Estate & Trust

WHAT ARE YOUR ESTATE PLANNING NEEDS?

Lawler Brown drafts estate planning documents based on each client’s individual needs. We will work with you to help you answer important questions such as, would a trust be beneficial to you or would a simple Will suffice? Whom should you name as your trustee, executor or guardian? Can disagreements within a blended family be mitigated or prevented?

During your consultation we sit down with you, face to face, to understand your goals and needs. We will explain what each document does in terms you can understand, and how each can offer you peace of mind. Our services include the following:

  • Wills and trusts
  • Health care directives and living wills
  • Revocable trusts and irrevocable trusts
  • Special needs trusts
  • Prenuptial agreements

A clear understanding of your goals for yourself and family in the years ahead is essential to any estate plan. The assistance of an attorney experienced with effective estate planning tools such as a will, trusts and powers of attorney can ensure your wishes become the reality you intend.

EFFECTIVELY HANDLING ALL ASPECTS OF ESTATE PLANNING

Our attorneys address all elements of estate planning. Most importantly, we will assist you in developing a plan that leaves your estate to the people you choose. We can prepare trusts which protect assets that you leave to someone who is a minor or disabled. We will help you arrange your assets to minimize estate taxes and to enhance the efficiency of the probate administration process or to avoid probate entirely. We will draft wills and create trusts as necessary to distribute your assets. We prepare durable powers of attorney for health care and finances, so that you can select the people who will make essential decisions should you become unable to make these decisions yourself. We prepare living wills, so that you can make your health care wishes clear.

If you are a small business owner, we can address your business succession planning needs.

CREATE WILLS AND TRUSTS TO MANAGE ASSETS YOUR WAY

A Will controls the distribution of the assets of your estate. A Trust legally defines how money, investments, property and other assets are to be managed before and after your death, and who the beneficiaries are. While you may revoke or change a will prior to it taking effect, if you die without one, assets may not be divided as you intend, or there could be tax consequences. A Trust or Trusts can work as flexible tools in planning your estate. They can ensure a particular person is taken care of financially, they can help reduce potential taxes, they can help to minimize probate administration and they can fund gifts to a favored charity.

We help clients draft wills that can prevent surviving family member disputes, ensure young children are properly cared for or a family business remains so. We also assist clients in creating testamentary or living trusts-revocable or irrevocable-designed to provide for special needs, engage in charitable giving and facilitate asset transfers or avoid probate issues.

LET US HELP

In a world filled with unexpected twists and turns, advanced planning is essential. Through effective estate planning, you can ensure that your wishes regarding health care, asset distribution and other important matters are clear.

At Lawler Brown Law Firm in Marion, Illinois, our skills can help you prepare for all contingencies. Whether you are a new parent worried about who will care for your children if something happens to you or you are approaching the later years in your life and want to clearly establish your health care wishes, we can effectively serve you.

Contact us today to schedule your confidential consultation to begin getting your affairs in order.

Have Questions? We Can Help!

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