Wills and Living Trusts

         Welcome to the Wills and Living Trusts page of FamilyEstate.com - the website of FamilyEstate Illinois.
        Select the Index to get an alpha-sorted, hyperlinked list of our resources. To consult an attorney fill out the "call me" form at the bottom of this page, auto-submit the form completed below, print out the form using your browser's print button and mail it in, or select the Contact or Power of Attorney form. PLEASE NOTE: THE FORM BELOW IS ONLY USED AS INPUT FOR AN ATTORNEY TO DRAFT A WILL OR LIVING TRUST - IT DOES NOT OUTPUT A DOCUMENT FOR YOU AUTOMATICALLY. If you have your own attorney, print the form before filling it in by a) focusing the browser on this frame by clicking anywhere in this area, and b) selecting "Print" from your browser.
        FamilyEstate Illinois is located at 1150 N. Lake Shore Drive 9-J, Chicago, Illinois 60611-1024. 773 296-2331. This page helps you specify the parameters of your Will (or Living Trust) if you are an Illinois resident. If you are not sure you need a Will click here.

Will and Living Trust Form

        Whether you want a Will or a Living Trust you need to answer the following questions in order to specify the features included in your document. A Living Trust is for the most part the functional equivalent of a Will with some additional elements. Even if you choose a Living Trust you will also need a "pour over" Will to take care of any property which wasn't transferred to the Living Trust before you died.
        In Illinois, Living Trusts may be advisable for affluent or elderly people because of the relative ease such an arrangement provides in transferring a person's property and/or financial responsibilities to another in the event of death or incapacity. Living Trusts are not often used in Illinois as a probate substitute because Illinois is a relatively probate friendly state - varying degrees of court supervision are built into Illinois probate proceedings to accommodate unique situations and provide considerable flexibility. Click here for more information about Living Trusts.

        Are you considering the use of a Living Trust with a pour over Will?
YES or NO YES NO

        You can print this form using your browser's print function, either before or after you fill it out - just make sure you click anywhere in this area before you attempt to print it (to make sure the browser is focused on the form).

        Do you and another person (e.g., a spouse or partner) wish to make mutual and reciprocal Wills or Living Trusts - to have each other designated as the primary beneficiary of your respective estates at death? (The reciprocal Will or Living Trust arrangement can be tailored to suit your particular requirements.)
YES or NO YES NO

       Do you plan on moving to another state, or own property in another state? If so, describe below:
      

        In your Will or Living Trust do you wish to exercise a power to appoint property? If yes, identify below the document granting you such authority and detail your appointment pursuant to the power granted.
     

        In your Will or Living Trust you designate a) who is to receive your property after your death, and b) whether you want your beneficiaries to receive the property outright or in trust. Trusts do not have to be complicated or expensive to maintain - beneficiaries can serve as trustees, and tax reporting is simplified if the trust income is distributed to the beneficiaries.
        Trusts offer the following features:
                a. control over the circumstances under which distributions are made to beneficiaries,
                b. you decide who will get the property after the primary beneficiary dies,
                c. insulation of trust property from the claims of trade and judgment creditors, and divorced spouses,
                d. multiple generational benefits,
                e. needed financial thrift or expertise lacking in a beneficiary, and
                f. reduced exposure of your beneficiaries to estate taxes.
        The last feature comes into play if it is likely that any of your beneficiaries will have the right to possess, or benefit their estate or creditors, with more than $2,000,000 in property at the time of their death, including any lifetime taxable gifts they have made. Property subject to estate taxes includes nonprobated property held at death such as life insurance death benefits, retirement plan death benefits, payment on death accounts, transfer on death accounts, some property subject to life estates, one half of joint tenancy property (of married persons - for others it could be as much as the entire value of the joint tenancy property), and certain contractual (including trust) beneficial interests.
        To put it simply, the more property one has to give away at death the more likely it is that leaving it in trust (rather than outright) is the better choice. If your primary beneficiaries are likely to be exposed to estate taxes at their deaths (and they may not need your property during their lives) leaving the property in trust can secure them against adversity without exposing the property to taxation in their estates.
        Another trust scenario would be the case of partners or spouses who do not have the same secondary beneficiaries (because of children from a previous marriage or otherwise) - and each wants their own secondary beneficiaries to get the property after the death of the primary beneficiary (i.e., the partner or spouse).
        Finally, you may want to leave property in trust if you feel the benefits of more control, better management, and insulation from claims of creditors of the beneficiaries outweighs the costs of creating and maintaining a trust.
        If you would like to read some background information on trusts - see Tax Exemption trusts and Spendthrift and Supplemental Needs trusts. (However, you don't need to read these to intelligently complete this form - all necessary information is provided herein.)
        In addition to the trust issue you must decide a) what if any specific gifts you wish to make in your Will or Living Trust, and b) who you wish to receive the residue of your estate after the estate's debts, expenses, taxes and specific gifts have been satisfied. These are called specific legacies and residuary legacies, respectively.
        You can designate individuals, organizations or classes of persons as recipients of your legacies. An example of a class of persons would be "my children". Unless you specify otherwise "children" includes adoptees but does not include stepchildren. Any designations of your spouse under your Will automatically becomes null and void upon dissolution of marriage, in which case contingent, remainder or successor designates take the place of the divorcee. A contingent beneficiary is one who takes in the event the primary beneficiary does not survive your death. A remainder beneficiary is one who receives what is left of trust property after the primary beneficiary's death.
        You do not need to specify in your Will or Living Trust the recipients of life insurance death benefits, retirement plan accounts, payment on death accounts, joint tenancy with right of survivorship, or other contractual beneficiary designations - although they are part of your estate they pass outside of your Will or Living Trust according to the terms of their respective beneficiary designations.
The following two sections can help you begin to specify how you want your estate to be distributed at your death. These are the first questions you will need to answer. You will have an opportunity to specify the remaining details, and clarify any issues you may have, in subsequent consultations with counsel.
        Specific Will or Living Trust legacies. Specific legacies are dispositions of particular items or categories of property from your Will or Living Trust, including specific dollar amounts. Many people do not make specific legacies, others only make nominal legacies to show appreciation or gratitude to persons otherwise not the primary object of their bounty. The reason for not using specific legacies extensively is twofold. First, at your death you may no longer hold the property specified in your Will or Living Trust - which would result in the gift lapsing. Second, giving specific dollar amounts can cause tax problems for your estate unless a) you have enough liquid assets at death, such as life insurance benefits, to cover the cash legacies plus any estate taxes due, or b) your estate won't incur significant capital gains taxes in liquidating assets needed to fulfill the cash legacy.
        Designate below who you would like to receive particular items or categories of property, including specific dollar amounts, from your Will or Living Trust. If you don't specify a contingent recipient the property will pass under the residuary clause of your Will or Living Trust in the event the person you designate predeceases you.

        Residuary Will or Living Trust legacies. This is usually where most of a decedent's Will or Living Trust property is disposed of. In the first column below specify the persons, groups, organizations, or classes of persons (e.g., "Jane Doe", "my children", or "my descendants") to receive the balance of your estate, after any specific legacies have been made, as specified above, from your Will or Living Trust. In the second column indicate whether you wish them to receive their estate shares outright or in trusts.
        For each beneficiary or class listed in the first column a) specify, on the same row in the third column, a contingent beneficiary or class who will take if the gift is outright, and the primary beneficiary predeceases you, or b) specify a remainder beneficiary or class who will get what is left of a gift in trust after the primary beneficiary or class deceases. You can use more than one row to list your contingent/remainder beneficiaries who take from a primary beneficiary - just leave the corresponding first column entries blank. You can start on the fourth line if none of the options in the list boxes apply to you. The order of entering your beneficiaries in the first column is inconsequential.

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