Determining Trustee Fees in Illinois

A trust provision that typically grabs a client’s attention is the one that entitles trustees to be compensated for their service.  Often, the reader will imagine the trust being drained by trustee fees, leaving nothing for the beneficiaries.  However, removing the...

Annual Gift Tax Exclusion Expected to Rise

The annual gift tax exclusion is an amount that an individual can give to as many other individuals as he or she desires in a given year without incurring any gift tax liability.1  On January 1st, the exclusion resets and the individual can make additional gifts.  The...

George Jefferson’s Long Lost Brother?

The Will of Sherman Hemsley, who played George Jefferson on the pioneering sitcom The Jeffersons from 1975 to 1985, is being contested in a Texas probate court. Hemsley, who had been battling lung cancer, died at his home in El Paso, Texas, on July 24, 2012.  On June...

Lapse in Estate Tax Disinherits Spouse

The question of when and how often estate planning documents should be reviewed is a very common and important one to ask your estate planning attorney.  As discussed in the October 2010 Newsletter (“Reviewing Your Existing Estate Planning Documents”), any significant...

Divorce and Your Estate Planning

When an individual is considering a divorce, his or her estate planning is likely low on the list of priorities.  However, divorce is one of those significant changes in your family situation that should trigger an immediate review of your existing estate planning...