Estate planning begins with a will and involves deciding how you want your possessions and assets distributed and how you wish to be treated. It also means evaluating your current financial, family and needs situation as well as desires, plans and goals. How you structure your will and formulate the estate plan will depend on these things and determine whether you use various trusts, whether you restructure the ownership of your assets, and/or whether you use a variety of other planning tools, such as insurance or family partnerships, to complete the estate plan. The will's directions also determine whether your estate goes to probate court and becomes a matter of public record or whether it is managed by pre-approved private trustees.

The will is also an integral part of retirement planning and succession planning for business owners because the above mentioned evaluations help to determine when retirement or succession will occur.

Mr. Cooke works with his clients to evaluate will structures and estate plans in light of these considerations.

In some instances, Mr. Cooke can quote a flat fee for the development of the estate planning package, with evaluation and discussions as part of document preparation. For Customized, Non-Standard situations, Mr. Cooke's fee is $300.00 per hour.

Please feel free to contact Mr. Cooke at (312) 497-9002 or by email at "gc@Cookeslaw.com".