In an ideal situation, your estate plan is figured our and finalized long before it has to go into effect.  Life, of course, has a tendency to diverge from the ideal situation and it’s entirely possible for someone to suddenly find themselves trying to tie together their affairs, plan for their estate, with a rapidly approaching deadline.

The most commonly used term for this sort of situation is near death estate planning.  It can happen because of accident or an unforeseen diagnosis.  In many ways, near death estate planning is not different from any other sort of estate planning.  The same documents are used to direct how your legacies will be used after your death.  The only difference in near death estate planning is the timeline.  Planning and preparations that might otherwise be comfortably done over many weeks or months might have to be completed in a few days or even in an afternoon.

We have helped individuals with near death estate planning.  For more information, or for help with other estate planning or probate legal concerns, contact the Chicago estate lawyers at Horowitz & Weinstein.

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