DuPage County Estate Planning Attorney

Even though nobody knows what the future will bring, estate planning can help you take steps to make sure you and your family will be provided for. Your estate plan can help avoid uncertainty about financial matters, and it can ensure that your wishes will be followed when distributing your assets to your loved ones. At the Gierach Law Firm, we have more than 30 years of experience helping families address their estate planning needs. We will explain your options and help you understand the tools and strategies that you can use to put your plans into effect.

Estate Planning Tools

We can help you create a comprehensive estate plan that will include decisions about how your final affairs should be handled once you have passed on, as well as strategies that will ensure that you can meet the needs of yourself and your family members throughout the rest of your lifetime. We can assist with:

• Wills – Your last will and testament will specify how certain assets will be distributed to your heirs, and it can also name a person to serve as the guardian of your minor children.
• Trusts – Holding assets in a trust can provide a number of advantages, including minimizing taxes and efficiently transferring assets to beneficiaries. We can help you determine the benefits of using different types of trusts, including revocable living trusts, irrevocable trusts, special needs trusts, and charitable trusts.
• Powers of Attorney – These types of legal agreements will name a person who is authorized to make decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated. This can ensure that your wishes will be followed and your needs will be met throughout the rest of your life.
• Guardianship – A person may be appointed the legal guardian of a minor child or disabled adult. Depending on the type of guardianship, a guardian may be authorized to manage a person’s financial affairs, or they may be able to make decisions about a person’s healthcare and personal needs.
• Probate Administration – Following a person’s death, the executor or personal representative of their estate will file their will in probate court and oversee the process of distributing the assets in the estate to deceased person’s beneficiaries. We can provide representation during the probate process, and we can also assist trustees with trust administration.
• Contested Estates and Probate Litigation – A person’s will may be contested for a variety of reasons, or probate litigation may be necessary if beneficiaries or other interested parties believe that a personal representative or executor did not complete their duties properly.
• Beneficiary Representation – We help beneficiaries understand their options for contesting a will or addressing the mismanagement of a trust or the improper distribution of a deceased person’s assets.
• Charitable Giving Strategies – Leaving assets to charity can not only provide support for a good cause, but it can also provide tax benefits and other financial advantages.
• Tax Planning – We can help you determine the best ways to address and minimize estate taxes, gift taxes, income taxes, and capital gains taxes when creating an estate plan.
• Asset Protection – We will work with you to determine the best tools and strategies for protecting your assets and ensuring that they can be passed on to your beneficiaries.
• Legacy Planning – In addition to addressing the financial issues involving in your estate plan, we can work with you to determine the best ways to pass on your values to your loved ones and make a positive impact on your community.

Contact Our DuPage County Estate Planning Attorneys

We offer a variety of estate planning packages to meet your unique needs. We also provide customized estate planning for business owners and complex estates. We will take the time to fully understand your family’s needs, answer your questions, and explain the steps you can take to prepare for financial success during your lifetime and make plans to provide for your loved ones after you are gone. Contact us today to schedule a consultation. Call our office in Naperville at 630-228-9413 or call our Hoffman Estates office at 847-443-3684.

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