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Who receives what, and how?
Wills, revocable living trusts, beneficiary designations, and gifts structured to match your wishes and protect the people you care about.
Estate Planning & Probate
Estate Planning in Illinois
A good estate plan is not a stack of documents. It's a set of clear instructions — who decides, who receives, and how your family avoids confusion, cost, and conflict when it matters most.
Understanding. Answers. Direction.
At Marvel Law, we help Illinois families, landowners, and business owners put a plan in place that reflects exactly what they want, in plain language, and holds up when it is needed.
We meet you where it's convenient — at our Bloomington office, or by phone, video, and secure document exchange anywhere in Illinois. Much of estate planning can be handled without a single trip to town.
What we do for you
Complete, coordinated plans — not single forms.
A typical Marvel Law estate plan answers four questions.
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Who decides if you can't?
Illinois statutory powers of attorney for property and health care, so a person you trust can act without a court guardianship.
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How do we avoid probate?
Trusts, transfer-on-death instruments, beneficiary designations, and titling that move assets directly to your heirs.
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How do we limit taxes?
Planning around the Illinois estate tax, lifetime gifting, and asset-protection structures for farms and businesses.
Built for Illinois law
Estate planning, built for Illinois law
Illinois has rules that catch unprepared families off guard. A plan drafted with these in mind is worth far more than a generic online template.
The Illinois estate tax — the trap most people miss
Illinois imposes its own estate tax with an exclusion of just $4 million — far lower than the federal exemption — and, unlike the federal system, Illinois does not allow portability between spouses. That means a married couple can lose part of the second spouse's exclusion simply by failing to plan. For Illinois farm families and business owners, land and equipment values alone can cross $4 million quickly. We use credit-shelter (bypass) trust planning, lifetime gifting, and entity structuring to preserve both spouses' exclusions and reduce or eliminate the Illinois tax.
Avoiding probate — and why it matters here
Probate in Illinois is generally required when a person dies owning more than $150,000 in assets in their sole name, or any solely-owned real estate. Probate is public, takes months, and adds cost. We keep families out of it using tools Illinois law specifically provides:
- Revocable living trusts that hold your assets and pass them privately, without court involvement.
- Transfer on Death Instruments (TODIs) — an Illinois deed tool that passes a home or farm directly to your chosen beneficiary at death.
- Illinois land trusts, a long-standing Illinois device useful for privacy and for managing farmland and investment property.
- Beneficiary and TOD/POD designations on accounts, vehicles, and securities.
Powers of attorney and health-care directives
Illinois provides a Statutory Short Form Power of Attorney for Property and a Power of Attorney for Health Care. Properly drafted, these let someone you choose manage finances and make medical decisions if you are incapacitated — and avoid an expensive, public guardianship proceeding. We tailor the powers granted, and the safeguards against abuse, rather than handing you a blank form.
Planning for farms, land, and businesses
For landowners and business owners, an estate plan and a succession plan are the same conversation. We coordinate your wills and trusts with farm-succession structures, LLC and operating-agreement terms, buy-sell agreements, and energy-lease income so the next generation inherits a working operation — not a tax bill and a dispute. (See our Agriculture & Farm Succession and Business Law pages.)
The Marvel Law approach
We listen first, then build a plan you actually understand.
You are the expert on your family and your property. Our job is to listen first, explain your options in language that actually means something, and then build a plan you understand and can maintain. We'll tell you honestly what you need — and what you don't. Many clients are surprised how straightforward, and how affordable, a solid plan can be.
Richard T. Marvel — full bio, credentials, and Illinois bar admissions appear on the Attorney page, including years in practice and experience as both a litigator and a transactional attorney, which informs how we draft to avoid future disputes.
"Documents drafted by someone who has litigated disputes are documents built to prevent them." — The Marvel Law approach
A plan for every stage
What your situation likely calls for
| If you are… | You likely need… |
|---|---|
| A young family | A will, guardianship nominations for minor children, powers of attorney, and beneficiary planning |
| A homeowner | A trust or TODI to avoid probate, powers of attorney, and updated beneficiaries |
| A farm or land owner | Coordinated estate + succession planning, Illinois estate-tax planning, and land/LLC structuring |
| A business owner | A plan integrated with your operating agreement, buy-sell terms, and key-person succession |
| After a major life change | Marriage, the loss of a spouse, or a move calls for a full review and re-titling — old documents and beneficiaries are a common, costly oversight |
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
It depends on what you own and whether avoiding probate matters to you. A will alone still goes through probate in Illinois. If you own real estate or more than $150,000 in solely-held assets, a trust or other non-probate transfer often saves your family time and money. We'll tell you which is right for your situation — not sell you more than you need.
Possibly, if your estate approaches $4 million — and farm and business assets add up fast. Illinois has no portability, so married couples should plan deliberately. We design plans to preserve both spouses' exclusions.
Yes. We handle most estate planning by phone, video, and secure electronic document exchange, with signing coordinated wherever you are in Illinois.
They may be — or they may be out of date with the law, your assets, or your wishes. A review is inexpensive and often catches outdated beneficiaries, the wrong trustees, or missing Illinois-specific protections.
Where we serve
Based in Bloomington. Serving central & southern Illinois.
In person and remotely. Estate planning in:
Estate Planning in McLean County
Estate Planning in Logan County
DeWitt, Woodford, Peoria, Champaign, Macon & more as we expand