Posted on November 21, 2022 in Estate Planning

What is an Adult Guardianship?

If a judge determines that an adult (over 18 years of age) cannot make basic life decisions or manage their own property or money, they have the power to place them under an adult guardianship. Under an adult guardianship, another person (that meets the legal requirements to be a guardian) is assigned to take care of the adult and act in their best interests. Common causes of adult guardianships include Alzheimer’s disease (or other mental decline due to aging), certain mental illnesses, developmental disabilities that the adult has had since birth or childhood, and certain physical disabilities. 

In Illinois there are two different types of adult guardianships. A person designated as the guardian can be assigned just one or both, depending on the circumstances. First, there is a guardianship of the person. A guardianship of the person allows the assigned guardian to make decisions regarding all personal care, for example, making medical decisions for treatment plans. The second type of guardianship is a guardianship of the estate. This guardianship gives the guardian control over the adult’s finances and property.

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 Posted on November 18, 2022 in Estate Planning

Yorkville and Kendall County Estate Planning Law Firm

An estate planning is a legal concentration helping people bypass or minimize family conflicts involved in the incapacity and death process. Estate planning is the process of setting up one’s affairs in a manner that minimizes and avoids potential family conflicts. Proper estate planning is an investment and wise decision to anticipate future family conflicts.

The use of an estate planning attorney is a tool to assist your family avoid the inherit conflicts involved in the death and incapacity process. The causes of family conflicts range from the following:

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 Posted on November 17, 2022 in Estate Planning

Owning rental property can be a great benefit to a landlord, as well as a way for an individual to generate additional income. But there are substantial risks that an individual assumes when taking on the role of a landlord. The risk of a lawsuit against a landlord is high, as there can be claims brought based a lease dispute or an injury that occurred on the property. If a tenant brings a claim against a landlord, judgment creditors will be able to access the landlord’s personal assets to pay off the judgment. In order to protect personal assets, it is crucial to include rental property in an estate plan as a way to structure a workable asset protection plan.

The best way for landlords to eliminate the risk of creditors reaching personal assets is to take the rental property out of the landlord’s individual name and place it into an entity. There are two ways that are most effective at doing so, establishing an LLC or putting the property into a land trust.

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 Posted on November 14, 2022 in Estate Planning

Transferring Real Estate After Death: Naperville and Kendall County Real Estate Transfer Attorneys

Transferring real estate after death is a complicated mixture of real estate, estate planning, and probate law. Covid-19 has changed the nature of business and emphasized the importance of estate planning and real estate. Baby boomers are the generation, which were born after World War II. Birth rates skyrocketed, which was referred to as “the baby boom.”

Baby boomers and their adult children are preparing and passing their real estate and wealth to their children and grandchildren. This period is resulting in substantial amounts of wealth transferred from one generation to the next. 

Baby boomers and their families are ill-prepared to transfer their assets after death. There are eight types of property ownership in Illinois:

• Sole Property Ownership

• Tenancy by the Entirety

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 Posted on November 11, 2022 in Estate Planning

It is a certain wish to you that you'll love to leave a peaceful family behind when you're deceased. You'll love to lay down a good legacy for your family and kids to follow. You will also want to prevent any future family conflicts in the future when you're gone into the great beyond. 

These thoughts of yours can be possible if you'll take out the time to do proper and thorough estate planning. 

With an estate plan thoughtfully and thoroughly drafted out while you're alive, healthy, and capable, you'll have fewer worries when you become unable and no worries at all by the time the inevitable (death) happens to you.

In this article, we'll look at how you can avoid family conflicts and leave a good legacy with estate planning while you're gone. Read on.

What is Estate Planning?

Though, a seemingly daunting task, estate planning is truly worth it. You get to decide, even in death or incapacitation, how your assets are to be managed and evenly distributed among your heirs and beneficiaries. 

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 Posted on November 07, 2022 in Estate Planning

When thinking about an estate plan, most people are under the false assumption that a Trust is only meant for the extremely wealthy. This is in fact not the case. Many people can benefit from having a Trust in their estate plan. 

What is a Trust?

A Trust is a legal instrument that holds title to certain property and is subject to certain obligations, rights, and restrictions that are put in place by the Trustor. The Trustor is the person or persons who create the Trust. A living Trust means that, for the duration of the Trustor’s life, the Trust is for the benefit of the Trustor, and will only pass to the beneficiaries upon the Trustor’s death. This also means that the initial Trustee (the person who is in charge of managing the Trust) will also be the Trustor.

What is the difference between a Revocable and an Irrevocable Trust?

A Trust can be made revocable or irrevocable at the decision of the Trustor. If the Trustor creates a Revocable Living Trust, then they are able to amend or revoke the Trust at any time during their life, even after the Trust is signed. A Revocable Living Trust will be made irrevocable upon the death of the Trustor. An Irrevocable Trust is a Trust that cannot be amended nor once it is signed by the Trustor. The Trustor does not even have the power to amend or revoke the document once it is signed into being. 

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 Posted on November 01, 2022 in Estate Planning

Estate planning is crucial for everyone, whether you are single or have a family. But incorporating a strong and effective estate plan is especially important for real estate investors and landlords, as these titles can open the individual up to liability if not properly protected. Another name for this form of estate planning is referred to as “asset protection”.

Asset protection is vital for real estate investors and landlords for many reasons. First, occurrences such as recession, death, taxes, and lawsuits serve to threaten the economic surety of individuals and families that own investment assets, such as rental properties and vacation homes. Many real estate investors and landlords improperly structure their business because they either place the properties in their individual name, or they put multiple properties under one LLC instead of distributing them to avoid liability.

The attorneys at Peace of Mind Asset Protection, LLC specialize in assisting real estate investors and landlords with coordinating a proper business structure that encompasses asset protection, while also creating a cohesive estate plan that furthers the individual’s particular estate planning goals. By focusing on business structure, asset protection, and estate planning all in one, Peace of Mind Asset Protection, LLC can effectively protect and prepare real estate investors and landlords for the uncertainties that lie ahead.

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 Posted on October 31, 2022 in Estate Planning

What is Estate Planning?

Every person, regardless of wealth, has an estate. Your estate is made up of everything you have to your name, whether it be real property, a car, a home, savings accounts, life insurance policies, or personal property. Estate planning includes the process of determining how to distribute the possessions in your estate after you die and solidifying your wishes in the event that you become incapacitated.

Why is Estate Planning Important?

In order to make sure that what matters most to you is distributed according to your wishes, it is important to name your beneficiaries now. This will make distribution much easier in the future and eliminate potential arguments between loved ones. In addition to naming beneficiaries, estate planning should consist of instructions on how to provide for family members, explicit written protection for family members with disabilities, instructions for how to transfer your business and retirement, long term disability arrangements, guidelines for tax costs and fees, and provide instructions for how to manage your financial affairs when you are no longer able to.

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 Posted on October 28, 2022 in Estate Planning

What is a Living Trust and What Does it Do?

A "living" trust (sometimes called an "inter vivos" trust) is a trust you create while you are alive. A trust is a fiduciary (legal) arrangement that allows a third party (called the trustee) to hold title to assets (property) on behalf of certain beneficiaries. As holder of the title, the trustee is subject to the condition of keeping or using the trust property for the benefit of the beneficiary. The creator of the trust selects the beneficiaries of the trust property. Those who were selected as beneficiaries will receive the trust property when the creator of the trust dies.  

Probate Court

A trust has a similar function to a will but is often a much better choice for a person looking to control what happens to their property after they pass because a trust avoids probate, where a will is always subject to probate. Probate is the legal process that a person’s estate must go through when they die either with a last will and testament or when they have no legal estate planning documents stating how they wish their estate to be distributed (this is called intestate). Probate court oversees the transfer of the estate’s property to the deceased person’s heirs, according to state law. Probate court is often time-consuming and costly because of court costs and attorney’s fees. Attorney’s fees for a probate case vary drastically depending on several factors, however, the average amount for attorney’s fees in probate cases in Illinois is anywhere from $2,500-$5,000. This amount does not include court costs, filing fees, or other fees associated with the court itself. 

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 Posted on October 21, 2022 in Estate Planning

What is Spendthrift Protection?

Spendthrift protection is the benefit provided to a trust that protects a beneficiary’s inheritance from a beneficiary’s creditors such as a divorcing spouse or a creditor such as a credit card provider or a business lawsuit or a mortgage foreclosure among other creditor issues.

One of the primary benefits of a spendthrift provision is to protect a beneficiary from their themselves. Spendthrift also is putting restrictions on a person’s inheritance with the primary intent to protect their child or children from their immaturity or lack of fiscal management skills.

Spendthrift language in a trust is required to protect a beneficiary’s inheritance from their creditors. This type of language is called a "Spendthrift Trust" or "Spendthrift Provision."  Parents often desire to protect young adults (21 to 25 years of age) or with serious disability issues from themselves. A beneficiary may not be technically disabled, but parents desire to protect their loved ones from themselves. Spendthrift language provides asset protection for a trust beneficiary because their inheritance may not be assigned, encumbered and/or alienated in any way (or similar language).

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