The Law Offices of Alan E. Sohn Chartered

Call Now for a Personalized Case Evaluation

(312) 236-7005

The Law Offices of Alan E. Sohn Chartered

New Illinois Exemption: Personal Property

  • By: Alan Sohn
  • Published:

Both houses of the Illinois General Assembly have passed legislation to amend the Illinois statute which provides for the exemption of personal property of individuals from judgment, attachment or distress for rent.

NEW ILLINOIS EXEMPTION: PERSONAL PROPERTY

Both houses of the Illinois General Assembly have passed legislation to amend the Illinois statute which provides for the exemption of personal property of individuals from judgment, attachment or distress for rent.

The amendment provides for the exemption of insurance proceeds payable to a revocable or irrevocable trust which names the wife or husband of the insured or which names a child, parent or other person dependent upon the insured, as the primary beneficiary of the trust. Without the amendment, only insurance proceeds payable to individuals, and not to a trust of which they are the primary beneficiary, would be exempt. The amendment was signed by the Governor and became effective August 17, 2012.

The amendatory legislation, adds an important asset protection tool to Illinois residents. It gives individuals greater control over how the death benefits of their insurance policies may be used and invested following their death. This amendment should encourage people to review the beneficiary designations or their insurance policies and consider whether to change the beneficiary to an existing trust or create a trust to primarily benefit the class of individuals protected by the statute.

If you have any questions regarding this or would like to establish such a trust, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Alan E. Sohn

Alan E. Sohn received his Juris Doctorate from the College of Law of the
University of Illinois. Mr. Sohn has been a partner in both large and
smaller law firms and for the past 21 years has been in private practice.