Power in Collaboration®
By: Thomas M. Lombardo Most of us know that obtaining a judgment is often much easier than recovering actual dollars. Unless your defendant’s insurer is responsible for payment of the judgment, or your defendant is a “deep pocket” with multiple bank accounts that can be hit with third-party citations, the hard work has just begun…. Read more »
If your will isn’t valid, it literally isn’t worth the paper it’s written on — which means that your personal possessions and assets will be distributed according to the way the state sees fit, not the way that you necessarily wanted. What makes a will valid in Illinois? — You have to be a legal… Read more »
An Illinois man who is fighting state-mandated retroactive estate tax will be allowed to pursue his case in circuit court, according to a recent decision from a state appeals panel. The man has been fighting estate tax issues since 2011. He is the executor of an estate valued at $5 million – and he argues… Read more »
My client is a hard working and honest man. He’s Mexican-American and English is not his first language. In 1982 he and his wife bought a parcel of property in unincorporated Cook County with a small house on it. My client and his wife took up residence on the property and he began his landscape… Read more »
When it comes to setting up your estate plan, one of the most difficult topics can also be one of the simplest: How do you keep someone from challenging your will? Estate planning is designed to make the distribution of assets easier, but errant family members can cause headaches for Illinois clients. Here, we give you additional… Read more »
If you are finding it difficult to get motivated about your estate planning, you are not alone. Many people are reluctant to spend time considering how life will go on after they have died, and this may be especially hard if you have potential heirs who may not be able to handle the inheritance you… Read more »
Webster defines a “science” as a “branch of knowledge concerning a subject.” A science is often thought of as being definite and predictable. For example, in mathematics we know that if you add 1 + 1, you always get 2. We also know that the area of a square or a rectangle is always determined… Read more »
A highly regarded Midwestern political influencer’s estate is currently contested, as the woman’s daughter argues that her brothers “sabotaged” her inheritance. In a probate litigation suit filed against her family members in Illinois’ neighboring state of Missouri, the daughter claims that her brothers coerced her mother into signing a document to reduce her inheritance amount. The documents… Read more »
How do Illinois residents who are looking to build an estate plan structure their asset distribution? Many people who are looking to complete their estate planning process feel ready to move forward, but they may not feel comfortable with information about trusts and other mechanisms that can help them preserve their estate. It does not have to… Read more »
Is it possible for you to challenge a will? Trying to work through probate litigation is a challenging situation, largely because wills are seen as the “voice” of the testator, or person who has died. The will “speaks” for the decedent, so most courts in Illinois and other states tend to hold the will and other estate… Read more »