by Eileen Kerlin Walsh | Oct 15, 2026 | Blog, Common Questions, Estate Planning, Inheritance Planning, Kerlin Walsh Law, Living Trusts, News, Probate, Wills & Trusts
The Illinois probate process is the court-supervised path an estate takes after someone dies, from proving the Will to distributing what remains. For a typical Illinois estate, it runs about 12 to 18 months from the first filing to the final distribution. This guide...
by Eileen Kerlin Walsh | Oct 8, 2026 | Blog, Common Questions, Estate Planning, Inheritance Planning, Kerlin Walsh Law, Living Trusts, News, Probate, Wills & Trusts
The Illinois probate process is the court-supervised path an estate takes after someone dies, from proving the Will to distributing what remains. For a typical Illinois estate, it runs about 12 to 18 months from the first filing to the final distribution. This guide...
by Eileen Kerlin Walsh | Oct 1, 2026 | Blog, Common Questions, Estate Planning, Inheritance Planning, Kerlin Walsh Law, Living Trusts, News, Wills & Trusts
The federal estate tax exemption jumped to $15 million per person in 2026. Illinois did not follow. The state still taxes estates over $4 million, and that number has not moved in more than a decade. That single fact catches more southwest suburban families every...
by Eileen Kerlin Walsh | Sep 24, 2026 | Blog, Common Questions, Education, Estate Planning, Inheritance Planning, Kerlin Walsh Law, Living Trusts, News, Wills & Trusts
A complete Illinois estate plan in 2026 is built from four working parts: a Revocable Living Trust, a Pour-Over Will, a Durable Power of Attorney for Property, and a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care. Together they decide who controls your money and your care...
by Eileen Kerlin Walsh | Sep 17, 2026 | Blog, Common Questions, Education, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Healthcare Decisions, Inheritance Planning, Kerlin Walsh Law, Living Trusts, Mental Health, News, Wills & Trusts
A single stretch of long-term care can consume in a year what took decades to build. That is the quiet financial risk sitting inside most family plans, and it is one of the few that a Will and a Trust alone do not fully address. Medicaid planning is how families...
by Eileen Kerlin Walsh | Sep 10, 2026 | Blog, Common Questions, Education, Estate Planning, Guardianship, Inheritance Planning, Kerlin Walsh Law, Life Insurance, Living Trusts, Mental Health, News, Wills & Trusts
erson in 2026 and was made permanent under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (per the Internal Revenue Service). Most families will never owe a dollar of federal estate tax. That is the number people hear, and it is the number that creates a false sense of safety....
