One of the obstacles clients must overcome when they make the decision to do their estate planning is a fear of the cost. This fear is unfounded. If I can show you how to get your estate planning for free, then one major roadblock to protecting your family will be gone (as will one of your reasons to procrastinate).
The reality is that you can probably save more money by having a Will than it costs to prepare your complete estate plan. In other words, your Will is free.
The cost savings come from the differences in dying without a Will (called intestate) and dying with a Will (called testate).
There are many problems when you die without a Will. Nobody knows who you want to finalize your affairs. Your property not will be divided as you direct, but based on a plan created by the state of Illinois, And, the court will require whoever it chooses as your administrator to purchase a surety bond. The purpose of the surety bond is to protect your estate, in case the administrator steals your property, instead of paying your bills and distributing the rest to your family.
A surety bond is purchased from an insurance company and it is expensive! In Cook County, it’s not unusual for a surety bond for an estate valued at $500,00 to cost over $2,200 per year. For an estate of $1 million, the surety bond will cost over $3,200 per year!
Although an estate of $500,000 to $1 million may seem out of sight, it’s quite common to have an estate of that size when the value of your real estate, retirement funds, and life insurance are added up.
The wonderful thing about having a Will is that law allows you to waive the surety bond for the executor you appointed. The theory is probably that, if you’re comfortable enough to name the person as your executor, then you know him/her well enough that the Probate Court doesn’t need to worry about your executor stealing your property.
Obviously, the thousands of dollars that your estate saves because it doesn’t have to pay for a surety bond can go a long way (probably all the way) toward the cost of your estate planning.
Voila! Wills for free.