Posted on August 18, 2025 in Estate Planning

When planning your estate, trusts are one of the most effective ways to protect your assets. Revocable and irrevocable trusts can help protect your money, care for your loved ones, and make sure your wishes are honored. Choosing the right type of trust takes careful thought because each one has its own benefits and drawbacks. A Chatham, IL estate planning attorney can guide you through these choices and help you create a plan that provides lasting security.

What Is the Difference Between a Revocable and an Irrevocable Trust in Illinois?

A revocable trust, also called a living trust, allows you to maintain control over your assets during your lifetime. Under this arrangement, you can add or remove property, change beneficiaries, or dissolve the trust entirely. The Illinois Trust Code, under 760 ILCS 3, explains how trusts are set up, managed, and followed. Because you can amend a revocable trust at any time, the assets inside remain part of your estate.

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 Posted on July 18, 2025 in Residential Real Estate

Many homeowners facing missed mortgage payments wonder how to protect their credit and financial future. For most people, a short sale is nearly always a better option than foreclosure. The first step is to find out whether or not you qualify. An Illinois real estate lawyer can explain the short sale process and walk you through the requirements.

What Is the Difference Between a Short Sale and Foreclosure?

Both a short sale and foreclosure mean giving up your home, but they work very differently. A short sale allows you to sell your home for less than you owe and potentially walk away with less damage to your credit. Foreclosure happens when the lender takes legal action to reclaim the property because you have stopped paying your mortgage.

The foreclosure process ends in a court-ordered sale of your home, often at a public auction. However, with a short sale, you find a buyer for your house and ask your lender to accept less than what you owe on the mortgage. If the lender agrees, the home is sold, and you might be able to avoid owing the leftover debt. Foreclosure, on the other hand, takes away your control and causes greater damage to your credit. It can happen quickly once legal proceedings start.

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 Posted on June 20, 2025 in Estate Planning

When a will does not comply with Illinois law, it will likely be declared invalid. Working with an experienced Illinois estate planning attorney is the first line of defense in avoiding mistakes that can unravel your will and your wishes. Additionally, understanding the requirements for a valid will can help you protect your estate from costly litigation and ensure that your assets go exactly where you intend.

What Are the Legal Requirements for a Valid Will in Illinois?

The Probate Act of 1975 outlines the requirements for an Illinois will. According to 755 ILCS 5/4-3 of the act, a will must be in writing and signed by the testator, who is the person making the will. It can also be signed by someone acting on the testator’s behalf and by their direction. It must be signed in the presence of two or more credible witnesses. The testator must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind and memory. Failure to meet any of these conditions could result in the will being deemed invalid. 

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 Posted on May 19, 2025 in Estate Planning

An estate plan is a carefully curated portfolio of documents designed to comprehensively address your wishes. You can include plans for nearly every posthumous consideration, and an experienced Illinois estate planning attorney will guide you through the process, offering advice for documents for your plan, including those that bypass the probate process. Consider the advantages of skipping probate, including options like a living trust or transfer-on-death instruments, and why this may benefit your family after you are gone.

Why Try To Avoid Probate in Illinois?

Illinois probate is a legal process undertaken to administer a deceased person’s estate. It involves court-supervised asset collection, debt settlement, and property distribution according to the will. It seems fair enough – so, why would someone want to avoid it? 

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 Posted on April 17, 2025 in Residential Real Estate

The processes of selling and purchasing real estate can be highly complex, with much room for error. The legal jargon in closing documents alone can leave you wondering what you signed. Having an experienced Illinois real estate attorney can make the process feel more secure. If you are selling your home, consider the role of a real estate lawyer and how our attorney can help you sell your property.

Preparing the Listing

Your attorney will work closely with the real estate broker to review the listing’s terms and associated commissions. They may complete the disclosure forms, ensuring everything meets the legal requirements for potential buyers. These documents are full of facts that require careful checking, such as the tax information, square footage, and property identification number. The goal is accuracy, leaving nothing questionable for the buyers.

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 Posted on March 26, 2025 in Estate Planning

When someone wants to leave property behind for beneficiaries to inherit after the owner’s death, they may not realize that those beneficiaries can face unexpected legal challenges and delays. Getting property transferred to its rightful heirs can be a complicated process, but proactive planning can help minimize complications and ensure a smoother process. A seasoned Illinois estate planning lawyer can help property owners make informed decisions that protect their assets and beneficiaries.

What Are the Most Common Methods for Transferring Property?

In Illinois, there are several ways to transfer property after death without extensive court involvement. These methods include Transfer on Death Instruments (TODIs), joint tenancy with right of survivorship, living trusts, and life estate deeds. Each method has its own requirements and benefits. For example, a TODI allows you to designate beneficiaries who will automatically inherit your property upon your passing, while joint tenancy enables surviving co-owners to assume full ownership without probate.

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 Posted on February 21, 2025 in Estate Planning

No matter how well you take care of your health, there is still a very strong chance that you could become incapacitated towards the end of your life. Most people who live well into old age begin to experience cognitive decline and need someone else’s help managing their legal, medical, and financial affairs. If you become incapacitated and you do not have powers of attorney naming the person or people you would want to take on these tasks for you, someone will likely need to initiate formal guardianship proceedings. Your family members cannot simply take control of your finances or medical decision-making without a court's permission. You can avoid the need for invasive guardianship proceedings by executing the right powers of attorney. With a springing power of attorney, the agent or agents you name can begin managing your affairs right away when it is determined that you are incapacitated. An experienced Chicago, IL estate planning lawyer can help ensure that you have the right powers of attorney in place.

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 Posted on January 21, 2025 in Residential Real Estate

When you have lived in your house for a number of years, you are used to all of its quirks. You have stopped noticing that the light switch in the bathroom is a little tricky and there is a cracked tile in the kitchen. The hot water heater has been working just fine, so you have all but forgotten that it is due to be replaced very soon. Your potential buyers will likely notice things like this and, in many cases, may ask you to fix them before they agree to purchase your house. Making small and essential repairs is a normal part of selling your house, but in some cases, a buyer’s demands are not reasonable. An experienced Homewood, IL real estate attorney can negotiate with a potential buyer on your behalf and provide guidance when you are deciding whether to make a certain pre-sale repair.

When Repairs Are Required 

The law or your buyer’s lender may require that certain repairs be made before the property can be sold. Municipal codes will sometimes bar a sale until a particular issue found during inspection is fixed. These laws prevent sellers from passing on increasingly dilapidated homes that are unlikely to ever be repaired. Your home inspector may be able to tell you if he or she suspects an issue that might need to be remedied before you will be allowed to sell.

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 Posted on December 20, 2024 in Residential Real Estate

The pre-sale home inspection is an extremely important part of the home-buying process. A standard home inspection is designed to detect most major issues that could affect the value of the house or your ability to enjoy living in it. A home inspector will check areas of the house a buyer may not have ventured far into, like the attic and the crawl space, looking for potential problems. If the home inspection turns up any major issues, the buyer may want to walk away from the home entirely or may try to negotiate the price down to account for the repair costs that are coming. Having a home inspection done in the winter has both benefits and drawbacks.

If you are in the process of buying a family home, you should be represented by an experienced Chatham, IL real estate attorney. While a home inspector looks for maintenance issues, a lawyer looks for legal problems that might impact your ownership rights and ability to enjoy the property the way you plan to.

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 Posted on November 26, 2024 in Residential Real Estate

When signing a purchase agreement for the sale of a property, both buyers and sellers face certain legal risks. Buyers in particular are exposed to legal pitfalls when they spend significant money on a home that they are not deeply familiar with. Therefore, both parties usually hire attorneys to review the real estate contract before signing it.

Involving an Illinois real estate attorney is not required by law, but it is highly recommended. A trained legal eye can scrutinize the purchase agreement for nuances that threaten your interests. Zoning laws, title issues, and easements are just some of the legal problems a buyer can face when purchasing a property. In fact, a common clause in Illinois real estate contracts allows for an attorney review period where the lawyers have up to five days to modify or cancel the agreement. There are significant risks to entering into a real estate transaction without legal guidance, and major benefits to involving an attorney early on.

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