If you live in or around Bloomington and you’ve been meaning to “get your affairs in order,” you’re in the right place. We’re Haning Estate Planning, and we help Central Illinois families put together wills, trusts, and plans that actually hold up — without the legal jargon, the pressure, or the feeling that you’re sitting across from someone who’d rather be doing anything else.
Here’s the honest version: estate planning is one of those things almost everyone knows they should do and almost no one wants to think about. It means imagining a future you’d rather not picture. So most people put it off until something forces the issue. We get it. Our job is to make the process clear, walk through your options with you, and build a plan that fits your real family — not a one-size-fits-all template.
We focus on three things and do them well: estate planning, trusts, and probate. That focus matters. You’re not getting a general-practice attorney who handles a little of everything — you’re working with a firm that does this work day in and day out for families across the Bloomington-Normal area.
Here’s a quick look at what we help with:
| Service | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Wills | Naming who receives what, and who’s in charge of carrying out your wishes |
| Living trusts | Keeping your estate out of probate and giving your family a smoother path |
| Powers of attorney | Choosing who makes financial and health decisions if you can’t |
| Probate administration | Guiding families through McLean County probate after a loss |
| Complex family situations | Blended families, unequal distributions, special needs planning |
A lot of people come in thinking they just need “a will” and leave understanding why a trust might serve their family better — or the other way around. There’s no single right answer. A will spells out your wishes and names a guardian for minor children, but in Illinois it still has to go through probate. A living trust can let your family skip that court process entirely, which often means less cost, less delay, and a lot less stress during a time that’s already hard.
Which one’s right for you depends on what you own, how your family is structured, and what you’re trying to protect. That’s the whole point of sitting down and talking it through. We’ll explain the trade-offs in plain English so you can make the call with confidence.
If you pass away with assets in your name alone and no trust in place, your estate generally goes through probate in the McLean County Circuit Court. Probate is the court-supervised process of paying debts and distributing what’s left. It’s public, it takes time — often the better part of a year or more — and it comes with court costs and attorney involvement your family has to manage while they’re grieving.
Illinois does offer a simplified path for smaller estates: if the estate is worth $100,000 or less and doesn’t include real estate, your family may be able to use a small estate affidavit instead of full probate. For most homeowners, though, that threshold is easy to cross. A properly funded living trust is usually the most reliable way to keep your family out of the McLean County courthouse altogether.
This is the one that surprises people. Illinois has its own estate tax that kicks in at $4 million — well below the federal threshold. If your estate (including your home, retirement accounts, and life insurance) is approaching that number, there are planning strategies that can reduce or eliminate the Illinois estate tax bite. If you’re nowhere near it, that’s good to know too, so we’re not solving for a problem you don’t have.
Either way, we’ll give you a straight answer about where you stand and what, if anything, is worth doing about it.
We work on a flat fee for just about everything, and we tell you the number before any work begins. No hourly meter running in the background, no surprise invoices. Your fee includes:
The idea is simple: your estate plan shouldn’t be a document you sign once and never look at again. It should grow with your family.
We’ve spent five years helping families across Central Illinois, and our approach comes from a teaching background — Carissa teaches estate planning classes at the local community college, and that “help you understand it” mindset carries into every meeting. We’d genuinely rather you leave knowing why your plan is built the way it is than just hand you a binder.
We’re also big believers in outside-the-box solutions. The families who need estate planning most are often the ones with the messiest situations — second marriages, kids you want to treat differently for very good reasons, a child with special needs who can’t lose benefits. Those are the cases we’re built for, not the ones we shy away from.
If you’re ready to stop putting this off, we’d love to help. We’ll walk through your situation, lay out your options, and give you a flat-fee quote up front so you know exactly what to expect.
Call us or reach out through our contact page to get started.
You’ve Been Meaning To Do This. Now’s The Time. One Conversation
Is All It Takes To Get Started.
