Wills Lawyer Skokie, IL
If the only thing standing between your family and a clear plan is actually sitting down to put one in writing, the time to do that is now rather than later.
A will directs who inherits your property, who raises your minor children, and who handles the practical and legal work of settling your estate. Without one, none of those decisions belong to you.
Our Skokie, IL wills attorney at Kravets Law Group drafts last wills and testaments, pour-over wills, and codicils for individuals and families throughout Skokie and the broader Cook County area. Founding attorney Daniel Kravets has been practicing since 2016, opened the firm in 2020, and handles all will matters himself. Flat-rate pricing is available for standalone wills and bundled will-and-trust packages. Free consultations are available.
Why Choose Kravets Law Group for Wills in Skokie, IL?
Close to a Decade Drafting Illinois Wills
Daniel Kravets has drafted wills for Illinois families in a wide range of situations over the course of his career. New parents whose first priority was a guardian nomination and a clean distribution plan before anything else. Multi-property owners where how each asset was titled determined what the will could actually accomplish at death. Blended households where carefully drafted provisions were the difference between a smooth administration and a contested one. Business owners whose wills needed to account for a closely held interest alongside the personal distribution plan.
He earned his JD from Drexel University Law, holds membership in the Chicago Bar Association, and is admitted to practice in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. He is completing a forthcoming estate planning book and speaks regularly at professional and community events throughout the Chicago area. As an estate planning attorney in Skokie, IL and the broader Cook County area, he brings that range of experience to every will client.
Getting the Document Right
A will that doesn’t reflect how assets are actually held, that uses vague bequest language, or that was drafted without accounting for a blended household’s specific dynamics gives families a false sense of security. The document looks complete. The problems surface later, during an administration, when fixing them requires court involvement. We review how assets are titled and what designations are in place before drafting begins, and we draft specific provisions with enough precision that the executor knows exactly what the document requires.
For clients pairing a will with a revocable trust, both documents need to work together. A pour-over will built around an unfunded trust doesn’t accomplish what the client intended, and that coordination is part of every engagement where both documents are involved.
Flat-Rate Pricing
Standalone wills and bundled will-and-trust packages are priced at a flat rate. The fee is defined before any drafting begins, and it doesn’t change based on how many revisions a more complex situation requires.
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“Daniel was extremely helpful in a tough situation. The communication was key and the explanation of processes were very thorough. Couldn’t recommend enough when looking for Will and Trust assistance.” — Jeremy Schwartz
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Types of Will Cases We Handle in Skokie
Will planning in Illinois varies considerably depending on family structure, what you own, and how the rest of your estate is organized. What a single-owner estate requires is very different from what a blended household with minor children and multiple properties needs. These are the primary will-related matters we handle for Skokie families and individuals throughout Cook County.
- Last will and testament. The foundation of most Illinois estate plans. Designates your executor, nominates guardians for minor children, and directs how property distributes at death. We draft both straightforward documents for single-owner estates and more layered wills for blended families, multi-property owners, and clients with business interests requiring succession provisions.
- Pour-over wills. A companion document designed to work alongside a revocable trust. At death, any assets held outside the trust pass through probate and into it via the pour-over will. It must meet the same Illinois execution requirements as a standard will, and it’s a standard component of every trust-based estate plan we build.
- Codicils. A formal amendment to an existing will. Used when a client’s circumstances have changed in a specific, targeted way that doesn’t justify redrafting the entire document. Codicils must be executed with the same formalities as the original, including two qualified adult witnesses, and we draft them with the same precision as the underlying document.
- Wills for blended families. Default Illinois distribution rules frequently produce outcomes that unintentionally exclude children from a prior relationship or favor one branch of the family over another. Preventing those outcomes requires specific drafting language that generic documents often don’t include.
- Wills as part of a broader estate plan. Some clients need a standalone will. Others are beginning a larger conversation that includes powers of attorney, beneficiary designation reviews, and a trust structure alongside the will. The document we draft accounts for what surrounds it either way.
Illinois Legal Requirements for Wills
Under the Illinois Probate Act, 755 ILCS 5, a valid will requires the testator to be at least 18 and of sound mind at the time of signing. The document must be in writing, signed by the testator, and witnessed by two credible adults who are each at least 18 and present at the signing. Illinois does not recognize holographic wills. A handwritten document signed only by the testator, no matter how clearly it expresses their wishes, will not be admitted to probate without those witnesses.
Dying without a valid will in Illinois means intestate succession under 755 ILCS 5/2-1 controls the distribution. For married individuals with children, assets divide between the surviving spouse and children in statutory proportions that frequently don’t match what the decedent would have chosen. For unmarried individuals without children, assets pass through a priority order running from parents to siblings to more distant relatives.
For Skokie residents, wills are probated through the Circuit Court of Cook County. Estates over $4 million may face Illinois estate tax obligations administered by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. Larger estates also face separate federal estate tax filing requirements with their own thresholds and deadlines that run parallel to the probate process.
Important Aspects of a Skokie Wills Case
The Executor’s Role Is Not a Formality
Naming an executor is one of the most consequential decisions in a will. The executor locates and inventories all estate assets, notifies creditors and agencies, pays valid claims in the correct priority order, files required accountings, and distributes what remains to beneficiaries in accordance with the will. It’s a substantive legal responsibility, and the wrong person in that role creates delays and disputes that affect every beneficiary. For estates with real estate, business interests, or family dynamics that could complicate a straightforward administration, co-executor arrangements or professional executors are sometimes the right structure. We work through this question deliberately with every client.
Guardian Nominations
For parents, this is often the single most important provision in the document. A will is the only formal mechanism in Illinois for nominating a guardian for minor children. Without one, a Cook County court makes that determination without any guidance from you. It’s also worth thinking separately about who should raise the children versus who should manage their inherited assets, because those roles carry different demands and often suit different people. Combining them in one person isn’t always the right answer.
Specific Bequests Done Right
A will can direct particular assets, dollar amounts, or personal property to named individuals before the residuary estate distributes. Done precisely, this is a straightforward way to honor specific relationships or intentions. Done vaguely, it’s one of the more common sources of will contests in Illinois probate court. Ambiguous bequest language leaves room for interpretation, and where there’s room for interpretation, there’s often room for dispute. We draft specific bequests with enough precision that the executor knows exactly what to do and beneficiaries have no basis to disagree about the intent.
Beneficiary Designations Override the Will
Retirement accounts, life insurance, transfer-on-death bank accounts, and jointly titled real estate all pass based on their own designations, entirely outside the will. A well-drafted will accounts for this. It’s built with knowledge of how assets are actually held rather than assuming everything passes through the estate. When designations haven’t been updated through a divorce, remarriage, or the birth of a child, assets can reach unintended recipients regardless of what the will says. Families who later want to explore avoiding probate in Illinois typically find that conversation begins with how assets are titled, not just what the will contains. And for those pairing a will with a trust, how that trust is funded determines whether the documents actually work together as intended.
When a Will Needs to Be Updated
A will is not a permanent document. A second marriage, a new child, a significant asset acquisition, the death of a named executor or guardian, or a relationship that has changed materially since the document was signed are each a reason to revisit it. Contested estate situations often involve documents that were sound when drafted but no longer matched the decedent’s actual circumstances or intentions at death. Keeping wills and trusts current is as important as having them in the first place.
Contact Kravets Law Group
Getting a will done is one of the most straightforward things you can do for your family, and the process is more manageable than most people expect going in. We work with Skokie families at every stage of life, from first wills for new parents to full revisions after significant life changes. Contact us to schedule a free consultation.