Illininois Do will or trust? I'm 78 and about done. grown children equally split beneficiaries, no asset except money I rent apartment. Divorced.

[richc82357]

What is the name of your state? Illinois Hello..
Do I need a will or trust? I'm 78 and about done. 3 grown children equally split beneficiaries, no asset except money I rent apartment. Divorced.
I own a car and rent an apartment. My 3 grown are married and are equal beneficiaries for bank accounts, and life insurance. We have discussed to bury or cremate me in the cheapest way possible. We have not discussed power of attorney for finances or end of life.
Do I need a will or trust? I figure with a will I can designate a POA for life support. but a trust will keep kids out of probate court..
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you and god bless

 

[FlyingRon]

If you have no assets, a trust is probably pointless. A trust only controls what is titled (or can be titled) in its name. If your money is in a bank or investment account, contact where you have the account and see if you can nominate a beneficiary (not a joint owner) for the event of your death.

For all the remaining stuff, you'll need a will. Even with trusts, you usually write a "pour over will" to handle everything that's not in the trust (it may direct it to be transferred to the trust, or you can handle it separately). The will also indicates your preference (though it will be approved by the court) over who will be appointed to handle the estate.

Since you appear not to already have one, I suggest you contact a lawyer who can advise you and create the will, along with an "advance medical directive" (also known as a "living will") to indicate what your desires for medical treatment would be in case you are incapacitated. You can also set up medical (and other) powers of attorney to handle things in the case of your incapacitation. Many elder law/estate planning attorneys will do all these documents as one nice little package.

 

[Zigner]

You can designate a beneficiary (transfer on death) for the car. See https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/vehicles/title_and_registration/pert.html (the form is called "Beneficiary Affidavit").

 

[TrustUser]

with regards to a beneficiary - make sure you can have 3 beneficiaries. at least at the time, my credit unions could only have 1 beneficiary - it wasnt a problem for me, cuz now everything is in trust

if that cant be done, you could always set up 3 bank accounts, and keep relatively similar amounts of money in each one

 

[Zigner]

with regards to a beneficiary - make sure you can have 3 beneficiaries. at least at the time, my credit unions could only have 1 beneficiary - it wasnt a problem for me, cuz now everything is in trust

if that cant be done, you could always set up 3 bank accounts, and keep relatively similar amounts of money in each one

For the vehicle, only 1 beneficiary is allowed to be named. (Just an FYI)

 

[adjusterjack]

I would go with a simple will, naming just one (avoids conflict) of your adult children as representative of your estate. That representative can take care of any administrative details with a small estate affidavit per Illinois statute 755 ILCS 5:

https://ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=075500050HArt.+XXV&ActID=2104&ChapterID=60&SeqStart=33900000&SeqEnd=34400000

Google Illinois small estate affidavit for more details.

 

[Zigner]

Prior to my mother-in-law's passing from cancer, she had the 4 kids put a small label with their on each item they wanted, or she placed a similar label on her personal items that she wished a particular child to have. Of course, there was no dissension in the family and the bulk of the assets stayed with my father-in-law. This was just for knick-knacks, jewelry, etc.

 

[zddoodah]

Do I need a will or trust? I figure with a will I can designate a POA for life support. but a trust will keep kids out of probate court.

If, in fact, you have "no [substantial] assets except money" and have designated pay-on-death "beneficiaries for bank [and any other financial] accounts," then probate isn't likely even without a trust. Arguably, you don't even need a will.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? Illinois Hello..
Do I need a will or trust? I'm 78 and about done. 3 grown children equally split beneficiaries, no asset except money I rent apartment. Divorced.
I own a car and rent an apartment. My 3 grown are married and are equal beneficiaries for bank accounts, and life insurance. We have discussed to bury or cremate me in the cheapest way possible. We have not discussed power of attorney for finances or end of life.
Do I need a will or trust? I figure with a will I can designate a POA for life support. but a trust will keep kids out of probate court..
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you and god bless

Since your children are beneficiaries on your accounts and life insurance those will pass outside of your estate and won't need to go through probate. You can add whomever you want to get the car on to your car title now, and then that person will own the car and it won't have to go through probate. You do not need a will to designate a POA. In fact, most POA's end when the person passes away anyway. You need to just have a Power of Attorney drawn up for whomever you want to handle your medical decisions if you become incapacitated.

If all that will be left are your personal possessions and your kids are not the type to squabble over your personal possessions then you should be fine without a will or trust.

 

[commentator]

More important that even a will, please see an attorney and allow your children to have medical and financial power of attorney. It is entirely possible that while you are clear minded at 78, you may be slipping by 88, and if you live to be "super old" (98!) there is about a 50/50 chance you will have dementia of some type and not be able to manage your own finances or make good medical decisions for yourself.

So please, now, set up your children (or the most responsible of them) to have POA if necessary. If not, and you have health issues where you ever have to go into the hospital they'll aggravate you to death each time over this issue, and I do not blame them. It is just good sense. While in their late 70's, my father in law insisted that he and my husband's mother do this POA and make simple wills. (and they also pre paid for all their burial expenses. ) At the time, they were both seemingly in their right minds. Then within a very short time, my father in law passed away suddenly, and my mother in law had a stroke and became completely disoriented, spent three years in a memory care unit. It is much more trouble to get legal control after a person is incapacitated than it would ever be to settle an estate. We have blessed him for doing this many times since then.

 

[t74]

Many communities have senior service agencies which can assist you with the POAs or provide the names of attorneys who provide the services affordably.

 

[richc82357]

Thanks to all that replied. It is clear as mud. Lol. JK. I thought I was correct in thinking beneficiaries was good. I have already signed over the car to the gear head of the family. I think il just get me a will from legal zoom or similar..
Again thanks, we're good..

 

[Zigner]

I have already signed over the car to the gear head of the family.

So you don't own a car?

 

[richc82357]

I guess that's true. I bought it signed the title and it's in my safe box. Soooooo no

 

[richc82357]

I insure it also.