Chicago area, including Cook County, DuPage County, Lake County, and beyond.