General Blog

Most traditional estate plans are designed to benefit and provide security to a surviving spouse for his or her lifetime and for the division of the decedent’s assets between and among the children and grandchildren.  As life expectancies. As life expectancies have increased, we have found that at the time such divisions and distributions occur, the “children” are often in…Read More

A Durable power of attorney for property (POAFP) is a very useful and essential financial and estate planning device. Such powers allow a trusted individual to handle a myriad of financial transactions for the creator of the POAFP. A POAFP can be effective from the moment of its execution, or from the time the creator becomes incapacitated. Whether to use…Read More

As many of you know, there is an Illinois statute which shields property owners from liability for having created unnatural accumulations of ice and snow where they have made efforts to remove snow and ice from sidewalks abutting residential property. There is an exception to this protection where the property owner’s alleged misconduct was willful and wanton. The Illinois statute…Read More

Most people don’t give enough thought to what will happen after they die. This may just be because it’s a topic most people would rather not think about, but the fact remains that failing to plan ahead can result in an outcome you would rather avoid. Your assets may not be distributed in a way that you would prefer or…Read More

A living trust, unlike a will standing alone, allows individuals to maintain confidentiality as to their assets as well as the provisions concerning the disposition thereof, during their lifetime and after their death. In addition, if a person becomes mentally incapacitated, a living trust will provide for a smooth transition to a successor trustee of one’s choice, and will not…Read More

In a recent Note from the Desk, I commented on the propitiousness of making family gifts in 2012 in order to take advantage of low values, low interest rates and the unprecedented $5,120,000 federal estate tax exemption. Recently, the United States tax court issued an opinion which further supports this proposition.Read More

With the advent of the pandemic, many businesses have found themselves financially strapped and having great difficulty paying their ongoing expenses. These include office space rent, leases on vehicles used in their businesses, contracts with independent service providers and the like. With reductions in revenue as a consequence of businesses and individuals not seeking products or services to extent that…Read More

I have been asked many times: “Why do I need a trust?” There are many reasons to set up a trust during your lifetime. Answer Number 1, which is probably the most common, but not necessarily the most important reason given, is that it can achieve the result of avoiding probate. Many people have a “fear” of probate because of…Read More

The Bonus Forfeiture: The courts of Illinois have generally disfavored non-compete provisions in Illinois employment contracts. An employer who seeks to enforce a competition restriction that precludes a former employee from engaging in competitive activities must demonstrate the reasonableness of the restriction. In order to be enforceable, the courts of Illinois have repeatedly required that the restrictions be very narrow…Read More

Most people who are concerned about the payment of estate taxes concentrate their thoughts on the federal estate tax. Recently with the federal estate tax exemption having been increased to $5.34 million per person and the possibility for married persons of “porting” the unused portion of the exemption of the first spouse to die, that they no longer need be…Read More