#ESTATE PLANNING LAWYER CHARLES GRIPPO #PARK RIDGE, ILLINOIS

"Probate" is a legal process which distributes your property and ensures that your debts are paid off. If you die without a will or trust, the court orders distribution of your assets according to the laws of your state, which may or may not be what you would have wanted. Probate is a public process, which means anyone - your relatives, friends, and neighbors -can see your intimate financial details. It can also take time and cost your estate a great deal of money. Even if you have a will, your estate may have to be probated, but a will facilitates the process and ensures that your property is distributed as you wish. . 

A "Will" is a legal document which directs how you want your assets to be distributed after you die. "Wills" can be simple or complex, depending on what is best for your estate and your goals. Having a "Will" can simplify and even speed up probate. However, wills can be contested, which can extend probate for months and even  years, and can cost your estate a lot of money. "Wills" are also public documents, so anyone - your relatives, friends, and neighbors - can read and even obtain copies of your will, thereby exposing your private affairs to them. 

A "Trust" is a legal document whereby a trustee takes title to your property and manages it according to your instructions in a "Trust Agreement." With a trust you can avoid the expense, delays, and public exposure of "Probate." In most cases, upon your death, the trustee can begin distributing your property and paying off your debts right away.  A "Revocable" trust gives you the power to revoke or change the trust or the trustee any time you wish. An "Irrevocable" trust, once established, cannot be changed. Whether your trust should be "Revocable" or "Irrevocable" is an important decision, which you should not make without the guidance of an attorney. There are advantages and disadvantages to each kind of Trust, depending on your needs, goals, and situation. 

I have been creating Trusts for clients for years. Let me help you determine whether a Trust is right for you, which kind of Trust is best for your situation and goals, and prepare the right Trust for you.

 "Powers of Attorney" are  smart documents to create. 

With a "Power of Attorney for Health Care," you are giving  a trusted relative or friend the authority, to make medical decisions for you, deal with doctors and hospitals, and otherwise manage your medical care,  in the event a disability prevents you from  doing so  yourself.  In the document creating the Power of Attorney for Health Care, you can make your wishes and instructions known for your Attorney-in-Fact to follow and make sure you receive the care you want. 

Likewise, through a "Power of Attorney for Financial Matters," you are authorizing an "Attorney-in-fact" to manage your financial affairs if you are unable to do so yourself. 

Under both  powers you can specify excactly what your wishes are, and you can make your Attorney-in-fact's authority as expansive or restrictive as you wish. 

You can also revoke or modify each at any time.

You should create them under the guidance of an attorney.

I have created numerous Powers of Attorney for Health Care and for Financial Matters for clients. I am well knowledgeable in helping  you create what is best for you. 

A "Transfer on Death Deed,"  (known for short as a TOD deed) automatically transfers real estate to one or more beneficiaries when the property owner (also known as the Grantor) passes away.

 ADVANTAGES

• Avoids the delays of Probate.
• Avoids the cost of Probate.
• May be cost effective for persons with modest estates.
• Revocable until death.
• Ownership doesn't change.
• Retain tax exemptions
• Saves Legal Fees
• May be tax savings
• Shields property from beneficiary's creditors during owner's life, not after his death.
• Applies to both residential and non residential property. 

DISADVANTAGES

But while the TOD deed has many advantages, it also has some disadgantages. It may not be the right solution for every estate.  There may be better ways for a particular Owner to pass real estate on to his beneficiaries upon his death.

It is wise to consult an attorney to determine whether a Transfer on Death Deed is best for your situation.

I have prepared numerous Transfer on Death Deeds for clients. I am well knowledgeable in guiding  a client to making the right decisions about passing his  real estate on to his  beneficiaries upon his  death.

In a "Land Trust" you deed your  real estate, such as your home or business property, into a separate entity, called a "Land Trust." You no longer have title to the property. Instead title is held by the Trustee of the Land Trust.

 You will create a trust agreement, in which you give speciic instructions to the trustee how he is to manage your real estate. During your lifetime, you will likely name yourself as the beneficiary of the trust who can enjoy all of the benefits of ownership. Upon your death, you will name successor beneficiaries who will inherit the property through the trust.

 A land trust is a covenient, inexpensive  way to avoid probate upon your death; your real estate in the trust  does not have to go through probate. 

A  land trust is also private; public records show the land trustee as title owner of the land, and the provisions of your trust agreement do not become public. 

Your trustee can distribute it to your beneficiaries immediately, though you can impose time restrictions on when they can receive it. 

Land Trusts can be revoked or modified at any time. You retain the power to sell, mortgage, lease, or live in the property as you wish.

They are relatively inexpensive to create. The trustee will charge you an initial fee to create the trust (in addition to attorney's fees). Every year the trustee will bill you a modest fee for holding the trust. Additional modest fees will be charged if the trustee has to perform  additional  services for the trust.

 While adults, 18 years and older, can be trustees, it makes more sense to appoint a trust company, like a bank, as trustee. 

Establishing a land trust is something that should be done with the guidance of an attorney. I have created many trusts on behalf of clients, so I am well knowledgeable in the best way to create one for you. 

A "Living Will" is a  written advance directive, in which you instruct doctors, hospitals, and other providers of  your choices for medical care, if you are so incapacitated you can't make those decisions for yourself. As long as your Living Will was properly prepared in compliance with state law, medical providers must honor your wishes.

You can revoke or modify your "Living Will" at any time. 

You should not prepare a "Living Will" without the guidance of an attorney.  I have created many "Living Wills" for clients and therefore I can help you prepare yours. 

Did you know that many otherwise healthy animals are euthanized each year, because they have no one to care for them? Often this happens because the Owner passed away, while their pet was still alive. Or illlness or an injury made it impossible for the owner to go on taking care of it.

Unfortunately, in this world, it is not often possible to find someone who will care for a pet when the Owner is gone or disabled. And that is why many pets are euthanized well before their time or they end up mistreated in scientific experiments.

Increasingly, more and more pet owners are creating Pet Trusts, to ensure that, if they predecease their pet or beceome so disabled they can no longer care for it, that their best friend can live out the rest of its days receiving the quality of care its owner would want for it. With a Pet Trust the Owner appoints a Guardian and a Trustee who will be legally responsible for taking care of the pet the way the Owner wants. In the written Pet Trust, the Owner can specify exactly the kind of life he wants for the best friend who survives him.

Don't run the risk of  having your  best friend euthanized or mistreated if you are no longer around to care for it. By creating a Pet Trust for it, you will be giving your pet the greatest gift of love you can give.

I have helped clients create Pet Trusts. Let me help you. 

A "Pour Over Will" ensures that assets which  are not part of a Revocable or Irrevocable Trust nonetheless pass to the owner's beneficiaries according to his wishes.

Sometimes owners forget  or deliberately omit gifting some of their assets - like their automobile, for instance - into their trust. Or, more often, people acquire assets after they have created their trust. Those assets would not pass according to the terms of the trust and to the beneficiaries of the trust. They would pass by operation of law - i.e. according to the laws of the owner's state. This may not be the owner's intentions for those assets. To make sure they pass as the owner wishes, a  Pour Over Will can cover them.

While a Pour Over Will may still need to be probated,  if the Owner has placed the majority of his assets into his trust, usually the "Pour Over" assets are much less and therefore can pass through a simplified, less expensive, and less time consuming Probate proceeding. A "Pour Over Will" is an essential supplement to every trust and should be part of a  comprehensive Estate Plan.

A "Pour Over Will" may be revoked or modified at any time before the owner dies.

I have been preparing "Pour Over Wills" for clients for decades. I am very knowledgeable about how  to create one for you. Let me help you. 

(Photo: Adobe Stock)