Becoming a parent comes with a large number of new responsibilities and concerns for your child’s wellbeing. While you may not want to think about it, it is imperative that you ask yourself what will happen to your child if tragedy strikes. This “what-if” planning has become even more important over the last couple years with the continuing threat of the pandemic and mass assault incidents.

Let us help you sort through these concerns with our “New Parent Legal Plan”. For a reasonable fee, this Plan includes a Last Will and Testament with guardianship provisions and basic testamentary trust provisions for one or more minor children, Property Power of Attorney, Healthcare Power of Attorney, and Living Will. Single parents and couples are all welcome to take advantage of the Plan.

In order to qualify for the New Parent Legal Plan, the parent(s) must:

  • Be 18 years of age or older
  • Have a one or more children under the age of 5
  • Have a simple distribution plan: All assets to be distributed to spouse or significant other, or to a trusted individual for the benefit of the minor child(ren); plus one to two contingent beneficiaries
  • Not need complexities incorporated into the estate plan, including but not limited to tax planning, small business planning, and/or legal/financial obligations to former spouses as a result of divorce *

* These additional elements and others can be incorporated into your estate plan for an additional cost, which shall be determined by Leighton Legal Group on a Client-by-Client basis. 

 

How Do I Begin?

 

1. Call 309/828-7600 or send an email to [email protected] to schedule your initial consultation, then pay a $100 consultation fee prior to your scheduled consultation, which will be applied toward your total fee. Since you will receive legal advice during the initial consultation, and the law firm will be reserving time and resources for you, the $100 payment is non-refundable, even if you choose not to engage our firm.

2. After the initial consultation, you will receive an engagement letter to review, sign, and return to us with one-half of your total remaining fee, adjusted for the $100 that you paid prior to your consultation. The remainder of your fee will be due 30 days after you engage us, or at your appointment to execute your documents, whichever comes first.

3. Once our Client-Attorney relationship has been officially established, we will send you a list of the information we will need to complete your documents. You will receive draft copies of your documents to review prior to scheduling your appointment to sign the documents.

4. You are invited to ask questions and request revisions to your draft documents prior to your appointment. Once the documents are finalized, we will schedule your appointment.

5. You will meet with Attorney Leighton and his staff to sign your documents in the presence of two witnesses and a notary. We will address any additional questions you may have and return the original documents and photocopies to you. Clients who execute a Revocable Living Trust will receive a trust binder with instructions on how to fund the Trust.