Communities We Serve
Estate Planning Attorney — Communities We Serve
Lysinski & Associates P.C. drafts wills, revocable living trusts, and powers of attorney for families across the North Shore and the northwest suburbs, starting at $500, with Adam Lysinski preparing and explaining every plan personally. The right plan is not the same in every household — it follows the assets, the family, and what each town's residents actually need to protect.
A funded revocable living trust is the main tool used in Illinois to keep a home and other assets out of probate, which is public and can take time; a properly funded trust lets a successor trustee distribute property directly. Illinois also has its own estate tax — a $4 million exemption as of 2026, not portable between spouses — so a married couple can face Illinois tax even below the federal threshold. Whether planning reduces that exposure depends on the assets, titling, beneficiary designations, and tax advice.
What triggers planning, town by town
The document a family needs changes with what they own and where they are in life. The pages below are written around the planning that actually comes up in each community:
- High-value, estate-tax-aware planning — Bannockburn, Glencoe, Winnetka, Wilmette, Highland Park.
- Aging-parent and family-home planning — Harwood Heights, Norridge, Niles, Highwood.
- Land-in-trust and legacy-property planning — Long Grove, Riverwoods.
- Executive compensation, equity, and multi-state planning — Lincolnshire, Deerfield, Bannockburn.
- Young-family guardianship and the first real plan — Vernon Hills, Lake Zurich, Highwood.
One plan, coordinated with the rest of your life
Estate planning does not sit apart from a family's other legal work. After a home closes, the new deed should be coordinated with the living trust so the property is actually inside the plan; a family business needs its succession terms aligned with the owner's will. Adam handles that coordination directly, and can meet you in your community, by phone, or by email at info@lysinski.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
My spouse and I own our home jointly. Doesn't it automatically pass to the survivor without probate?
Not always. If you hold title as joint tenants with right of survivorship, it passes to the survivor outside probate, but if you hold as tenants in common, common in second marriages or inherited property, your share passes by your will and through probate. And even with joint tenancy, when the second spouse dies the home usually goes through probate unless a trust or other transfer tool is in place. Adam reviews your deed as part of every plan.
What's the right starting point for an estate plan, whether we're a young family or a high-net-worth household?
For nearly everyone it's three building blocks: a will, naming a guardian if you have minor children; powers of attorney for property and healthcare; and usually a funded revocable living trust to avoid probate. Higher-value estates then layer in Illinois estate-tax planning. Adam builds each plan personally, from $500.
Estate plan pricing
Estate plans from $500. Plans start at $500; the fee depends on the documents and the complexity. Court filing fees, recording costs, and unusually complex or contested matters are quoted separately before any work begins.
Call (773) 777-9888 to talk through what your family needs — wills, trusts, and powers of attorney, drafted and explained personally by Adam.