Archive for the ‘Estate Planning’ Category

Thank you to the Funeral Consumers Alliance www.funerals.org (a GREAT website worth knowing about as I have mentioned in a previous post!) for pointing out that…

“As of January 1, 2006, Illinois citizens can declare their wishes for disposition in a written document that is legally binding. They may also designate an agent to carry them out, or to make any decisions if no specific instructions are left. The law allowing this is found under in chapter 755 of Illinois Statutes, Estates, Disposition of Remains Act.”  (www.funerals.org)

Here is a link to Chapter 755 with more specifics: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2737&ChapterID=60

Read this: http://www.funerals.org/your-legal-rights/funeral-decision-rights

And while you are at it, review this for other questions you may have regarding Estate Planning laws in Illinois: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs2.asp?ChapterID=60

We really like this blog providing commentary on estate planning, estate administration, and real estate issues from Chicago-area (Oak Park) attorney, Joel Schoenmeyer:

www.deathandtaxesblog.com

Check it out, read it, review it… let us know what you think.  If you have ever worked with Mr. Schoenmeyer, we would love to know how your experience was.  In the meantime, we hope you find his blog useful.

This information is definitely over our heads here at WTM, but hopefully, it will get you started on your search for understanding the probate process in Chicago. 

Probate Illinois website:

www.probateillinois.com

Chicago link:

http://www.probateillinois.com/CircuitCourt-22.html

Chicago Estate Planning Council

The Chicago Estate Planning Council has the following link worth reviewing:

http://cepclinks.org/FAQ.html

Kinds of questions answered include:

What is a Will?

What happens if a person dies without a Will?

Also, check out this link:

http://councils.naepc.org/_cgi-bin/links.web?CouncilID=320

(A complete list of links of federal and local information on estate planning.)