Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois

You always have the right to fire your attorney. You may also choose to work with another attorney. It is your decision to make.

Years ago, the tradition in preparing wills and trusts was to take over a month to prepare a first draft. The entire process of preparing estate documents could take several months.

Today, this uncommon since we now use computers which make the process more streamlined. Your current attorney may use an old school process. He may be taking what he considers to be a normal amount of time to prepare the documents.

I am concerned with the lack of communication from the attorney. Your documents should be available if you request their return.

I like to get the process over, in large part, within one or two weeks.

For a relatively uncomplicated Estate Plan, my process typically goes like this. I have a first meeting with the client(s) where I learn all that I need to know to prepare the documents and, during that first meeting, I schedule a second meeting with the client(s) to sign the documents about 1 month from the first meeting. Meanwhile, I send drafts of all documents to the client(s) at least one week before the scheduled second meeting.

Your lawyer's lack of communication is disturbing, particularly if you've notified him of your health issues. I've completed an Estate Plan (from start-to-finish) within days when a client is near death.

You may wish to hire another attorney at this point, because time seems to be of the essence. You may have to pay your first attorney some amount, but your second attorney can negotiate that with him. Your second attorney will likely be able to get your documents back quite quickly (though it's also disturbing that your first lawyer hasn't returned these either.)