A Commitment
to Each Client.
You may think that leaving a will sorts out all your estate plans. However, that is not entirely true. For instance, your heirs may mismanage your estate, and there will be nothing to show for it within a few years. In short, a simple will exposes your estate to the...
A dynasty trust carries on from one generation to the next. Unlike other irrevocable trusts, dynasty trusts are not subject to the anti-perpetuity rule that ends most trusts after some time. They last forever, as long as there are assets held in the trust. You may...
When people enter into estate planning, often there are reservations over what the people who receive the estate, or beneficiaries, will do with it. Will they responsibly manage it, or will they waste the gift? Instead of leaving it up to chance, or blind faith, many...
A will or a trust includes many essential provisions. One that often does not get as much attention as others is the no-contest clause, sometimes referred to as the forfeiture or terrorem clause. This provision, in a way, wants everyone to understand that the testator...
In Illinois and all other states, executors and trustees have fiduciary duties toward certain others. When someone has a fiduciary obligation, he or she must act on behalf of the estate owner in question in an honorable and transparent manner. This would, of course,...
You have four children, and three of them have been everything you ever hoped for as a parent. They never got in trouble with the law, they all graduated from college, they got married and started families and careers. They still come home for Christmas and send you...
Often, establishing a trust is not the end of your estate planning concerns, especially if your wishes for your estate change after the fact. While it is not always possible to achieve exactly what you hope, depending on the nature of your existing trust and the terms...
When creating a trust, one of the most important decisions you make is appointing a trustee to oversee the assets within it and uphold the trust's terms. This is a great responsibility for any person, and often leads to unanticipated conflicts between the trustee and...
It's important to pay attention to the beneficiary designations on all of your financial accounts. Failure to fill out such a designation properly -- or to update it after a change in circumstances -- could create a serious problem for your entire estate plan.One...
Illinois rap fans of the 1980s may remember Eazy-E and his record label, Ruthless Records. As sometimes happens following deaths of loved ones, two of his family members are currently facing off in a dispute over his will. His son has stated that he believes his...
