General Blog

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

Many business agreements include a provision calling for the resolution of disputes through arbitration rather than resort to the available court systems. These clauses are often recommended by reason of the delays and costs involved in court-centered litigation. However, considering the additional costs that may be incurred through arbitration, one should not blindly agree to an arbitration clause without considering the…Read More

As most of us know, married couples may hold title to their homestead property as tenants by the entirety. This classification of ownership allows a married couple to hold title to such property in a protected state from their individual creditors where the debt is not the joint debt of the couple. Oftentimes, married couples who have created a revocable…Read More

What should you do (or not do) to assist an elderly parent in handling their finances? The time honored (or dishonored) technique is to put your name on their accounts or other financial instruments as a joint owner. If you are thinking of doing that – don’t. First, you could be liable for income taxes on the interest or capital…Read More

Over the past three decades, legislative enactments have had the cumulative effect of eliminating what had been the long-standing public policy of Illinois which treated unmarried relationships, whether of the same sex or between members of the opposite sex, as illicit relationships. In 1979, while that policy remained in force and effect, the Illinois Supreme Court in Hewitt vs. Hewitt,…Read More

DONATING APPRECIATED STOCK AND SECURITIES (Since the Stock Market Debacle of 2008 and 2009) The stock market has made a tremendous comeback and the values of the common stock of many companies have returned to or exceed their former highs. Some people, who still had the wherewithal, went back into the market and purchased at what are now considered very low…Read More

Over the past several years, particularly under the Obama administration, the subject of eliminating discounts for gifts of limited liability company and limited partnership interests to family members has been widely discussed. While these discounts are well-justified by reason of the limited marketability and lack of control inherent in such fractional interests, the IRS has viewed such discounts as tax…Read More

The Illinois Supreme Court has agreed to hear Carr and Newell vs. Koch State Board of Education, a case challenging Illinois’ public education funding mechanism. The plaintiffs challenged the use of local tax assessments as a key variable in provisioning state education payments to school districts. While the state currently sets a minimum level of target funding for each student…Read More