Estate Planning & Elder Law

Palatine, Illinois Estate Planning Lawyers

Wills, Trusts, and Elder Law Solutions

Molohon Sandquist & James, LLP, in Palatine, Illinois offers high quality estate planning and elder law advice at reasonable rates. We will help you review your financial situation, outline your goals, and execute an estate plan which achieves your objectives while minimizing any problems in settling your estate.

Chicago • DuPage County • Cook County • Chicagoland Suburbs

Call 847-241-4460 to arrange your consultation with an experienced estate planning attorney at Molohon Sandquist & James, LLP. We can help guide you through this rather complex process.

Estate Planning

Drafting a proper will enables you to make your wishes known regarding the disposition of all of your assets including your real property and bank accounts. You can designate what each of your heirs will inherit and leave part of your estate to charity if you desire. Please consider that in the absence of a will, an Illinois probate court will distribute your assets according to rather inflexible rules — perhaps giving your property to unintended parties.

If you are a parent, naming guardians for minor children is yet another crucial component of your estate plan, for if something happens to you and you have not named guardians, the probate court may not necessarily appoint the person(s) you would choose.

Our estate planning attorneys, Doug James and Patrick Molohon, offer decades of estate planning experience. In fact, all of our estate plans are individualized following close consultation with our clients, unlike the "Do-it-yourself" or Internet will kits which may fail to meet Illinois' legal requirements.

In addition to asset distribution, our estate plans also address:

• Planning for illness or incapacity — Ensure that your family and doctors understand your medical wishes should you become seriously ill or incapacitated. A carefully considered “living will” and Healthcare Power of Attorney can help your family avoid uncertainty and grief. Should you become unable to make financial or legal decisions for yourself, a durable power of attorney may avert a potential crisis by granting someone close to you the ability to make these decisions for you.
• Protection of assets and providing for your family — Your heirs can avoid the inconvenience of probate and potential estate taxation issues through the creation of a trust. Our estate planning attorneys can help create the following trusts for every client's unique situation:
  • Revocable and irrevocable trusts: allows you to preserve and control assets while you are living, and pass them onto intended heirs while bypassing probate
  • Special needs trust: provides for the financial, medical, and personal needs of minor children or adults who cannot care for themselves
  • Charitable trusts: allows you to make gifts to a favorite charity or social cause

Elder Law

Advance planning is the key to expanding your options and avoiding a financial or legal crisis when it is time to enter a nursing home. The elder law attorneys of Molohon Sandquist & James, LLP, are fully knowledgeable on all state and federal laws pertaining to your "golden years:"

• Medicaid planning — We advise clients on how to legally transfer or spend assets in anticipation of long-term care for you or a spouse. You cannot just give away or hide assets, as transferring assets within 36 months prior to entering a care facility will make you ineligible for Medicaid. We advise clients on annual gifting limits, Medicaid eligibility, and related trust and estate planning issues.
• Guardianship — If a spouse, or parent cannot manage their own affairs because of Alzheimer's, dementia or another disability, we can help you petition the court to appoint a guardian of the estate (financial matters) and guardian of the person (health care and personal matters) to protect the incapacitated person's interests.
• Elder abuse prevention — Contact us if you believe a vulnerable loved one is being taken advantage of in any of the following ways:
  • Someone is exerting undue influence to alter their will
  • You suspect a sibling is abusing their power of attorney
  • Your elderly parent has been the victim of a scam
  • You are out-of-town and suspect mistreatment at a nursing home or assisted living facility
• Long Term Care Insurance Planning — We advise clients on the pros and cons of insurance policies to pay for a preferred care facility. Contrary to popular belief, long-term care insurance may not prove to be cost-effective. Moreover, any policy exclusions will be carefully examined.

Quality Legal Representation • Promoting Your Best Interest

Schedule your initial consultation today. Contact our Palatine, Illinois estate planning lawyers at 847-241-4460 to provide for your family and prepare for the unexpected. We offer reasonable rates and accept both Visa and MasterCard.

Please note that we also handle probate administration and probate litigation.