Posted on July 10, 2012 in Estate Planning

After your wedding, it is easy to fall into that post-wedding bliss and forget about things that need to be taken care of in the real world. It is crucial that you take the time to fill out some basic legal forms for you and your new spouse. These documents include papers like the living will, powers of attorney, and HIPAA authorization forms.

Here are a few things you need to consider, even though you might not want to talk about such issues right after tying the knot.

Who will get what? Wishes regarding asset distribution.

Most people have belongings that hold more value, whether sentimental or financial, to someone other than their spouse. Even the most honorable families can be taken over by greed, so just telling your spouse that your old ice hockey card collection should go to your nephew might not be enough. To make sure your assets go to the person you want them to go to without a lot of pointless drama, have these wishes included in a proper legal document. Basic asset distribution can be laid out in a basic last will.

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 Posted on July 04, 2012 in Estate Planning

For many people who do not have biological heirs to leave their estate to, adopting an adult who shares a close relationship is a viable option.  The state of Illinois does allow for adults to be adopted, and the process is much easier than that to adopt a minor child.

When a person adopts an adult, only the consent of the person to be adopted is required.  This consent is to be in written form in order to be valid.  And state law requires that the person to be adopted has lived in a parent- child relationship with the person petitioning to adopt them.  Many times, elderly persons will adopt adult caregivers as a way to ensure that they have someone in place who can give them end of life care before that care is needed.

The relationship can be one of several types that also exist when the persons are family by blood or by remarriage:  Step children, grandchildren, sibling, first cousin or other relationships can qualify as a parent child relationship.  Just as our definition of what defines a family has expanded over the last few decades, the court has followed that example to allow several different family units to be considered when looking at adoption for adults.

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 Posted on June 15, 2012 in Estate Planning

As we all have heard, and have probably experienced, families do not always agree. On occasion, even when a person has planned their estate and has a will, families may argue over the will and whether it is in fact enforceable. Sometimes a family member may find the will suspicious and believe that the will is not what the deceased intended. In those situations, disputes among a family may arise, especially when a family member decides to contest the deceased's will. Contesting a will is when a person formally objects to the will claiming that the will is invalid and unenforceable. A family member may have the right to contest a will if they were a beneficiary of the will or would have been a beneficiary of the will if the deceased had died without a will or in legal terms, died intestate.

A family who choses to contest a will must have a good reason for contesting the will. For example, if the family member believes that the will was signed at a time when the deceased did not have sufficient mental capacity would be a sufficient reason to contest a will. AARP identifies other valid reasons other than capacity for contesting a will such as undue influence, improper execution (i.e. no signature), and fraud.

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 Posted on June 10, 2012 in Estate Planning

When we think of planning our estates, many times we picture giving our family boxes of scrapbooks and other memories. But what about the memories that sit in our email inboxes? Do you have a plan for what to do with your Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL or Gmail account after your death?

Yahoo has repeatedly refused to give anyone other than the account holder access to an e-mail account. On their terms of service, Yahoo states that your rights to your e-mail account terminate upon your death. As a result, the company has been taken to court because of their refusal to allow others access to a deceased person's e-mail.

Gmail's process is less cut and dried. Google states that in some cases, they may allow a legal representative of the deceased access to the Gmail account. The process involves sending Google a copy of the deceased's death certificate along with information about yourself. If Google allow you to proceed, then the company says that you will have to obtain an order from a U. S. court to continue with the process.

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 Posted on June 05, 2012 in Estate Planning

Chances are, your online persona will outlive your physical one. But have you considered what will happen to your blog, or Twitter and Facebook accounts after you're gone? Have you included them in your estate planning?

As personal estate planning lags behind the technology paced times, private companies have appeared to fill in the gap. Some promise to "preserve your memory" in a cloud based storage system, provided that your heirs keep paying the annual fee for the service.

Sites like the Digital Beyond give tips on how you can prepare to preserve your digital footprint, such as how to pass your passwords on to your surviving family members. And the sticky legal question of who owns your digital "stuff" when you pass on—the site that owns the servers that it is stored on, or you as the user? This is currently a gray area, but as the courts catch up to technology, we will most likely see some rulings made on this issue.

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 Posted on May 30, 2012 in Estate Planning

Every Illinois resident that's of legal age should have an estate plan completed. Even those with relatively few assets can benefit from the utilization of some important estate planning documents - among them, advance directives such as a Power of Attorney for Health Care and a Power of Attorney for Property.

In general, a Power of Attorney (POA) is a document that gives someone (the agent) the legal right to make decisions on behalf of another person (the principal) in certain situations. There are various situations in which POAs are used, but any comprehensive estate plan should include these critical documents.

A Health Care Power of Attorney is used to designate a person to make medical and other personal decisions on your behalf should you become incapacitated. A Financial Power of Attorney serves the same purpose in regards to financial issues. As these are two separate documents, you can appoint two different people as your "agent" in each area. However, it's important that POAs are drafted correctly and in a way that is legally enforceable. Thus, it's best to work with an experienced Chicago estate planning lawyer to draft the appropriate POAs.

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 Posted on May 23, 2012 in Estate Planning

In Illinois, individuals may donate organs either through a will or by consent at the time of the person's death. The easiest way to make such a donation is to include it in will planning, but if the person has not made provisions in his or her will, there are others who can give consent after a person's death.

In order to authorize donation of any anatomical gift, Illinois state law allows for a descending order of other persons who may make the gift.

1. Any person who has power of attorney.
2. A surrogate decision maker identified by the attending physician in accordance with the Health Care Surrogate Act.
3. The appointed guardians of the deceased at the time of their death.

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 Posted on May 21, 2012 in Estate Planning

One of the critical steps in estate planning is choosing an executor for your estate. In addition to choosing a qualified and experienced Illinois estate planning attorney, selecting an appropriate estate executor is an important part of estate planning to ensure that your wishes are carried out following your death.

An Illinois Executor's Responsibilities

Before choosing an executor for your will, it's important to understand what the executor's responsibilities are in Illinois. The specifics can vary depending on the size and nature of your estate, but in general, estate executor's are responsible for the following:

• Filing the appropriate paperwork with the county following your death
• Notifying your creditors of your death
• Paying bills (utilities, mortgage) until the estate is settled

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 Posted on May 08, 2012 in Estate Execution

Per Stirpes is the default method of dividing up a deceased person's estate in Illinois, if the deceased dies without having a will.  Per stripes is based on each branch of his or her heirs.  The estate is then divided equally according to the number of children that the deceased person has.

For example, if Mary dies without a surviving spouse and has two children, each will get an equal amount of money from her estate. If one of her children has predeceased her, and has three living children, each of the three will split that portion of the child's inheritance.  If any of the three have children, grandchildren or great- grandchildren, then the half that would've gone to the deceased child will be split evenly amongst them.

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 Posted on May 01, 2012 in Estate Planning

Studies have shown that a significant number of American's do not have a will or any other estate planning documents. Illinois residents who have had a will drafted, or a full estate plan drawn up, may feel ahead of the game. And while it is a good thing to have done the proper estate planning, it's just as important to make sure you update your estate plan every few years as circumstances change.There are several reasons for this, including:

• Changes federal estate tax and gift tax laws
• Different family circumstances, such as a birth, death, marriage or divorce
• Entering or leaving a business arrangement
• Changes in your own financial situation or that of a family member

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