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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

Even More on Dunn v. Patterson

Posted on December 15, 2009
OK, this will be my last post on Dunn v. Patterson (for a while, at least). Previous discussions: here and here. I spoke to someone with knowledge of the case, and learned the following: 1. Lawrence Patterson was NOT named as a successor trustee in the documents...

More on Dunn v. Patterson

Posted on December 10, 2009
The journalist side of me decided that I needed to do a little more digging regarding the Dunn v. Patterson case I discussed yesterday. I'm still trying to find out whether Patterson (the attorney) was named as a fiduciary in the documents, but while I'm waiting for that information, I checked Patterson out at the website for the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) -- their site is here...

Dunn v. Patterson: A Rant

Posted on December 08, 2009
I can't remember a recent judicial opinion I've disagreed with more than the Illinois 3rd District's opinion in Dunn v. Patterson. The facts of the case are fairly simple: Charles and Charlotte Dunn had Lawrence Patterson, an attorney, prepare estate planning documents for them...

5 Tips for Dealing with Claims: Tip 5

Posted on December 04, 2009
Let's say that you've followed tips 1-4, and the claimant still won't go away. What choices do you have? There are two, really: 1. Settle; or 2. Go to trial. Tip #5 is to try and settle the claim. When real life people have debt, it can be a big pain...

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5 Tips for Dealing with Claims: Tip 4

Posted on December 03, 2009
4. As I said previously, the key to dealing with claims is to go on the offensive. That means following up on the claims in court. Many times a claimant either won't have an attorney, or will have an attorney who isn't familiar with court procedures (a dead giveaway: the attorney who filed the claim is out of state)...

5 Tips for Dealing with Claims: Tip 3

Posted on November 18, 2009
3. Last time I talked about how you can minimize the claims period by giving notice. If things break correctly, maybe the creditor won't even file the claim. But sometimes a creditor does file the claim -- informally, by sending it to the personal representative or his or her attorney instead of filing it with the court...

5 Tips for Dealing with Claims: Tip 2

Posted on November 17, 2009
2. Tips 2-4 are similar in that they all require that you (the personal representative) do a full-court press to deal with the claims. This is somewhat counter-intuitive -- I think we're all familiar with the idea of a defendant (like in a foreclosure action) who delays, delays, delays...

5 Tips for Dealing with Claims: Tip 1

Posted on November 16, 2009
1. The first thing you have to ask yourself is, "should we even open a probate estate right now?" If a decedent's estate appears insolvent (that is, the value of the potential claims exceeds the value of the decedent's property), maybe you never open an estate...

5 Tips for Dealing with Claims: Introduction

Posted on November 13, 2009
This post starts a series regarding reducing (or minimizing) claims in the probate estate context. A couple of notes before I begin: 1. The claims I'm talking about here are your "typical" claims in probate, for a decedent's debts -- things like credit card bills, medical bills, and the like...

Wall Street Journal on Will/Trust Programs

Posted on November 12, 2009
People often ask me things like, "Can't I do my Will on my own, using a computer program? Isn't it just a form?" The answer to the second part of that is easy -- not, it's not just a form. As for the answer to the first part, I don't know. There's no reason for me to spend money buying one of these programs just so I can review it...

The QTIP, Part 3

Posted on November 11, 2009
(This is the third and final post in a series. Links: part 1 and part 2.) As I said at the end of my post in part 2, we have a problem when the federal exemption amount and the Illinois exemption amount are different. That is the case right now, where the federal exemption amount is $3...

State Death Taxes

Posted on November 05, 2009
Ordinarily I hate using the phrase "death taxes," but I'll make an exception here because: 1. "State estate taxes" is a horrible phrase to utter; and 2. "State estate taxes" really isn't accurate, since some states have an inheritance tax (in place of or in addition to an estate tax)...

Unpaid Child Support in Probate

Posted on November 03, 2009
Over the past 10 or 20 years, Illinois has worked to make it easier for ex-spouses to collect unpaid child support. Two ways in which this is done: 1. Section 12-108 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, which eliminates the statute of limitations for child support...

The QTIP, Part 2

Posted on October 27, 2009
Let me add a little bit of a wrinkle to the discussion in my last post, by introducing the concept of the state estate tax. This is extremely relevant to the new Illinois QTIP statute. Yes, most states (including Illinois) have an estate tax. But, in the past, this tax was hard to spot...

The QTIP, Part 1

Posted on October 26, 2009
I'd like to spend a few posts talking about QTIPs. No, I'm not talking about the cotton swabs you aren't supposed to stick in your ear but do. Nor am I talking about the rapper from A Tribe Called Quest who is best known for his guest spot on Deee-Lite's single "Groove Is In The Heart...

Inheritance Laws and the EU

Posted on October 21, 2009
The Economist's Charlemagne blog has a really interesting article this week about the European Commission's guidelines for inheritance involving assets in more than one EU country. The link is here. As the article indicates, this is really a dispute between Britain (England and Wales) and the other 26 EU countries...

More on Will Filing in Cook County

Posted on October 20, 2009
I previously wrote about how to file a Will in Cook County at Avvo.com. Recently I had a question from an attorney who watched my free "Probate" video at MentorCLE. He was completing the forms to open a Cook County probate estate, and was perplexed when it asked for the Will number, written as ___ W ___...

Will Depository, and Private Vs. Public

Posted on October 01, 2009
Earlier this year, I decided to try and start a side business. The business related to my law practice, and the goal was to solve a problem: so-called "orphan" Wills. Some attorneys retain their clients' original Wills and other estate planning documents...

Michael Jackson's Estate, Part 8 -- More on the Allowance

Posted on September 23, 2009
A couple of things have happened recently in the Michael Jackson case, both of which favor his mother, Katherine (a link): 1. Katherine (individually and as guardian of the minor children) was given a monthly allowance of more than $86,000 (yes -- you read that right)...

Illinois Right To Life and "Patient Protection"? Not Really

Posted on September 21, 2009
This document, prepared by Illinois Right to Life, was provided to me recently. They consider it a "life-affirming version of the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care," and indicate that it is a response to "the current medical and legal climate that actively promotes euthanasia and assisted suicide for the disabled and terminally ill...

Convenience Accounts

Posted on September 18, 2009
Here's a piece of legislation that might actually help(!). For a long time there's been an issue involving a decedent and joint accounts. Mom is elderly, and you (daughter) help her out with her banking. Mom adds you to her checking account with a $50,000 balance...

Nipsey Russell's Estate

Posted on September 03, 2009
The Onion nails it, here -- talk about a pro-active literary executor!

Problems with Wrongful Death in Probate

Posted on September 02, 2009
Legislators aren't very good at drafting legislation. And they are especially bad at drafting legislation when more than one area of law is affected. For instance, take the Wrongful Death Act (740 ILCS 180 et seq.) and the way it intersects with probate...

Living Wills

Posted on August 31, 2009
As an estate planning attorney, I tend to think of health directives as a very good thing. I was surprised to learn a few years ago that there are people who dislike powers of attorneys and living wills. For instance, in the wake of the Terri Schiavo case, I read an interview with Professor Robert George of Princeton (the interview is here) in which he objects to living wills...

The Health Care Debate: Death Panels and Living Wills

Posted on August 25, 2009
I find it interesting that the health care debate has focused at least partially on the issue of living wills and powers of attorney. Unfortunately, that issue has been confused by politicians and others who have chosen to lie about language in the health care bill, claiming that it would create "death panels" to decide whether an individual would be allowed to continue living...

Motions to Substitute

Posted on August 11, 2009
Sometimes you (the probate attorney) may not want to keep acting as such. Maybe the client is difficult, or there's some other reason you'd like to step aside. Or, sometimes you (the client) decide you want to get rid of your attorney. Can you do these things? The answer is yes, so long as there is someone willing to take on the case...

Obama and Living Wills

Posted on August 03, 2009
Evidently President Obama recently answered a question at an AARP meeting on the topic of living wills, and reported that he and his wife have them. (Here is a cite.) I also just saw a press release from the Better Business Bureau, mentioning the importance of a living will...

Michael Jackson's Estate, Part 7 -- "Allowance"

Posted on July 24, 2009
Probate takes time, especially a probate a complicated as Michael Jackson's. And when probate lasts a really long time, the spouse and/or dependent children of the decedent are at risk of being unable to reach money that they will (hopefully) inherit...

Michael Jackson's Estate, Part 6 -- Will Contest?

Posted on July 22, 2009
I don't often link to TMZ, mostly because I don't often think that TMZ has anything perceptive to say. But they do on the Katherine Jackson potential contest of Will situation (link here). Just to explain: Michael Jackson's trust evidently has a "no contest" clause, which disinherits anyone who attempts to contest its terms...

Michael Jackson's Estate, Part 5 -- Estate Taxes and an Insurance Trust

Posted on July 13, 2009
This CBS News article talks about the tax burden on Michael Jackson's estate. The estate has to deal with a few problems: 1. Determining the amount of all of Mr. Jackson's debts. 2. Determining the value of all of Mr. Jackson's assets. This is particularly hard to do because the value of some of these assets fluctuates with Mr...

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