We are available to meet with clients in Shelbyville & Urbana-Champaign, IL by appointment.

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Estate Planning Process in Illinois: What to Expect

In this Elder Law Minute, Steven Milburn explains what to expect when you schedule an estate planning appointment with Dent Coulson Elder Law, including the intake process, initial consultation, design meeting, and final document signing.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Steven Milburn and I’m a senior associate attorney here at Dent Coulson Elder Law. These Elderlaw minutes are intended to provide you with a framework to address any questions that you may have in your estate planning journey. Thank you.

What to Expect When You Schedule an Estate Planning Appointment

Today we’re going to talk about what to expect after you call to make an appointment uh for estate planning at Dent Coulson Elder Law.

Your Initial Call and Intake Form

On your initial call, our uh receptionist will take some basic information from you uh to start the planning process. At that time, they’ll also send you an intake form that’ll have more detailed information as to your family situation, your children, uh grandchildren, whether there are any uh special circumstances we need to cover. Uh and then also your income and asset information so that we can create a complete plan uh for you.

Your Initial Consultation

After the initial phone call, uh you’ll be scheduled for uh the initial consult and that’ll be the first time you meet with an attorney. We will have reviewed your uh intake form and the memo prepared by our staff and discuss with you uh your family situation and your assets and we’ll try to design the best plan for your situation.

The initial consult will take usually an hour to an hour and a half to gather all the information and design the plan.

Your Estate Plan Design Meeting

The next step is that we’ll have a design meeting and during that design meeting that’s when we design the terms of your documents. Uh so we’ll identify who’s going to be in those documents, who your beneficiaries are and what special circumstances we need to cover.

The design meeting usually takes a half an hour to an hour to come up with all your selections.

Your Final Signing Appointment

The final signing appointment will take usually an hour to an hour and a half to go through all the documents and to execute them.

Closing

If you want to schedule an appointment, give us a call at Dent Coulson Elder Law.

Thank you.

Also looking for information about Medicaid and Asset Preservation? Visit these articles:

    • Do Living Trusts Protect Assets From Medicaid or VA Spend Down?
    • How an Asset Preservation Trust Protects Your Life Savings From Long-Term Care Costs
    • Why Do I Need an Asset Preservation Plan?

“Your Trusted Advisor on the Elder Care Journey”

Dent-Coulson Elder Law is dedicated to providing families in the St. Louis area with their Elder Law needs. Our practice areas include Asset Preservation Planning, Veterans Benefits, Medicaid Eligibility, Alzheimer’s Planning, Special Needs Planning, Estate Planning and more. We understand the financial challenges you may face as you and your loved ones grow older. At Dent-Coulson Elder Law, our clients’ well-being is our number one priority. For immediate help, call (618) 632-7000 (IL) or (314) 567-9292 (MO), or Contact Us and we will get in touch as soon as possible.

Veterans Benefits O'Fallon ILFor Immediate Help

If you or a loved one needs immediate help with a planning matter or legal issue, please call us today:

774 Sunset Blvd Suite 200
O'Fallon, IL 62269
IL: (618) 632-7000
MO: (314) 567-9292

1901 South Fourth Street,
Suite 211, Effingham, IL 62401
(217) 330-5500

Fax: (618) 632-7333

Office Hours
Monday - Thursday
8:30 am - 12:00 pm
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Friday
8:30 am - 12:00 pm

We are available to meet with clients in Shelbyville & Urbana-Champaign, IL by appointment.

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Free WorkshopsIf you have reached age 65, there's about a 45% chance that you will eventually need long-term care.

Our attorneys are available to speak to professional and social groups on a variety of elder law and estate planning topics without charge.

To book a speaker, please call our offices and ask for Karie Wines.

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