Are you looking for an estate planning lawyer in Chicago, IL?
At Kravets Law Group, we provide trusted estate planning counsel for individuals and families throughout Chicago.
If you’re trying to plan your estate or protect your family’s future in Chicago, it is best to discuss how to protect your assets with an attorney. Those decisions are worth getting right the first time. Our Chicago, IL estate planning lawyer drafts wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives that function as one coordinated plan rather than a stack of separate forms. Daniel Kravets has practiced since 2016 and opened the firm in 2020, and he handles every plan personally. Reach out for a free consultation to get started.
Estate Planning Lawyer Chicago, IL
Estate planning is the work of putting legal documents in place that decide what happens to your property, your finances, and your medical care when you can no longer manage them yourself. Most people picture a will, and a will matters, but it is only one piece. Many of the assets people own, including retirement accounts, life insurance, and jointly held property, pass to heirs outside of a will entirely, under their own rules.
That is why an estate planning attorney coordinates every one of those transfer mechanisms into a single plan. We build plans for Chicago clients at every level, from young families who need a first will and guardianship provisions to owners of significant assets and businesses whose planning reaches across multiple properties and a company succession. What a plan needs depends entirely on what you own and who depends on you.
Types of Estate Planning Services We Handle in Chicago
An estate plan is built from several documents, and not everyone needs all of them. We start by working out which pieces fit your situation, then draft each one to work with the others. These are the estate planning services we handle for Chicago, IL families and individuals.
- Wills. A will names who inherits your property, appoints an executor, and designates guardians for minor children. We draft wills that meet Illinois signing and witnessing requirements, so they hold up if anyone tries to challenge them later.
- Revocable trusts. A revocable living trust holds your assets during your lifetime and passes them to your beneficiaries at death without probate. You keep full control while you’re alive and can change the terms as your circumstances shift.
- Living trusts. For families focused on privacy and on avoiding a court-supervised administration, a funded living trust keeps the transfer of assets out of the public probate record. We draft the trust and walk you through moving assets into it.
- Special needs trusts. When a loved one has a disability, a special needs trust can provide for them without jeopardizing eligibility for Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid. The drafting has to be precise, because a small error can cost the beneficiary those benefits.
- Probate. When an estate has to pass through court, we guide executors and families through the Cook County process, from opening the estate to the final distribution. Careful planning during life reduces how much ever reaches this stage.
- Estate administration. We help the person settling an estate meet each obligation, gathering assets, paying valid debts and taxes, and distributing what remains, without taking on personal liability along the way.
- Asset protection. Certain strategies and trust structures can shield what you’ve built from future creditors and claims. We advise on what is realistic for your circumstances and what is not.
- Powers of attorney and healthcare directives. A durable financial power of attorney lets a trusted person handle your money if you cannot, and a healthcare power of attorney and advance directive put medical decisions in the right hands.
- Trust funding. A trust only works once assets are actually retitled into it. We handle the funding step, so your trust is not an empty document that fails to avoid the very probate you set it up to bypass.
- Estate plans for business owners. When your company and personal estate are financially intertwined, the plan has to account for both. We coordinate estate planning with business succession planning so ownership transfers the way you intend.
Why Choose Kravets Law Group for Estate Planning in Chicago, IL?
Planning Shaped by Probate and Trust Litigation
Daniel Kravets earned his law degree from Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law and is admitted in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. He belongs to the Chicago Bar Association and was named to Super Lawyers Rising Stars every year from 2022 through 2026. What sets our estate planning apart is that we also handle probate, trust administration, and estate litigation, so we’ve seen what happens when a plan is drafted carelessly. We’ve watched retirement accounts land with an ex-spouse because a beneficiary form was never updated, and unfunded trusts that did nothing to spare a family from court. We design around those failure points. Over the years we’ve built estate plans for Chicago clients with assets from a few hundred thousand dollars to well beyond $30 million, and the concerns at each level differ enough that no template covers them.
Flat-Rate Pricing and a Free Consultation
We charge a flat fee for estate plans, and we quote it before any work begins. A standalone will is priced one way, a full plan with a trust and companion documents another, and you know the number upfront either way. The free consultation is where we sort out which documents you actually need. Families still deciding whether a trust makes sense can weigh the benefits of trusts with us then, without any pressure to buy more than fits their situation.
Understanding Estate Planning Cases
Key Estate Planning Documents and How They Work Together
Each document in a plan does a distinct job, and the plan works properly only when the pieces are coordinated.
- A last will and testament directs who receives your probate assets, names the executor who manages the estate, and nominates guardians for minor children.
- A revocable living trust holds titled assets while you’re alive and passes them to your beneficiaries at death without probate, with you in control the entire time.
- A pour-over will catches anything left outside the trust at death and directs it in, acting as a safety net for the plan.
- A durable financial power of attorney authorizes someone you trust to manage your finances if you become incapacitated.
- A healthcare power of attorney puts medical decisions with a person you choose, and an advance directive records your wishes about treatment.
Families with larger estates also have to plan around tax. The IRS estate tax applies above a federal exemption, and Illinois imposes its own estate tax at a lower threshold, so a plan for a higher-value estate has to account for both.
What Are Important Aspects of an Estate Planning Case?
The most common mistake is treating an estate plan as something you do once and file away. It is a living set of documents that should change as your life does. A plan drafted when your children were small may not fit once they’re grown, and a marriage, a divorce, a new grandchild, a business sale, or a move to another state is each a reason to revisit it. We suggest a review every three to five years. The other frequent problem is the gap between what people believe their plan does and what it actually does, since avoiding probate depends on how assets are titled, not only on what the will says. Clear, coordinated drafting is also what keeps a plan out of a will contest after you’re gone.
What Is the Estate Planning Timeline?
Most Chicago estate plans come together in about three to five weeks. The pace depends mostly on how quickly you gather your information and how involved the plan is.
- Consultation. We talk through your assets, your family, and your goals, usually in about an hour.
- Drafting. We prepare your documents, generally within one to two weeks.
- Review. You read the drafts and tell us what to adjust.
- Signing. You execute the documents in front of witnesses and a notary, and we coordinate the logistics.
- Funding. If your plan includes a trust, we help retitle assets into it, which can add another week or two.
What Should You Bring to Your Estate Planning Consultation?
The more complete a picture you bring, the more useful the first meeting is. Gather what you can of the following.
- A list of your assets, including real estate, financial and retirement accounts, life insurance, and any business interests.
- The names of the people you’re considering as beneficiaries, executor, trustee, guardian, and agents under your powers of attorney.
- Any estate planning documents you already have, including prior wills, trusts, or powers of attorney.
- A general sense of your debts and liabilities.
You’ll leave the consultation knowing which documents fit your situation and what the flat fee to prepare them will be. Most people find it clarifies a subject that felt overwhelming before they sat down.
What Are Important Illinois Legal Resources for Estate Planning Cases?
These public resources are useful starting points for understanding how estate planning and probate work in Illinois. They are not a substitute for advice about your own situation.
- The Illinois General Assembly publishes the Probate Act and the state’s related trust and estate statutes.
- The Cook County Probate Division provides probate court forms and procedural guidance for Chicago estates.
- The Cook County Clerk issues the certified death certificates an estate needs to move forward.
- The Illinois estate tax page from the Attorney General explains the state’s estate tax and who it affects.
Reach Out to Kravets Law Group to Schedule a Consultation
If you’re ready to put an estate plan in place in Chicago, Kravets Law Group can build one that holds up. We offer flat-rate pricing and a free initial consultation, where we review your situation and recommend only the documents you need. Daniel Kravets handles every plan personally, and we respond to most inquiries within one business day. Contact us to schedule yours.