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Thoughtful And Effective Counsel In Geneva For Administration And Litigation Of Trusts And Estates

When a loved one passes away, families often face complex legal processes of administering estates and trusts. These situations sometimes lead to disagreements over inheritances, asset distribution or document validity. You need experienced guidance and strong advocacy for these challenging times.

The attorneys at Storm & Piscopo, P.C., provide comprehensive estate administration, probate services and aggressive litigation representation to clients across Illinois. With decades of combined experience in estate law, we’ve successfully guided families through complicated estate matters while protecting their interests.

Probate, Guardianship And Trust Litigations Are Increasing

Today’s estate landscape has changed. Extended families with stepchildren and adopted children are more common. Elderly relatives live longer. Financial pressures on families have increased. These factors lead to more inheritance disputes. We see many cases of undue influence in changing estate plans. Some siblings misuse powers of attorney. They control finances without accounting for other family members.

Our firm has extensive experience handling a variety of estate-related disputes, including:

Will contests and trust litigation: Challenging the validity of wills or trusts due to undue influence, lack of capacity or improper execution
Financial exploitation of elders: Protecting vulnerable seniors from financial abuse by family members, caregivers or others
Contested guardianships: Resolving disputes over who should serve as guardian for incapacitated adults or minors
Breach of fiduciary duties: Holding trustees, executors and other fiduciaries accountable for mismanagement or self-dealing
Abuse of powers of attorney: Addressing misuse of authority granted through power of attorney documents
Accounting actions: Demanding proper financial accounting from executors, trustees or agents
Accounting to the beneficiaries and trust administration: Seeing to solutions when trustees fail to provide transparent financial reporting or improperly manage the trust’s assets
Removal of trustees: Petitioning for replacement of trustees who fail to fulfill their legal obligations

We approach each case with sensitivity to family dynamics while vigorously advocating for our clients’ legal rights throughout the litigation process.

Probate And Estate Administration

We assist executors and trustees in fulfilling their duties throughout the probate and estate administration process. Our attorneys provide guidance on asset inventory, debt payment, tax filings and distribution to beneficiaries while complying with all legal requirements. With our help, you can manage these responsibilities efficiently while minimizing stress during a difficult time.

Customized Estate Planning

We help people prepare for the future and preserve family wealth through thoughtful estate planning. Drawing on our extensive litigation experience, we create estate plans designed to avoid future disputes. Our services include wills, trusts, powers of attorney and health care directives tailored to your specific needs and goals.

Critical Illinois Ruling: Retirement Assets After Divorce

As part of comprehensive estate planning, we stay current on legal developments that could affect your assets. A recent Illinois ruling has significant implications for divorced individuals. If you divorce but fail to update beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, your ex-spouse may legally receive these assets upon your death – even if your divorce decree specified otherwise.

Our attorneys can help ensure your retirement assets align with your current wishes and that all beneficiary designations reflect your true intentions.

Our Litigation Experience Can Set You Up For Success In Illinois

Our varied estate litigation experience allows us to create effective estate plans for our clients. We can help you plan to avoid disputes and future litigation. We provide guidance regarding the use of wills and trusts, as well as the need for powers of attorney and health care directives.

Please contact us to schedule your consultation. For certain matters, we offer free initial consultations with one of our attorneys. We also offer low flat rates for other initial consultations. Call our Geneva office to arrange your consultation today at 630-232-6170. From our office in Geneva, we help clients in Batavia, Aurora, St. Charles and throughout Illinois.