Palatine Estate Planning Lawyer
Experienced Estate Planning Attorney in Palatine, Illinois
Take charge of your legacy today; contact us to start building an estate plan that provides peace of mind and protection for your loved ones.
Planning your estate is a proactive way to ensure that your wishes are honored and your loved ones are cared for exactly as you intend. It provides peace of mind, knowing your home and assets are protected, and your family is shielded from unnecessary confusion or decisions. Many Palatine families find that creating a thoughtful plan transforms uncertainty into clarity, providing relief and confidence for the future.
Before he became a Palatine estate planning lawyer, Scott Nowling spent 27 years as a Certified Financial Planner. For Palatine clients, that means working with someone who reads a financial picture the way a planner does, then turns it into a legal plan that holds up.
Contact Nowling Law, LLC to schedule a confidential consultation and talk through what your plan actually needs.
Estate Planning Services for Palatine Families
In addition to his nearly three decades of work as a Certified Financial Planner, Scott Nowling graduated first in his law school class with a perfect 4.0 GPA (a distinction held by only 17 graduates in his school’s history). He uses his financial and legal skills to build estate plans for Palatine homeowners and retirees who want their wishes followed without a long, costly court process.
Nowling Law’s estate planning services include:
- Revocable Living Trusts: A document that holds your assets during your lifetime and passes them to your beneficiaries without probate.
- Last Wills and Testaments: A foundational document naming who receives your property and who cares for any minor children.
- Transfer on Death Instruments (TODIs): An Illinois-specific tool that transfers real estate directly to a named beneficiary when you pass away.
- Powers of Attorney: Documents naming someone you trust to manage your finances and property if you cannot.
- Healthcare Directives: Instructions for your medical care and a person to carry them out if you are unable to speak for yourself.
Our estate planning attorney in Palatine creates a comprehensive plan that addresses your needs during life and after you’re gone, securing your legacy and making your wishes known.
Palatine Practice Areas
What Palatine Clients Say About Working With Us
Estate planning attorneys do not have courtroom verdicts to report, since most plans are written so a family never has to set foot in a courtroom at all. What we can share is what clients say after the plan is signed.
- Trust Completed With Confidence: One Avvo reviewer wrote that Scott exceeded expectations on every level, walking the family through critical questions with patience and clear communication.
- A Process Clients Had Put Off: A client on a third-party review site said Scott turned a project they had dreaded for years into something easy and informative.
- Clear Communication Throughout: Multiple firm reviews describe full estate plans finished on a tight timeline, with every step explained along the way.
Prior client experiences do not guarantee a similar outcome for your situation.
What Happens in Palatine Without a Plan
If you own a home in Palatine and pass away without a will or trust, you do not get to decide who inherits it. Illinois does. The state has a fixed formula for this situation, called intestate succession (755 ILCS 5/2-1), and it applies regardless of what you actually wanted, who you were closest to, or who has been caring for you.
Here is how that formula breaks down for the most common family situations:
If you are survived by… | Illinois law gives… |
A spouse and children (from any relationship) | Half the estate to your spouse, half divided among your children |
A spouse, no children | Everything to your spouse |
Children, no spouse | Everything divided equally among your children (or their descendants if the child has passed) |
No spouse or children, but parents or siblings | Estate is split between your parents and siblings, with one exception: if only one of your parents is still living, that parent gets a double share before the rest is divided |
No spouse, children, parents, or siblings | Estate passes to grandparents, then more distant relatives |
No surviving relatives at all | Estate passes to Cook County |
If you are married with children and have no will, your spouse does not inherit everything. Illinois splits the estate 50/50 between your spouse and your children, even if your children are minors, even if your spouse needs the full value of the home to keep living in it. Unmarried partners receive nothing under this formula, no matter how long you were together. Stepchildren you never legally adopted receive nothing either.
This estate is administered through the Cook County Circuit Court Probate Division, a process that typically takes several months to over a year, involves court filing fees and attorney’s fees paid out of the estate, and becomes a public record that anyone can look up.
Transfer on Death: Naming a Beneficiary for Real Estate
Illinois does offer one tool that operates outside this system: a Transfer on Death Instrument, which lets a homeowner name a beneficiary for real estate directly on the deed (755 ILCS 27/1). Used alone, though, a TODI only covers the one property it is recorded against. It does nothing for bank accounts, investment accounts, guardianship for minor children, or what happens if you become incapacitated before you die.
That is why most Palatine clients pair a TODI with a revocable trust and a complete set of supporting documents, rather than relying on one tool to do the whole job.
This information represents Illinois law as of June 2026.
FAQs About Palatine IL, Estate Planning Laws
What results have other Palatine clients had with their estate plans?
Clients consistently report completed trusts and wills, plain-English explanations of their options, and plans finished even on tight deadlines. Nowling Law has built more than 160 Google reviews from clients across the Northwest Chicago suburbs.
How much does an estate plan cost?
Cost depends on whether you need a simple will, a full revocable trust package, or a combination with a TODI. We discuss pricing plainly during your consultation, before any documents are drafted.
Do I need a trust if I already have a will?
A will alone usually means your estate goes through Cook County probate. A revocable trust is built to avoid that process for the assets placed in it, which is why many Palatine homeowners choose a trust over a will-only plan.
Where would my estate be handled if something happened to me in Palatine?
Most of Palatine sits in Cook County, so an unplanned estate would typically be handled through the Cook County Circuit Court Probate Division at the Richard J. Daley Center in Chicago. For some residents, the village extends into Lake County, and probate would be handled accordingly.
Schedule Your Consultation With a Trusted Palatine Estate Planning Attorney
You do not have to figure this out alone, and you do not have to get it perfect on the first call. Contact Nowling Law to schedule a confidential consultation, and bring whatever questions you have. We will help you build a plan that fits your family and your home in Palatine.
Client Success Stories
Hiring a lawyer can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. From the moment you contact our firm, through the final resolution of your matter, our goal is to make the process easy and understandable.