Make sure the people you love get what you've built.
Estate planning ensures your assets go where you want them — to your family, your community, or the causes you care about — efficiently and according to your wishes.
Estate planning isn't just for the wealthy — it's for anyone who wants to make sure their family is taken care of. Without a plan, Illinois probate courts decide who gets your assets, who takes care of your children, and how your life's work is distributed.
At Steinhandler Wealth Advisors, we work with families across Chicago's Northern Suburbs to create estate plans that protect your legacy, minimize taxes, avoid probate, and ensure your wishes are honored.
How we handle estate planning
We coordinate your estate plan with your overall financial plan — ensuring your beneficiary designations, trust structures, and ownership titles all align with your goals. We work alongside your estate attorney to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.
Key areas we address include trust planning, beneficiary designation reviews, life insurance for estate liquidity, charitable giving strategies, and coordination with your tax plan to minimize estate and inheritance taxes.
Why families choose us
Estate planning is deeply personal. We've been helping families navigate these conversations for nearly 50 years — including our own family transitions from one generation to the next.
We can recommend trusted estate attorneys in the Northern Suburbs who specialize in Illinois trust and estate law.
Common questions about estate planning
Do I need a trust or just a will?
In Illinois, a revocable living trust can help you avoid probate, maintain privacy, and provide more control over how and when your assets are distributed. A will alone goes through probate, which is public and can take months. For most families with real estate or significant assets, a trust is worth considering.
How do I avoid probate in Illinois?
The most common ways to avoid Illinois probate include creating a revocable living trust, using transfer-on-death designations for real estate and financial accounts, joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and proper beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and insurance policies.
What are the most common estate planning mistakes?
The biggest mistakes we see are outdated beneficiary designations (especially after divorce or remarriage), assets titled outside the trust, no plan for incapacity (power of attorney, healthcare directive), and failing to coordinate the estate plan with the financial plan.
Estate Planning across the Northern Suburbs
Ready to talk about estate planning?
Book a free consultation and we’ll build a plan that fits your family.
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