Power in Collaboration®
The answer to the above question is simply stated: No! While civil unions have many of the same legal characteristics rights and obligations), the civil union relationship is not recognized under federal law. This is particularly significant in the context of estate planning. That is, the deductions and credits for federal estate tax that are… Read more »
All businesses have owners. Without owners, a business would not exist. The owner starts the business. The owner has success. The owner makes mistakes. The mistakes cost money. The owner learns from her mistakes. So long as a single business owner remains single, she can make any business decision she wants without consulting anyone. She,… Read more »
Beginning in 2011, S-Corporations that file a late or incomplete Federal income tax return (Form 1120-S) will be assessed a penalty of $195 per shareholder per month. Husbands and wives are counted as two shareholders. For a 10-shareholder S-Corporation that is one year behind in filing its tax return, the penalty that may be imposed… Read more »
Don’t be surprised if you hear a public service announcement on workplace safety the next time you go to the cinema. In March, the U.S. Department of Labor assessed civil penalties of over $275,000 against three movie theater companies with operations in Illinois, Wisconsin, and seven other states for allowing minors to perform hazardous jobs… Read more »
Whether you are looking for a line of credit to improve cash flow, a term loan to purchase new equipment, or you are a lender funding a loan to a rapidly expanding new business, the lending environment has changed dramatically in the past several years. Today’s lenders are more cautious and their due diligence, especially… Read more »
In our last issue, we examined the changes to the federal estate tax law passed by Congress in December of 2010, which raised the threshold for federal estate tax to its highest amount ever, $5 Million. This law has a significant impact on our estate planning, as the $5 Million amount gives up to $10… Read more »
In December 2010, Congress passed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, which, among other things, provided a temporary resolution to federal estate and gift tax uncertainty. Lee Poteracki discussed the general provisions of the 2010 Act in an article published in the January 2011 edition of this Newsletter. This… Read more »
Chester Lizak has been recognized as one of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers in the State of Illinois” by the American Trial Lawyers Association. The American Trial Lawyers Association is a professional organization of America’s Top Trial Lawyers. In the past few years, Chet has received numerous other awards including an Award of Merit from… Read more »
As estate planning practitioners, we have been concerned about how Congress would react to the expiration of the Estate and Gift Tax at the end of 2009. We knew the date was approaching for years, and were certain Congress would not allow the taxes to expire. Somehow, the politics of 2009 prevented Congress from fixing… Read more »
“Privity of contract” is an important term in contract law. The concept is simple; legal disputes arising out of a contract are limited to the parties to the contract. Nine times out of ten if you are not a party to a contract, you do not have a breach of contract claim. This article is… Read more »