WILLS & TRUSTS

Attorney Brendan Appel can assist you with leaving something behind for your loved ones.

A clear and comprehensive estate plan can be a wonderful gift to leave your family. Not only does it ensure they will receive the benefits of your life’s work, but it also removes much of the confusion that can often accompany estate administration.

By committing your final wishes to writing with the help of an experienced estate planning lawyer, you can avoid unnecessary taxes, minimize the costs and delays associated with probate and ensure your property goes to the benefit of the people and causes that matter to you.

Our law firm offers a full range of estate planning services tailored to accomplish the unique goals of each of our clients in the Chicago, Illinois area.

Estate planning is more than just wills, trusts, and probate. Although they are an important part of it, there are numerous actions you can take during your life to protect your property from medical debts, dissipate your estates to minimize estate taxes, provide for the management of your property in the case of incapacity, and generally ease the transition of your property to your family or whomever else you chose.

By avoiding ambiguities in your final wishes, you can spare your family significant stress and consternation, and even avoid costly civil litigation regarding your estate or affairs.

We recognize that our clients have worked hard to get where they are today and want to ensure the security of their assets, their businesses, and their families.

To serve these various objectives, our practice utilizes all the legal tools at our disposal to create innovative and effective estate and incapacity plans for you:

  • Financial Planning
  • Risk Management
  • Wills
  • Living Wills / Advance Directives
  • Medical Powers of Attorney
  • Financial Powers of Attorney
  • Trusts
  • Living Trusts
  • Charitable Trusts
  • Gift Planning
  • Estate, Gift, and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Planning
  • Tax Planning
  • Tax Litigation
  • Business Succession Planning
  • Life Insurance Planning
  • Estate Administration
  • Probate
  • Contested Probate Proceedings
  • IRS Audits
  • Pre-Marital and Post-Marital Agreements
  • Charitable Contributions
  • Employee Benefits
  • Executive Compensation
  • ERISA
  • IRAs
  • Pensions
  • Profit Sharing
  • Stock
  • Bonds
  • Inter vivos gifts
  • 401(k)
  • ESOPs