- (224) 404-3302
- 11 N. Northwest Hwy., Suite 129, Park Ridge, IL 60068
Avoid Probate & Protect Your Family with a Customized Living Trust | Maintain Control of Your Assets | Free 15-Minute Consultation
*Included in Our Comprehensive Estate Planning Services — Not Offered as a Standalone Service. Learn More About Our Estate Planning Service
A living trust is a legal arrangement that holds your assets during your lifetime and transfers them to your beneficiaries after death without going through probate court. Unlike a will, a properly funded living trust keeps your estate private, avoids the 12-18 month Cook County probate process, and gives you complete control over how and when beneficiaries receive their inheritance.
At Dracheva Law, we create customized living trusts as part of comprehensive estate plans. Your trust works together with your will, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives to provide seamless protection for your family across every scenario.
Flexible trusts you control during your lifetime that avoid probate, maintain privacy, and can be modified or revoked at any time
Guidance on properly transferring assets into your trust—the critical step most people miss that defeats the purpose of trust planning
Trusts that remove assets from your estate for asset protection, Medicaid planning, or estate tax reduction purposes
Companion wills that capture any assets outside your trust at death and transfer them into the trust for unified administration
Trusts designed to provide for disabled beneficiaries without disqualifying them from government benefits like SSI or Medicaid
Updates to existing trusts reflecting life changes, new beneficiaries, changed circumstances, or updated wishes
Probate in Cook County takes 12-18 months and creates a public record of your assets and beneficiaries. A properly funded living trust bypasses probate entirely, keeping your family's financial matters private and getting assets to your loved ones faster.
No hourly billing surprises. We offer transparent flat-fee pricing for living trusts as part of comprehensive estate planning packages. You'll know exactly what your complete plan costs before you commit.
A trust only avoids probate if it's properly funded. We don't just draft documents, we guide you through transferring assets into your trust and ensure nothing is left out that would force your family into probate court.
We discuss your family situation, assets, goals, and concerns. We explain how living trusts work and determine if a trust-based plan is right for your situation.
We design your trust based on your specific wishes—distribution terms, trustee appointments, beneficiary protections—and draft all coordinating documents.
We review every document with you in detail, answer your questions, and execute your trust and related documents with proper notarization.
We guide you through transferring assets into your trust, real estate deeds, account titling, beneficiary designations, ensuring your plan actually works.
If you own real estate, a living trust avoids probate for your property. Without a trust, your family faces months of court proceedings before they can sell or transfer your home.
Trusts provide precise control over who gets what and when, preventing conflict between stepchildren, children from prior marriages, and surviving spouses.
Probate is public record, anyone can see what you owned and who inherited it. A living trust keeps your family's financial matters completely private.
Without a trust, your family may face probate in every state where you own real estate. A living trust avoids multi-state probate complications.
A trust lets you control when and how children receive their inheritance - at 25, 30, 35, or in stages - rather than handing them everything at 18.
If you want your family to avoid the time, cost, and stress of Cook County probate court, a living trust is the solution.
A will goes through probate court after death, a public process taking 12-18 months in Cook County. A living trust avoids probate entirely, remains private, and typically settles in 4-8 months. Trusts also provide more control over how and when beneficiaries receive assets. Most comprehensive estate plans include both a trust and a pour-over will working together.
At Dracheva Law, living trusts are included in our comprehensive estate planning packages with flat-fee pricing. The cost depends on your situation’s complexity -family dynamics, asset types, special provisions needed. During your free consultation, we assess your needs and provide a clear quote. Trust-based plans cost more than simple wills but provide significantly more protection and probate avoidance. We do not offer standalone trust drafting, every trust is part of a coordinated estate plan.
No. With a revocable living trust, you remain in complete control. You serve as trustee during your lifetime, managing assets exactly as you do now. You can buy, sell, spend, and modify the trust at any time. The trust only becomes “irrevocable” after your death when your successor trustee takes over to distribute assets to beneficiaries.
Typically, your home and other real estate, bank and investment accounts, business interests, and valuable personal property should be transferred into the trust. Some assets, like retirement accounts and life insurance, usually stay outside the trust but name it as beneficiary. We provide detailed funding guidance to ensure all appropriate assets are properly titled.
An unfunded trust is worthless. If you create a trust but never transfer assets into it, those assets go through probate anyway—defeating the entire purpose. This is the most common estate planning mistake we see. At Dracheva Law, we don’t just draft documents; we guide you through funding and verify your trust is properly set up.
Yes, and you should be. Most people serve as their own trustee (or co-trustees for married couples) during their lifetime. You name a successor trustee, typically a spouse, adult child, or trusted friend who takes over only if you become incapacitated or pass away. The successor trustee then manages or distributes assets according to your trust terms.
Yes. A “pour-over will” works as a safety net, capturing any assets not transferred to your trust during your lifetime and directing them into the trust after death. It also names guardians for minor children, something a trust cannot do. Your comprehensive estate plan from Dracheva Law includes both documents working together.
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Don’t navigate probate alone. Let us handle the legal complexity while you focus on your family.
Dracheva Law, LLC
11 N. Northwest Hwy., Suite 129
Park Ridge, IL 60068
Phone: (224) 404-3302
Email: info@drachevalaw.com
Serving:
Park Ridge, Des Plaines, Niles, Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect, Glenview, Skokie, and all of Cook County
