Eight years ago, you might have signed an estate plan, put the documents somewhere safe, and felt that an important responsibility was finally handled.
Since then, Congress has changed the rules for inherited retirement accounts, Illinois has adopted a comprehensive Trust Code, and new laws have changed everything from document signing to the administration of smaller estates.
On the eighth anniversary of this blog, I want to look back at eight important developments and explain what they mean for your family today.
An older estate plan does not automatically need to be replaced. But the advice that made sense when you signed it should be checked against today’s law, your current assets, and your family’s needs.
As a Naperville-based estate planning lawyer serving Plainfield families, that is the question I focus on: Does your plan still accomplish what you want?
1. Federal Estate Tax Planning Changed Direction Again
In 2018, the federal estate and gift tax exemption was $11.18 million per person, following the increase enacted in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. For years afterward, planning discussions included the scheduled expiration of that larger exemption after 2025.
Congress changed that outcome in 2025. The new law established a $15 million federal estate and gift tax exemption per person for 2026, with inflation adjustments afterward, instead of the previously scheduled reduction.
That is a substantial change in the assumptions underlying some older plans.
What to review: If your documents contain tax-driven trust divisions or distribution formulas, determine what those provisions would actually do under current law. Preserving flexibility, managing income taxes, and protecting beneficiaries may be just as important as avoiding federal estate tax.
A larger exemption also does not make wills, trusts, or powers of attorney unnecessary. Those documents address much more than taxes.
2. The SECURE Act Changed How Many Children Inherit Retirement Accounts
Before the SECURE Act, many individual beneficiaries could spread inherited IRA distributions over their life expectancies. This was commonly called the “stretch IRA.”
The SECURE Act, enacted in 2019, generally replaced that approach with a 10-year distribution rule for many non-spouse beneficiaries inheriting from account owners who died in 2020 or later. Exceptions remain for certain eligible designated beneficiaries, including qualifying surviving spouses, disabled or chronically ill individuals, and other specified beneficiaries.
For an adult child inheriting a substantial traditional IRA, a shorter withdrawal period can concentrate taxable income during years when that child is already earning a good salary.
What to review: Your retirement account beneficiaries and any trust provisions intended to receive retirement assets. Naming a trust can still serve important purposes, but its distribution requirements and tax consequences need careful attention.
An otherwise thoughtful estate plan can produce an unintended result if the beneficiary forms and trust language do not work together.
3. Illinois Adopted a Comprehensive Trust Code in 2020
The Illinois Trust Code took effect January 1, 2020. It established a comprehensive statutory framework addressing trust creation, administration, trustee responsibilities, beneficiary rights, modification, and other important issues.
For families, one practical lesson is that naming a successor trustee involves more than choosing someone trustworthy. That person may have responsibilities involving notices, records, accountings, and communication with beneficiaries. The applicable requirements depend on the trust and its circumstances.
What to review: Whether your successor trustees understand the role, whether your documents provide workable instructions, and whether your trust’s administrative provisions remain appropriate.
The Trust Code did not automatically invalidate older trusts. It did change the legal framework in which many trusts operate.
4. Illinois Expanded Electronic Documents and Remote Witnessing
Illinois enacted its Electronic Wills and Remote Witnesses Act in 2021. Further legislation effective January 1, 2024 expanded the framework to include electronic nontestamentary estate planning documents. These laws provide additional ways to execute certain documents when the statutory requirements are satisfied.
That is a meaningful change from the assumptions many people had about signing an estate plan eight years ago.
It does not mean every emailed signature, video call, or scanned document is sufficient. The requirements depend on the document and the signing method.
What to review: Whether your signing arrangements meet current requirements and suit your circumstances.
Convenience matters in my practice. I offer in-home consultations and document signings for Plainfield and nearby communities, along with other meeting options. The goal is a process that is both convenient and properly completed.
5. Retirement Withdrawal Ages Changed More Than Once
In 2018, the familiar starting age for required minimum distributions was 70½. The original SECURE Act raised it to 72 for affected account owners.
SECURE 2.0, enacted in 2022, moved the starting age to 73 for affected individuals and provides for age 75 for those born in 1960 or later. Different birth years remain subject to different rules.
These changes can affect the timing of retirement withdrawals, Roth conversions, charitable giving, and the assets ultimately left to beneficiaries.
What to review: Whether your estate plan and retirement strategy still reflect the same assumptions. I can coordinate the legal planning with your financial advisor and accountant so those decisions support one another.
The right beneficiary designation should be considered alongside the account’s expected use during your lifetime.
6. The Inherited IRA Rules Kept Developing After the Law Passed
The SECURE Act was not the end of the inherited retirement account story.
Final Treasury regulations issued in 2024, generally applicable beginning in 2025, confirmed that certain beneficiaries subject to the 10-year rule must also take annual required distributions during that period when the original owner died on or after the required beginning date. The account must still be emptied by the applicable tenth-year deadline.
Transition relief had protected certain missed annual distributions for 2021 through 2024. That relief did not restart the 10-year clock.
What to review: If you inherited a retirement account, confirm the rules for that particular inheritance. “I have ten years” does not necessarily mean “I can wait ten years before withdrawing anything.”
This is a good example of why a general explanation read several years ago may no longer be enough.
7. Illinois Increased Its Small-Estate Affidavit Limit in 2025
Effective August 15, 2025, Illinois increased the small-estate affidavit limit from $100,000 to $150,000 in qualifying personal property, with motor vehicles registered with the Illinois Secretary of State treated separately from that dollar limit. The change applies to qualifying estates of people dying on or after that date. Other statutory conditions must also be satisfied.
This can allow more families to collect and distribute qualifying personal property without formal probate administration.
It does not make the affidavit a general solution for transferring a deceased person’s real estate.
What to review: How your assets would pass at death, including your home. A higher affidavit limit may simplify some estates, but it does not replace a coordinated plan for real estate, incapacity, or ongoing management of an inheritance.
8. ABLE Account Eligibility Expanded in 2026
Beginning January 1, 2026, the disability-onset age requirement for ABLE accounts expanded from before age 26 to before age 46.
The distinction matters: this concerns when the qualifying disability began, not simply the person’s age when opening the account. Other eligibility requirements still apply.
For some families, that change makes an additional planning tool available. ABLE accounts can help eligible individuals save and pay for qualified disability expenses under rules that coordinate with public benefits.
What to review: Whether an ABLE account could complement a special needs trust or other support arrangements. The tools serve different purposes, and one does not automatically replace the other.
I help families consider those choices through special needs estate planning.
One Important Illinois Rule Has Not Kept Pace
While federal exemption amounts have increased, Illinois continues to have a $4 million estate tax exclusion, and it does not offer the federal system’s portability of an unused exemption between spouses.
That means a Plainfield family can have no federal estate tax concern and still need Illinois estate tax planning.
Your home, retirement accounts, investments, business interests, and life insurance may collectively create an issue that is not obvious from looking at any single account.
For married couples, reviewing how assets are divided and what happens at the first spouse’s death can be especially important.
Learn more about Illinois estate tax planning.
Does Your Estate Plan Need an Update?
The anniversary of this blog is a useful reminder to check your plan. It is not a reason to assume every document needs rewriting.
A review should answer practical questions:
- Do your beneficiaries and distribution instructions still reflect your wishes?
- Are your trustees, executors, guardians, and agents still appropriate and available?
- Have your retirement account beneficiaries been reviewed under the current rules?
- Have assets intended for your trust actually been transferred or coordinated with it?
- Could your estate approach the Illinois estate tax threshold?
- Have marriage, divorce, a death, a disability, or a move changed your planning needs?
I generally suggest a periodic review every three to five years, with an earlier review after a significant family, financial, or legal change. That is a practical guideline, not an expiration date for your documents.
Estate Plan Reviews for Plainfield Families
Over eight years of writing this blog, the central purpose of estate planning has remained consistent: helping people prepare for uncertainty and make life easier for the people they care about.
The legal details have continued to change.
I work directly with individuals and families in Plainfield, Naperville, and the surrounding suburbs to create new plans and review existing documents. I explain what still works, what deserves attention, and whether targeted changes or a more comprehensive update would be appropriate.
I offer daytime and evening appointments, including meetings at your home.
If you have not reviewed your estate plan in several years, start with a complimentary 20-minute phone call. You do not need to know what needs changing before contacting me.
Book a Call with Robert J. Varak
This article summarizes selected developments from 2018 through 2026. It provides general information; the effect of a particular change depends on your documents and circumstances.