In this article, our Downers Grove trust attorneys explain the differences between wills and trusts, what wills and trusts can accomplish for you, and why it is appropriate for some people to have both.  

Both wills and trusts will allow you to provide for the distribution of your assets when you pass.  However, revocable living trusts will allow your estate to avoid a costly and stressful probate proceeding and will give you greater control over how the inheritances of minor children are distributed.  On the other hand, wills will allow you to name a guardian for minor children.

 Read the full article by our Downers Grove will and trust attorneys comparing and contrasting wills and trusts.  

In this article, our Downers Grove trust attorneys explain how revocable living trusts can be used to ensure that a costly, stressful, and time-consuming probate estate is not necessary to distribute your assets to your loved ones when you pass away.

In Illinois, if you own any real estate, including your home, outside of a trust or more than $100,000.00 of non-real estate assets outside of a trust when you pass, probate is required.  Probate can cost 5% to 10% of the value of your estate in attorney fees and court costs and typically takes at least a year to complete before your assets can be distributed to your loved ones.  By using a revocable living trust as your primary estate planning vehicle, rather than a will, our Downers Grove revocable living trust attorneys can ensure that your estate passes immediately to your loved ones when you pass without the need for an expensive and time-consuming probate estate. 

Read the full article by our Downers Grove will and trust lawyers explaining how revocable living trusts can be used to avoid probate in Illinois. 

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In this article, our Downers Grove trust attorneys explain the tools that we use to assist our clients in minimizing or reducing estate tax.  We discuss AB Trusts, which allow married couples to take advantage of each other's estate tax exemptions; Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, which remove the death benefit of your life insurance policies from your taxable estate; and Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts, Grantor Retained Income Trusts, and Grantor Retained Unitrusts, which allow assets to accumulate in value without the accumulated value being included in your taxable estate.

 Read the full article by our Downers Grove trust attorneys about how to use trusts to minimize or avoid estate tax.