Tuohy Law Offices Practice Areas in Chicago

A properly drafted, signed, and fully funded Living Trust avoids Probate by removing assets from your name and titling them in your private Living Trust.

You title all your assets, except vehicles, recreational vehicles, watercraft, aircraft, and specific business interests, to the name of your Living Trust. The administration of your Trust is private and efficient and administered by your Successor Trustee, often one of your family members or a trusted friend.

A Last Will and Testament is a legally binding document establishing the distribution of your assets at your death. In the Will, you name your beneficiaries and their share of your estate.

If your total wealth, insurance, and retirement funds are less than the $100,000 Probate limit, and you have minor children, you should consider a Will.

A Durable Power of Attorney gives another person you choose the full legal authority to manage your financial affairs or health care decisions if you can no longer make these decisions yourself.

Probate is the legal process, supervised by the court system, that supervises your assets if you are incapacitated in a Guardianship proceeding or distributes assets in your name to your beneficiaries, according to your Last Will and Testament.