Make sure what you’ve built
ends up where you wanted.
Estate and legacy planning is the conversation about what gets passed down, to whom, and how cleanly. We help you think it through, and we coordinate with the attorneys who put it on paper.
Estate planning isn't just for the wealthy, it's for anyone who wants to make sure their family is taken care of. Without a plan, Illinois probate courts decide who gets your assets, who takes care of your children, and how your life's work is distributed.
At our firm, we work with families across Chicago's Northern Suburbs to create estate plans that protect your legacy, minimize taxes, avoid probate, and ensure your wishes are honored.
Everything that
actually moves the plan.
Built around your life
Estate planning isn't just for the wealthy, it's for anyone who wants to make sure their family is taken care of. Without a plan, Illinois probate courts decide who gets your assets, who takes care of your children, and how your life's work is distributed.
Our approach
We coordinate your estate plan with your overall financial plan, ensuring your beneficiary designations, trust structures, and ownership titles all align with your goals. We work alongside your estate attorney to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.
The details that matter
Key areas we address include trust planning, beneficiary designation reviews, life insurance for estate liquidity, charitable giving strategies, and coordination with your tax plan to minimize estate and inheritance taxes.
Why us
Estate planning is deeply personal. We've been helping families navigate these conversations for nearly 50 years, including our own family transitions from one generation to the next.
A firm built for this.
Estate planning is deeply personal. We've been helping families navigate these conversations for nearly 50 years, including our own family transitions from one generation to the next.
We can recommend trusted estate attorneys in the Northern Suburbs who specialize in Illinois trust and estate law.
Honest answers.
Do I need a trust or just a will?
In Illinois, a revocable living trust can help you avoid probate, maintain privacy, and provide more control over how and when your assets are distributed. A will alone goes through probate, which is public and can take months. For most families with real estate or significant assets, a trust is worth considering.
How do I avoid probate in Illinois?
The most common ways to avoid Illinois probate include creating a revocable living trust, using transfer-on-death designations for real estate and financial accounts, joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and proper beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and insurance policies.
What are the most common estate planning mistakes?
The biggest mistakes we see are outdated beneficiary designations (especially after divorce or remarriage), assets titled outside the trust, no plan for incapacity (power of attorney, healthcare directive), and failing to coordinate the estate plan with the financial plan.
Common questions about estate planning.
Real plans.
Estate Planning in your
community.
Let’s build the plan.
One free conversation. We’ll look at where you are and show you what a real plan looks like.