Estate Planning & Probate Attorneys in Belleville, IL

Our Estate Planning Lawyers Help You Plan For The Future

Our estate planning attorneys in Belleville, IL personally sit down with you to determine your individual needs and draft estate planning documents accordingly.

Our estate planning lawyers will work with you to create a tailored estate plan that will protect your rights and interests, as well as those of your loved ones. We help clients create comprehensive and effective estate plans that account for their needs and goals.

We have helped clients throughout the St. Louis Metro East area create documents and implement a full range of estate planning tools including:

What Does an Estate Planning Lawyer Specialize In?

An estate planning lawyer can work on a number of different tasks. In general, this will involve working with the client to develop an estate plan for them and their family. The types of plans created include wills, trusts, powers of attorney, advanced medical directives, etc. This may also be known as a living trust that helps clients to avoid probate upon death. Prior to creating any kind of plan, the lawyer should review how the client currently holds title to property and what rights they have in that property. From there, legal documents can be drafted by the lawyer that grant them exactly desired while still being signed off by any necessary parties (such as spouses or parents).

Once these documents are reviewed with the client, they can be signed by all parties. The lawyer should then keep copies of these documents in a safety deposit box for safekeeping and also make sure they are accessible by all necessary parties.

In some cases when a trust has been created, the lawyer may need to hire an accountant to review estate tax implications or value reports. In addition, they may refer clients to professionals such as investment advisors in order for them to better manage family assets.

Estate planning is not limited solely to making wills and trusts; many other types of plans can be made that benefit a person’s family after death, which may include funeral arrangements or organ donation.

In rare instances, more complicated estate plans may be created. These include probate avoidance or tax minimization trusts that require hiring additional legal and accounting professionals, as well as planning for more complex issues such as possible disability or ensuring a child’s inheritance can go directly to them without having to go through the parent first.

Finally, if more than one person needs an estate plan created (such as both parents), this is known as co-estate planning. If each party has their own separate estate plans, then these are known as individual estate plans . In some cases, a single set of documents can be drafted that meets both parties’ wishes with a provision that does not take effect until the second spouse dies. Once again, many different factors may influence how this works so the estate planner should be well-versed in this area.

Top Rated Probate Attorneys in Belleville, IL

A probate attorney in Belleville, IL is a type of lawyer who deals with property or assets that are subject to legal battles.

A probate attorney may be hired when an individual dies and owes money in taxes, has outstanding debts, has specific property that needs to be dispersed, or any other number of circumstances. There are many ways for an estate to be tied up in legal processes and probate lawyers are very skilled and experienced at dealing with these sorts of issues.

The goal is always the same: get what belongs to whom by following the law while minimizing costs for the family exhausted by their loss. The process can be long and grueling but if your loved one had little-to-no debt, there should not be much fighting over money.

The main cases a probate lawyer in Belleville, IL focuses on

Individuals who pass away without a will or with one that is contested. If someone has died and left behind children but no spouse, there can be major legal issues surrounding all of the individual’s money and property until everything is settled out. While it may seem like common sense to distributes things in specific ways, sometimes it doesn’t work out that way and people end up in court fighting over what they believe should rightly be theirs.

A trust that leaves money to heirs after a certain amount of time, most commonly when they become an adult

It is very common for loving parents to set aside funds for their kids until such time as they are able to handle them responsibly. Most of the time, this works out fine but if one’s child has a drug problem or similarly destructive behavior, there can be serious family battles over whether or not trust fund money is being properly handled.

A contested will

This occurs when someone leaves behind a set of instructions for handling their property and wills after they die but it is unclear whether those requests are legal. If you write down your wishes clearly in your will, hiring an attorney to enforce them upon your death should be considered mandatory even though that may mean spending more money than you want to spend before you pass away.

Today, probate is a routine legal practice and one that millions of people go through every single year. The more complicated the estate and its various debts and assets are, the longer it will take to get everything sorted out but on average, an individual’s family should not have to wait too long before their loved ones’ final wishes are granted.

Four reasons why someone might contest a will during probate

Every adult should have a will in place. This document can accomplish many goals, from establishing a person’s wishes for asset distribution to making the probate process easier for loved ones.

However, there are circumstances under which someone might contest a will, or question its validity during probate. There are several reasons why people contest wills, and below, we examine four of them. We also discuss some basic steps people can take to prevent will contests.

Why contest a will?

Contesting a will means raising an objection based on the belief that it is invalid for reasons such as the following.

• The testator (person who created the will) was coerced or unduly influenced into signing by someone else.
• The testator didn’t understand what he or she was signing at the time because he or she lacked testamentary capacity.
• The will is out of date or trumped by another, newer version.
• The will is not legal because it was given verbally or was not signed in front of appropriate witnesses,

Preventing will contests

The vast majority of wills pass through probate without challenge. However, that doesn’t mean they all do. As such, if you are creating a will and want to avoid the disputes and challenges that can arise when someone contests a will, you would be wise to meet with an attorney to ensure your will is valid, updated and reflective of your wishes. If there are any red flags, a legal representative can help you address them.

If you wish to contest a will

If you believe there is reason to question the validity of a loved one’s will, know that challenging it is not an insignificant decision. It can lead to legal and familial disputes and extend the probate process. That said, voiding a will that is not legal or truly reflective of your loved one’s wishes can be a critical protective measure.

With all that may be at stake when it comes to will contests during the probate process, it is important to consider carefully the legal elements and potential outcomes of your specific situation before deciding on how to proceed to avoid costly missteps.

Contact the probate lawyers in Belleville, IL at Katzman & Sugden today to schedule your Free Case Evaluation.