SERVICES
Our Services
Estate Planning, Probate Law, and More
Partner with the Law Office of Elizabeth M. Miller for efficient and hassle-free legal services. For more than 10 years, our law office in Joliet, IL has been helping many residents for their real estate, probate, and estate planning requirements. Our company is headed by an Illinois-licensed attorney who is also well-trained in handling matters on trusts, wills, and powers of attorney. Continue reading to meet our highly skilled lawyer.
Estate Planning
Estate Planning is just what the name implies. It is a process of planning during your lifetime, the manner in which you would like your estate (whether it be large or small) to be distributed upon death; or the management of your assets during incapacity. Estate planning is not just for the wealthy.
If probate avoidance is your goal, a Living Trust will provide for your wishes without court supervision. The value of your assets will determine the complexity and the type of trust you will need. It is crucial that once the Trust is established, it is properly funded so that the assets will be controlled by the document. In other words, creating a document such as a Living Trust provides for the method of handling your assets, but unless you title your assets in the name of your trust, or make the trust the beneficiary of that asset, the document will be totally ineffective. Therefore, funding is a crucial part of the estate planning process.
A Will and Powers-of-Attorney for both health care and property should be part of each person’s legal documents. A will does not avoid probate; however, once again, the wishes of the testator will be recognized. Illinois statutes, as well as other state jurisdictions, provide guidance in the distribution of an intestate estate (an estate without a will). That distribution may not parallel your wishes at all.
Powers-of-Attorney allow you to designate an agent who will act on your behalf if you are unable to do so due to illness or other incapacity. These documents must be executed while you are still able to make informed decisions or, otherwise stated, have “legal capacity.” Very often, we have family members consult us when a member of their family has been admitted to a hospital and cannot make decisions. It is too late at that point. A guardianship proceeding must be instituted. Powers-of-Attorney documents can help you avoid this dilemma.
Creating an estate plan and executing the essential documents in that plan will greatly reduce the stress level associated with the passing of loved ones. It allows the executor (a person designated by you to collect and disburse your assets under a will) or successor trustee to transfer assets in an orderly fashion. Most importantly, planning allows you the comfort to know that your assets will be transferred according to your wishes.
Probate
Decedent’s Estates
Probated decedent’s estate is a legal process to settle a decedent’s estate with or without a will where the estate is in excess of $100,000.00 and/or there is real estate involved. A probate estate does not include joint tenancy property, trust property, POD, or beneficiary-designated property such as life insurance or retirement accounts. These assets pass on by operation of law. Probated assets include any asset left in the sole name of the decedent; or any asset where there is no designated beneficiary; or the beneficiary has predeceased the decedent. If the total probated asset of the decedent is less than $100,000.00 and there is no real estate left in the name of the decedent, then a Small Estate Affidavit may be utilized to transfer the property to the legatees (persons taking under a will) or heirs at law (persons who inherit by statutory provisions of the probate code).
It is important to seek legal counsel when a decedent leaves property to be distributed so that the proper avenues are taken to settle the estate.
Guardianships
In probate court, you can petition for guardianship of either a minor child or a disabled adult. These proceedings become necessary when there are no documents, such as Powers of Attorney, in existence to designate the person you would want to take care of your children or yourself in case of death or disability.
Real State
Purchasing and selling real estate involves one of the biggest assets of an individual. Often, however, legal counsel is not consulted because it is deemed unnecessary.