Estate Planning

The Basics

Estate plans can be basic or complex, depending on your goals. At Armstrong, Grove & Wawrzynek LLC we help people make sure their last wishes are in place through personalized planning for your family and your assets. Typical documents include Wills, Codicils (amendments to a Will), Trusts, Trust Amendments and/or Restatements, Power of Attorney for Health Care, Power of Attorney for Property, and Living Wills.

Wills provide direction for after your death, while Powers of Attorney and Living Wills (and some Trusts) provide directions to be followed during your lifetime in the event that you are incapacitated. Trusts can be used during your lifetime or to provide direction for after your death, or both. Together these documents provide clarity for loved ones while providing peace of mind for you. We urge everyone to put a plan in place to ease the paperwork and worry for yourself and for loved ones who survive.

The time frame from start to finish depends on many factors with your particular situation. In most cases, clients receive first drafts within a few weeks of their initial consultation.

Special Needs / Supplemental Needs Trusts

If you or a loved one has a disability, you may want to speak with an attorney about creating a Special Needs / Supplemental Needs Trust (also known as an OBRA Trust). When prepared correctly, these trusts are not considered resources for purposes of qualifying for public aid. As such, the disabled individual is able to continue to receive state and federal benefits while the trust assets are used to supplement those benefits to provide the individual with quality of life items not covered by the state (e.g. haircuts or clothes or a television).

Estate Tax Planning

Estate taxes are calculated based upon the total amount of assets being transferred by reason of your death, which does include the value of your retirement accounts (even those with named beneficiaries) and the death benefit paid on your life insurance policies. In Illinois, as of 2021, there is a $4million exemption amount and the federal exemption is much higher. Those numbers are subject to change. However, for now, if you are an Illinois resident and the total value of all assets being transferred by reason of your death is less than $4million, your estate will not owe any estate taxes.

If your assets already exceed the exemption amount, or even if your assets have the potential or likelihood of exceeding the exemption amount during your lifetime, you should consider creating an estate plan which focuses on avoiding or minimizing estate taxes. Various trusts (e.g. irrevocable life insurance trusts / Crummey trusts, charitable remainder trusts, or charitable lead trusts) can be useful in this process, as can something as simple as lifetime gifts made outright to your intended beneficiaries.

Avoiding Probate

Without any plan in place, your family will likely need to file a Petition with the local Court to open a Probate case in order to administer your estate. Although Probate can be useful in particular circumstances, sometimes avoiding Probate is the best plan for your family, potentially in terms of both cost-savings and time-savings. Various methods can be used, including use of trusts, use of named beneficiaries on your accounts, and/or use of Transfer on Death Instruments. If avoiding Probate is of interest to you, you should speak with an attorney regarding your priorities and options.