Trust Lawyer Deerfield, IL
If you’ve started thinking seriously about how your assets reach the people you care about, a trust is probably part of that conversation.
Wills are necessary. But they go through probate, become public record, and transfer everything in one step the moment you’re gone. A trust works differently. It holds your assets during your lifetime, transfers to beneficiaries without court involvement, and keeps its contents private. It can also be structured to manage how and when distributions happen over time. For families with minor children, real estate across multiple locations, a beneficiary with a disability, or simply a preference for staying out of court, a trust often does things a will alone cannot.
Our Deerfield, IL trust attorney at Kravets Law Group drafts trusts for individuals and families throughout Deerfield and Lake County. Our founding attorney Daniel Kravets handles all trust matters personally. Reach out today to get started. Free consultations are available.
Why Choose Kravets Law Group for Trusts in Deerfield, IL?
Nearly a Decade of Trust Planning in Illinois
Daniel Kravets has spent close to a decade building trust structures for Illinois families across a wide range of circumstances. He has worked with multi-property owners in Lake County who needed real estate to transfer without triggering probate in multiple counties, blended households requiring specific distribution provisions to prevent beneficiary conflicts, and families building dynasty trust structures for multi-generational wealth preservation. As the estate planning lawyer in Deerfield, IL at Kravets Law Group, he brings that background to every trust engagement in the area.
Daniel earned his JD from Drexel University Law, is admitted to practice in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and holds membership in the Chicago Bar Association. He is completing a forthcoming estate planning book and speaks regularly at professional and community events throughout the Chicago area.
Revocable Trusts as the Foundation
For most Deerfield families, the revocable living trust is the core document. It holds assets during your lifetime, lets you amend or revoke it as your circumstances change, and transfers everything at death without court involvement. The signing is only part of it. Trust funding through deeds and account transfers is where plans that look complete on paper fail to deliver. We handle both.
The Full Plan, Not Just the Document
A trust doesn’t stand alone. A pour-over will needs to accompany it. Powers of attorney need to be in place. Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance need to align with what the trust is built to do. When those pieces aren’t coordinated, gaps appear that only matter when they’re hardest to fix. We review the full picture before anything is drafted.
Flat-Rate Pricing for Most Trust Work
Trust documents at Kravets Law Group are priced at a flat rate for most engagements. Additional fees for deeds and transfer documents are explained upfront. Hourly and project rates apply to complex or contested matters. All fees are discussed before work begins.
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“As a CPA, I work closely with professionals who support my clients’ long-term financial and legal goals—and Daniel Kravets is someone I trust without hesitation. His expertise in estate planning is outstanding, and he approaches each case with clarity, precision, and genuine care. Dan takes the time to understand individual needs and offers thoughtful, strategic guidance that makes a real impact. I’ll confidently refer my clients to him whenever estate planning needs arise. He’s a reliable, knowledgeable, and highly professional attorney.” — Joe David
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Types of Trust Cases We Handle in Deerfield
Illinois trust planning covers a range of structures, each designed for a different purpose depending on what you own, who you’re providing for, and what you want the trust to accomplish. These are the primary trust matters we handle for Deerfield families and individuals throughout Lake County.
- Revocable living trusts. The most widely used trust structure for Illinois families. Assets pass outside probate, the trust remains private, and you retain full control to amend or revoke it during your lifetime. We handle drafting, funding through deeds and account transfers, and amendments as circumstances change.
- Irrevocable trusts. Once established, an irrevocable trust generally cannot be amended without court or beneficiary approval. Assets transferred in are typically removed from your taxable estate and shielded from creditors. We draft these for clients focused on estate tax exposure and long-term asset protection.
- Dynasty trusts. Built to hold and distribute wealth across multiple generations while minimizing estate tax at each generational transfer. Illinois law permits trusts to remain in force for an extended period, making this a practical option for families with significant holdings and long-term preservation goals.
- Life insurance trusts (ILITs). An irrevocable life insurance trust holds a policy outside your taxable estate so that proceeds pass to beneficiaries free of federal estate tax at death. We draft ILITs and work through the ongoing administration considerations clients need to understand before funding.
- Charitable trusts. For clients incorporating charitable giving into their overall plan, we draft charitable remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts, coordinating with financial and tax advisors on structure and implementation.
- Special needs trusts. For families planning for a beneficiary with a disability, a carefully structured trust preserves SSI and Medicaid eligibility while securing assets for long-term care. This is among the most structurally sensitive trust arrangements we handle.
Illinois Legal Requirements for Trusts
Illinois trust drafting and administration is governed by the Illinois Trust Code, 760 ILCS 3, which took effect January 1, 2020. The Trust Code replaced prior state trust law and introduced updated standards for trustee duties, distribution obligations, modification procedures, and beneficiary rights to receive accountings and information. Trusts executed before 2020 may not fully align with the current framework and can benefit from review.
For a revocable trust to accomplish its purpose, it must be properly funded. Signing the document is a starting point, not a finish line. Illinois real estate requires a deed to transfer into the trust. Financial accounts need to be re-titled or updated. Assets that remain individually titled at death still pass through the Illinois Probate Act, regardless of what the trust document says. Families who want to understand what avoiding probate in Illinois actually requires often find the answer starts with funding, not just drafting.
For taxable estates, the Illinois estate tax applies to estates over $4 million. Irrevocable trust structures can reduce that exposure in the right circumstances. At the federal level, the IRS governs estate and gift tax treatment for trust transfers. Charitable trusts also carry separate federal requirements, including specific rules for charitable remainder trusts that must be satisfied for favorable tax treatment to apply.
Important Aspects of a Deerfield Trust Case
Funding: Where Plans Work or Fall Apart
A trust that isn’t funded does nothing. This is where estate plans most commonly fail. Recent estate cases have shown that even families who created formal documents still ended up in probate because assets weren’t transferred into the trust while the grantor was alive. Real estate requires a deed. Bank and investment accounts need re-titling. Retirement accounts and life insurance designations need careful attention. We work through every asset category with clients as part of the trust engagement, not as an afterthought.
Choosing the Right Trustee
The trustee carries real fiduciary responsibility. They manage trust assets, make distributions according to the document’s terms, maintain records, and respond to beneficiary requests. For straightforward trusts with a limited asset base, a trusted family member is often the right choice. For larger trusts or those with complex or long-term distribution requirements, a professional or institutional co-trustee may be worth considering. We work through this question with every client, because trustee selection directly affects how well the trust actually works for the people it’s meant to benefit.
Amendment and Restatement
A revocable trust is designed to evolve as your life does. A new child, a divorce, a significant acquisition, or a change in a beneficiary’s circumstances can all warrant revisiting the document. A targeted amendment handles specific changes. A full restatement is appropriate when the modifications are substantial or when an older document needs updating to reflect the current Illinois Trust Code. Both must be executed correctly to be enforceable.
What the Trust Controls and What It Doesn’t
A trust only governs assets actually inside it. Retirement accounts, life insurance, and transfer-on-death accounts pass based on their own designations, not trust language. Families exploring trust structures for the first time often find this the most important thing to understand. We coordinate wills and trusts and beneficiary designations together so the full plan works as a unit rather than pulling in separate directions.
Contact Kravets Law Group
A trust built correctly gives your family privacy, control, and a clear path forward when it matters most. One built carelessly, or left unfunded, creates the exact problems it was supposed to prevent. At Kravets Law Group, we approach every trust matter by understanding the full plan, drafting the document to hold up, and making sure the funding and surrounding pieces are actually in order. Contact us now to schedule a free consultation and get started.