A Commitment
to Each Client.
People generally have to pay income taxes regardless of how much they earn or the source of their income. They file an annual income tax return to reconcile what they paid with their final financial information for the year. However, some people become complacent...
When parents draft estate plans, they do not always leave the same amount of assets to every beneficiary. This is known as leaving unequal bequests, and it has been growing more common over the years. Rather than giving four children 25% ownership of the family home,...
Documents such as wills and trusts are a very important part of estate planning. They provide instructions on how an individual’s assets will be addressed upon their death. However, documents are only one part of the process. The individuals tasked with carrying out...
Most estates will pass through probate. This is a court-administered process supervising the execution of a deceased’s estate. It can take months, or in complex cases, years. During this time the beneficiaries will be unable to access the assets they are due to...
After you pass away, your adult children could get involved in an estate dispute. This is something that many parents worry about because they don’t want siblings to become estranged or to have a long-term falling out over their inheritance. How do you prevent this...
If you just leave an inheritance to someone in your will, you don’t have any control over how they use it. They won’t get it until you pass away, and then they will take direct ownership. If you give a beneficiary $50,000, they could spend it on anything from a...
A no-contest clause essentially means that beneficiaries are not allowed to challenge an estate plan. If they do, then they don’t get an inheritance. For example, say that there are two beneficiaries, one who receives $100,000 and another who receives $500,000. The...
When life throws curveballs, ensuring that your estate plan reflects any significant changes can help your arrangements function properly. A divorce is one life event that may warrant some alterations to your existing plan. In Illinois, this transition period offers a...
The great wealth transfer has already begun, but it generally refers to a shift in wealth in America over the next two decades. Essentially, Baby Boomers have roughly $84 trillion in assets. This is the greatest amount of assets ever to be passed down to the next...
You may have an estate plan in place, but have you ever updated it? Many people forget to alter their estate plans over the years. This can create problems during the probate process when it is unclear how certain unaccounted for assets should be distributed. It is...
