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Taxation & Estate Planning

Death and Taxes Blog

Commentary on estate planning, estate administration, and real estate issues from a Chicago-area attorney.
By Joel A. Schoenmeyer

Post Frequency: 2/day

Last Entry: May 07, 2013 at 12:00:50

25 Things You Need To Know About The New Estate Tax Laws: 1-5

Posted on January 06, 2011
INTRODUCTION 1. It's formally known as the "Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010," and you can find the full text here (as a PDF). Instead of repeating that title over and over again, I'll refer to it as "The Act," and references to section numbers will be to The Act unless I indicate otherwise...

Coming Soon: Summaries of New Federal and Illinois Laws

Posted on January 04, 2011
Just wanted to write and let everyone know that I'll soon be turning my focus to changes in the tax and property laws on the federal and state level. I'll start with federal, since those changes are the biggest and most immediate.

Illinois Civil Unions: An Introduction with Q&A

Posted on December 02, 2010
The Illinois House of Representatives and Senate have both voted to pass the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act (the "Act"), and Governor Quinn will sign the Act into law. It becomes effective July 1, 2011. You can view the full text of the Act here...

To Probate or Not To Probate: First Steps

Posted on December 01, 2010
The first step in estate administration is deciding what type of estate administration (if any) is needed. And that depends almost entirely on how the deceased person's property was titled at his or her death. If the property was in the decedent's own name (no designed beneficiary, and not in trust or joint tenancy), and the property includes real estate and/or has a value over $100,000, then a probate is needed...

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My Office -- Directions and Such

Posted on October 05, 2010
I have moved my office a few times since I hung out my shingle in 2001. There was the office in La Grange, then the office on Lake Street in Oak Park, then I tried working from home (which is great if you are looking to put on weight). Back in 2006, I opened an office in Westchester for my far west suburban clients, but I closed it this year (construction on 290 makes the trip there NOT CONVENIENT)...

Life Estates

Posted on October 05, 2010
People give away their property in lots of different ways. Some people leave specific gifts of money or other property (like real estate), some people just lump everything together (as what's called the "residue") and leave it all to one or more people...

Jonathan Franzen's Freedom and Probate Disputes

Posted on September 30, 2010
I just finished Jonathan Franzen's novel Freedom. I was a big fan of his last "big" novel, The Corrections -- I didn't like this one as much, but it's still pretty good. SPOILER ALERT: What's surprising is the fact that, near the end of the novel, the main character (Patty Berglund) gets embroiled in what is essentially a family probate dispute...

Divorce and Estate Planning, Part 1

Posted on September 21, 2010
(Warning: This is the first in a two-part series on the estate planning ramifications of divorce. So, if you are a believer in the sanctity of traditional marriage -- like Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh -- you might want to skip this part. After all, you'll obviously never need this type of advice! Finally, thanks to my friend and former colleague Lauren J...

Tenancy By The Entirety and Living Trusts

Posted on September 14, 2010
In Illinois, most married couples take title to real estate as tenants by the entirety. This is a form of joint tenancy available only to married couples, but with some added advantages. The biggest advantage is creditor protection: for the most part, an individual's creditors cannot foreclose upon property owned by the individual in tenancy by the entirety...

Increases in Surviving Spouse, Child Awards

Posted on September 09, 2010
As I wrote about here, a surviving spouse award can help the survivor get some money from his or her spouse's probate estate ASAP. That can be a godsend, as property can sometimes be tied up in probate for a long time. The surviving spouse's award is found in Article XV of the Illinois Probate Act (here), and there's been a recent change to the law...

New Professional Reponsibility Rules for Estate Planners

Posted on September 07, 2010
In last month's Illinois Bar Journal, Katarinna McBride and Graham B. Schmidt discuss a couple of new aspects of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct (the "Rules"). Their summary (here, but you have to be an ISBA member) is well worth reading. The Rules were revised effective 1/1/10...

Who's The Boss? The Fiduciary-Beneficiary Relationship

Posted on August 24, 2010
If you grew up in the 1980's like I did, you know that the question "Who's The Boss?" has a few possible answers: Angela, Tony, or maybe Mona. But on a more serious note, the question of "Who's the boss?" in a probate or trust context is more difficult to answer...

What the heck is "bond in lieu of probate"?

Posted on August 17, 2010
In Illinois, you can avoid a probate proceeding so long as the assets you owned in your own name at your death (that is, assets OTHER THAN joint assets, assets with a beneficiary, or assets in trust) have a value of less than $100,000. But what if you are over that amount, yet your only asset is Illinois real estate? Is there a way to transfer your house to your heirs or legatees without a probate? The answer is (surprisingly) "yes...

Illinois Pet Trusts: An Introduction

Posted on August 04, 2010
A line in my baby book reads: "Joel is afraid of animals, clowns, and men with beards." That's still pretty much true; in other words, I'm not an animal lover (although I'm not as bad as this guy). But, obviously, I'm in the minority -- lots of Americans have pets that are a big part of their lives...

Refuse or Lose: The Doctrine of Election

Posted on July 27, 2010
Robert S. Held has a nice article in this month's Illinois Bar Journal (registration required -- but it's here) regarding the doctrine of election. What is the doctrine of election? According to the author, it's a "common law doctrine... which prevents a beneficiary from accepting benefits under a will and then challenging that same document...

Lenders, Refinancing, and Retitling Assets In Trust: An Open Letter

Posted on July 21, 2010
Dear Lenders, Hey! Hope everything is going well. I just wanted to write you about an issue that's arisen of late with some of my estate planning clients. These clients are finishing up their estate plans, and are also in the process of refinancing...

Atticus Finch, Estate Planner

Posted on July 17, 2010
To Kill A Mockingbird was originally published on July 11, 1960, so there has been a fair amount of hoopla surrounding its 50th anniversary. This has included (among other things) the publication of Scout, Atticus & Boo (an examination of the book's cultural and personal impact via interviews with a number of interesting, thoughtful people - and Tom Brokaw)...

Confusing Terms in Estate Planning and Probate

Posted on June 28, 2010
Twice in one day last week I encountered documents titled "Declaration of Trust Agreement." Let me explain why that title makes no sense, and then discuss a few more confusing sets of terms in estate planning and probate. When you sign a document establishing a trust, you are doing it in one of two ways: 1...

Michael Jackson's Estate: An Update

Posted on June 21, 2010
Today's Wall Street Journal has an interesting article (here) entitled "Jackson Estate Steers to Next Crisis." There are a few points here, some of which relate to most probate estates and some of which are specific to Mr. Jackson's estate. The rich and famous are just like everyone else in the sense that their bills have to be paid...

A Late Reply To Jamie Johnson: Thoughts On Probate Disputes

Posted on June 10, 2010
I just stumbled upon this short Vanity Fair article by Jamie Johnson. In it, Johnson (a filmmaker, and one of the Johnson & Johnson heirs) uses the movie The Art of the Steal (which I discussed here) as a jumping-off point to discuss (among other things) estate planning and probate attorneys...

Contesting a Will: The Limitations Period

Posted on June 08, 2010
Article 8 of the Illinois Probate Act discusses how to contest the validity of a Will. Section 8-1 states that a Will can be contested by filing a petition "[w]ithin 6 months after the [Will's] admission to probate...." That's a bright line rule, and one that can cause problems for people who miss the deadline...

Life As We Know It: Why am I reviewing the trailer to a new Katherine Heigl movie?

Posted on June 02, 2010
Here is the trailer for an upcoming romantic comedy called Life As We Know It, starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel. So why am I posting this here? Because the film revolves around two single people who are drawn together when they are named as co-guardians of the daughter of their mutual friends...

The Illinois Slayer Statute and Insanity

Posted on June 01, 2010
Illinois's so-called "slayer" statute (section 2-6 of the Illinois Probate Act) states that "[a] person who intentionally and unjustifiably causes the death of another shall not receive any property, benefit, or other interest by reason of the death." This section is applicable to any interest the killer might have taken, so it applies to probate and non-probate property alike...

The Author Who Played With Fire

Posted on May 24, 2010
Today's New York Times Magazine has an article about Stieg Larsson, whose three novels (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest) have become a literary sensation. Mr. Larsson died in 2004, before they were published -- he was survived by his companion, Eva Gabrielsson, with whom he lived for over 30 years...

The Kindle, and Dr. Johnson's Naughty Executor

Posted on May 21, 2010
I was the high bidder on a Kindle at my church's recent silent auction fundraiser. I have to admit that it's been fun playing around with it. I'm still getting used to not having physical books in my hand, but the Kindle has given me the opportunity to read longer works without having to lug them around...

Statutory Custodial Claims article

Posted on May 20, 2010
Chicago attorney Margot Gordon has a nice article in the new (May) issue of the Illinois Bar Journal, in which she discusses statutory custodial claims. The article is here, for ISBA members. I've written about these types of claims before, but Ms. Gordon makes some good points that I haven't raised: 1...

How NOT To Amend Your Will

Posted on May 10, 2010
Illinois requires certain formalities to be followed if you want to have your Will considered valid. This makes sense -- a Will is a very important document, and the state wants to make sure that you really meant to say what you said. That's why Illinois requires two witnesses (and has requirements about how the witnesses, and you, sign the Will)...

Failure To Communicate: A Duty For Attorneys And Clients

Posted on May 06, 2010
The duties that attorneys owe their clients are set forth in the Illinois Supreme Court Rules. They can be found here, and include things like: the duty of competence; the duty of confidentiality; and the duty to avoid conflicts of interest. What about duties that a client owes his attorney? I guess those vary by attorney...

Illinois HB6477: Changes to Illinois Powers of Attorney

Posted on May 04, 2010
HB6477, which would amend the Illinois Power of Attorney Act, has now passed both houses of the Illinois legislature. If I remember anything from civics, it now goes to the governor for signing into law. Here is the full text (it has an effective date of 7/1/11)...

A Will Reading on "30 Rock"

Posted on April 30, 2010
I've talked before about the TV show "30 Rock" (here and here), back when I thought it was the funniest show on TV. I don't think that anymore (I prefer "Community" and "Modern Family" and maybe even "How I Met Your Mother" at this point), s I rarely tune in...

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