Many Americans do not have an estate plan and are unsure what happens to their assets if they die without a will. If your parents are a part of this group, there are some steps they can take now that don’t involve writing a will or setting up a trust. If your parents pass away and want to leave you the family home, it may have to go through probate. One way to avoid this is to have the property put into a trust. But if your parents don’t have an estate plan, then they don’t have a trust.
Another option to inherit property is to have them set up a TODI before they pass away.
It can cause significant problems if your parents die without a will (dying intestate). This is why Illinois made options other than a will or trust legal.
In 2012, Illinois passed the Residential Real Property Transfer on Death Instrument Act (TODI). This is a legal option for owners of residential properties (under 5 units) to pass this property to a beneficiary without it going through probate. The TODI must be filed with the recorder of deeds, and there is a fee to file, usually between $45 – $100. If your parents have a TODI and name you the beneficiary, the property is easily transferred into your name when they pass away.
The Chicago Tribune ran a story (Many older adults in Cook County die without an estate plan. A newer legal tool is helping heirs hold onto family homes.) that made many people aware of TODIs and that the probate process is not quick and easy.
“The probate process takes at least six months, with the vast majority of cases in Cook County closing within 14 months, according to Judge Daniel Malone, presiding judge of the probate division for the Circuit Court of Cook County. At the same time, mortgage payments on the house might have gone unpaid, so the property may be in foreclosure, and the property may need repairs since maintenance cannot be legally performed on the property if the title is tangled.”
If your parents have no legal estate plan, the heirs are left to untangle the title. A handwritten note does not constitute an estate plan.
Let’s say you are one of several children. You have been living in the family home and caring for your parents for the last years of their lives. And once they pass, you deem it only fair that you get the house, since your siblings already reside elsewhere. You must work with all family members who are legally entitled to the property. They must sign away their rights to ownership of the home. As you can imagine, this could cause disputes among the siblings. Causing you even more time and money – and potentially losing the home.
An Illinois estate planning lawyer can help you protect your and your parent’s interests and work with you on end-of-life planning and decisions. Consulting an experienced attorney can give you advice and discuss your legal options. Contact the Estate & Probate Legal Group at 630-864-5835.
Areas We Serve: Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, and Will counties
