Estate planning
What happens if you die without a will in Illinois?
Who inherits under Illinois law when there is no will, with family pictures, how probate works, and what the default rules do not control.
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Guides
Plain-English guides for every stage of your family’s life
Short, illustrated guides that explain Illinois estate planning, special needs planning, and guardianship in plain English. Each one is tied to a life event, such as a marriage, a new child, or a child turning 18, so you can start where your family is today.
All guides
Estate planning
Do I need a trust in Illinois?
Estate size, the road a trust takes versus a will, and a checklist of the situations where a living trust tends to help.
Estate planning
Married or moving in together? What to update in your estate plan
What Illinois law assumes for a spouse and for an unmarried partner, who decides your medical care by default, and seven things to review.
Estate planning
New baby? Put these in place first
How to name a guardian, who manages a child's money, how a child can inherit, and six things to put in place.
Guardianship
The guardianship clock starts well before your child turns 18
Why the guardianship process starts six to twelve months before a child turns 18, and the less restrictive options to consider first.
Special needs trusts
Why a special needs trust isn’t optional if you’re naming an inheritance
How leaving money directly to someone on SSI or Medicaid can cost them benefits, and what a special needs trust does about it.
Education advocacy
What “ABA-informed” actually means at the IEP table
What a behavior-therapy background adds when reading an IEP goal, a behavior plan, or a placement recommendation.
Find a guide by life event
Every guide belongs to a moment in a family’s life. Start with the event closest to yours, and each event page also lists the documents worth reviewing.
Looking for something else? All 14 life events have their own page in The Life Cycle of Families, and new guides are added there as they are written.
Not sure which guide fits?
A consultation is the place to talk through where your family is today and what to put in place first. Nothing is finalized until we have talked.
This page is general information about Illinois law and is not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship. Your situation may differ, and laws change. See the Disclaimer. Last updated October 2026.