by Manish C. Bhatia | Oct 1, 2011 | News + Trends
On June 1st of this year, the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act(the “Act”) went into effect and the State of Illinois began recognizing Civil Unions. As a result, members of Civil Unions should enjoy the same protections and benefits allowed...
by Manish C. Bhatia | Sep 1, 2011 | News + Trends
According to a recent survey by Harris Interactive, people despise addressing their estate planning needs so much that one-third of those participating in the survey would rather do their taxes, get a root canal, or give up sex for a month rather than create or update...
by Manish C. Bhatia | Aug 1, 2011 | News + Trends
The estate of a man who died in 1919 is finally being distributed to his heirs in 2011, and chances are that it is only being distributed now because it can no longer remain in Trust under a rarely invoked law. The Rule Against Perpetuities is a complex common law...
by Manish C. Bhatia | Aug 1, 2011 | News + Trends
The Gift Tax was first enacted in 1924 to prevent individuals from making deathbed gifts in order to avoid the Estate Tax. Today, there is $13,000 annual exemption from the Gift Tax which allows any individual to give any other individual up to $13,000 per year...
by Manish C. Bhatia | Jul 2, 2011 | News + Trends
I will be hosting EP Café on Saturday, July 16, at Café Mozart in Evanston from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. You are welcome to come by, have a cup of coffee and have your Estate Planning questions addressed in a friendly, casual environment. There is no fee and no...
by Manish C. Bhatia | Jul 1, 2011 | News + Trends
An issue that arises when gifting specific property by Will or Trust is whether the beneficiary is entitled to anything if the property is sold prior to the giftor’s death. The doctrine of “ademption” provides that a bequest may only be satisfied with the specific...
