Discover How A Living Trust Enhances Your Estate Plan
A living trust is a vital part of a comprehensive estate plan, allowing you to enjoy the benefits of certain assets, including a house, then transfer ownership of the asset to someone else after you pass away. It’s a process similar to a will, but one that avoids the probate process. Many people prefer a living trust to a will because they are more private, flexible, and can help reduce estate taxes and probate expenses. However, for a living trust to be effective, it must be crafted in accordance with the Illinois Estates Code. Our Lisle, IL living trust lawyer creates the right living trust to protect certain assets, and can even manage it for you.
The attorneys at Madden Law LLC help Illinois families like yours preserve their assets and begin growing generational wealth. We incorporate living trusts into your estate plan and can change the terms of an existing trust, if possible. Contact us today to learn more.
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Our Lisle Living Trust Lawyer Helps You Bypass Probate
A properly constructed living trust in Illinois allows you to pass certain property down to a chosen beneficiary without going through probate or writing it into your will. Upon your passing, the heir immediately benefits from the asset or money. While you live, you retain control over the asset and can benefit from it. However, the contents of a trust are legally owned by the trust, which gives you a certain measure of protection and privacy.
When you bequeath assets to an heir in your will, the terms of the will become part of the public record when it goes through probate (the legal process of transferring assets from the deceased’s estate to their heirs). Curious people can see what you owned and what your surviving family owns now, which makes many people uncomfortable. With a living trust, though, you protect your privacy, as the terms of a living trust are not entered into the public record in probate court.
You can add assets to the living trust at any time and manage its contents, ideally growing the trust to begin creating generational wealth. A trust also protects the assets it contains from seizure by creditors or in a lawsuit; legally speaking, the assets belong to the trust, not you. Creditor seizure isn’t the only protection that a living trust offers. It also preserves the assets inside from a will challenge. If you believe that one heir may challenge the transfer of a certain asset or amount of money, then placing the asset in a living trust can put the kibosh on it.
Is A Living Trust Right For You?
In a personal consultation with our Lisle living trust lawyer, you can learn more about how living trusts in Illinois work and decide if this is right for you. A living trust can help preserve your assets so you have enough for retirement or end-of-life care and give you security and peace of mind, knowing that whatever happens, you’re protected.
The attorneys at Madden Law LLC get to know you in personal consultations when building your estate plan. We recommend the right legal protections to accomplish your goals and prudent solutions that withstand legal challenge. Let our attorneys protect everything you’ve worked so hard for. Contact us today for a consultation.