Estate Planning News + Trends
Commonly asked questions and trending topics of discussion. Search previous topics of discussion below.
Your Estate Planning Checklist for the New Year
The turning of the calendar presents a great opportunity to evaluate whether your financial affairs are in order. If you do not have an estate plan, it is a good time to resolve to meet with an estate planning specialist immediately. If you do have an estate plan in...
Integrating Your Financial Planning & Estate Planning
A financial planner ideally serves as a client’s “financial quarterback,” advising and educating the client on all financial topics and making sure that the client is making the most of their money while also being protected against risk and liability. One of the...
Guidance on Delegating Trustee Duties
On August 10, 2012, Governor Pat Quinn signed the Illinois Directed Trust Statute (HB 4663) into law. It will become effective on January 1, 2013. Generally, a trustee of an Illinois trust is personally liable for any loss due to a violation of his or her duties,...
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...
NFL Quarterback and Heisman Trophy Winner Broke
Vince Young has quite the college and professional football resume. A Rose Bowl victory and BCS championship with the Texas Longhorns and a Heisman Trophy resulted in Young becoming the third overall draft pick in the 2006 NFL draft. From there, Young earned...
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...
Significant Gifting Opportunity to Expire
With the lifetime Gift Tax exemption at the highest it has ever been ($5,120,000 in 2012)1 and Gift Tax rates (capped at 35% in 2012) and Applicable Federal Rates being historically low, 2012 is a perfect storm of gifting opportunity for anyone who is in a position to...