Posted on January 16, 2023 in Estate Planning

Yorkville Women’s Estate Planning Lawyer

Estate Planning takes into consideration your assets, debts, and wishes for distribution of those assets upon your death. If you die intestate (without a Will or Trust), your estate will have to go through Probate and will follow the intestacy statutes for distribution, which may not be in line with how you want your assets to be distributed when you pass. Having a proper estate plan will eliminate these potential issues and can even avoid Probate if created and funded the proper way. Simply put, estate planning is an essential step for everyone. However, women are at an increased need for a well-constructed estate plan for many reasons. Our Oswego Women’s Estate Planning Lawyer can provide information and assistance in the areas of wills and trusts, estates and trusts, and probate and guardianship law in and surrounding Kendall County.

Women Live Longer, But Make Less

Women tend to live longer than men on average. In estate planning, it is common for the husband or wife to leave their assets to the surviving spouse to inherit. Since women typically live longer than their male counterpart, it is likely that the woman would be the surviving spouse in the marriage and would then have more assets to be distributed upon her death. Additionally, if the husband dies before the wife, she will have to consider alternative beneficiaries to inherit her assets. This is a major decision to make, and without an estate plan, the woman’s estate would have to follow intestacy statutes over what her wishes might have been had she created an estate plan while she was alive.

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 Posted on January 13, 2023 in Estate Planning

Estate planning is critical for families, particularly owners of small to medium-sized businesses owners and their families. High-net-worth and high-income families have complex estate planning needs. This article will discuss the core estate planning and asset protection strategies for successful businesspeople. Effective estate planning and asset protection will build a solid legal foundation to protect against incapacity and death. More importantly, building a solid asset protection plan will place roadblocks to shield a person's and family’s business and personal assets from liability concerns that threaten one’s wealth.

ESTATE PLANNING TIPS FOR CLOSELY HELD BUSINESS OWNERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

The first step in advanced planning in representing business owners and their families is conducting a risk assessment. A risk assessment is a review of a person’s assets and the legal risks that could jeopardize a business owner’s financial security and retirement goals. As Yorkville Living Trust attorneys, we interview the client and their families and identify their concerns such as things that keep them up at night. A business asset protection planning attorney can help clients conduct a comprehensive and thorough investigation and risk assessment to identify potential threats to their assets, such as lawsuits, creditor concerns, or economic downturns.

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 Posted on January 12, 2023 in Estate Planning

Yorkville and Kendall County Pre-Marital and Post-Marital Agreement Lawyers

One usually hears about prenuptial agreements in magazines or pop culture news when celebrities plan to get married. This may lead people to think that you need a lot to protect (like the millions of dollars or valuables that celebrities accrue) to think about prenuptial agreements. This is not the case. In fact, prenuptial agreements can be a helpful tool, as both soon-to-be spouses are amicable and agreeable, to create a fallback plan in case the marriage does not go as planned. Illinois has adopted the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act (750 ILCS 10/1), and some key points to the creation and enforcement of a prenuptial agreement are as follows.

What can someone put in the agreement?

Prenuptial agreements are contracts that bring up issues prior to the marriage that the parties agree to. These issues can be in regards to almost anything; from characterizing property as either marital property (defined as (1) any tangible property acquired during the marriage by any party or (2) any nonmarital property that has been commingled with marital property to the point where there is no difference between the two) or nonmarital property (defined as any tangible property (1) acquired prior to the marriage by any party, (2) acquired by gift, legacy, or decent, or (3) acquired after a judgment of legal separation), determining how property is treated during the marriage, determining who gets what property, setting a maintenance amount limit, etc. In fact, couples can attempt to make a provision about almost any matter.

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 Posted on January 11, 2023 in Estate Planning

Wealth preservation and estate planning are critical to providing peace of mind and creating a legacy. Estate planning is the process of setting up one’s assets in a manner that facilitates a smooth transition upon one’s death or incapacity. Estate planning assists in achieving the goals of enhancing financial security and protecting one’s family assets from taxes and liability risks such as lawsuits and other risks.

Sugar Grove Wealth Preservation Attorney

Protecting a family’s wealth is important because one lawsuit can threaten a lifetime of good decision-making. Creating an estate planning that fits your family circumstances is critical because it eliminates legal risks, which results in thousands of dollars in saved attorney’s fees and expenses. There are several legal instruments, which enhance a person and family’s economic security and assist to create a solid foundation with regard to estates and trusts.

Sugar Grove Living Trust Lawyer

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 Posted on January 10, 2023 in Estate Planning

Estate Planning is the process of planning one’s financial, retirement, and estate planning solutions to transfer one’s assets to their loved ones in a cost-effective and smooth manner. People often are concerned about their portfolio and how the market negatively effects their assets.

Asset protection is a legal specialty, which combines diversifying one’s assets to maximize their protection from events that dissipate their assets. Asset protection involves advanced planning prior to lawsuits, taxes, and life events negatively impacting one’s economic security and wealth. Asset protection and estate planning together combine effective wealth management solutions to promote financial security.

Traits of Estate Planning

Trusts are part of the solution to effective estate planning. These legal documents compromise the key elements of a successful estate plan:

• Revocable Living Trust or otherwise known as a “Living Trust’

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 Posted on January 09, 2023 in Asset Protection & Wealth Preservation

Asset protection is a legal specialty, which is a combination of financial, retirement, and lawsuit planning to set up legal barriers to protect one’s family and business assets. A recession is coming, and lawsuits, taxes, and liability concerns will increase, which will threaten people’s family, individual, and business’s economic security.

The best asset protection occurs prior to any incident or potential lawsuit has arisen. Advanced planning is not fraud and sets one’s assets up in a manner that maximizes asset protection. Asset protection is combined with estate planning strategies to help families and individuals achieve financial security. Middle-aged couples and individuals are increasingly aware of retirement planning. Smart retirement planning consists of asset protection and estate planning (when the situation meets the customer’s needs).

How to Protect Your Assets Against Liability Concerns?

This article will discuss how to protect your assets against liability concerns and what legal instruments you should use. This article will discuss five (5) strategies designed to protect one’s assets from liability concerns. The first legal concept is the use of holding and subsidiary companies, which segregate each company or LLC into a separate entity.

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 Posted on January 06, 2023 in Estate Planning

A primary benefit of estate planning is building a solid structure and creating an estate plan that passes one’s assets in a cost-effective and smooth manner. One lawsuit can destroy a lifetime of planning and good decisions. Asset protection is the process of arranging one’s assets to minimize liability vulnerabilities and maximize economic security.

Asset protection is a combination of estate planning, lawsuit planning, and business planning combined into one specialty. Smart asset protection is forward planning and does not involve fraud or fraudulent transfers. Advanced planning is vital because one’s assets may not be protected if one device a plan to protect their assets to protect against an existing or pending lawsuit. Planning anticipates liability risks that may arise.

Traits of Smart Estate Planning: Montgomery Illinois Estate Planning Attorney

Traits of smart estate planning include the following:

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 Posted on January 05, 2023 in Estate Planning

Oswego Living Trust Lawyers

Every person requires a proper estate plan, but this need is especially crucial for single mothers. Single mothers are some of the most hardworking individuals, and they are tasked with dual responsibility as caregivers and providers. If something were to happen to a single mother, she would want to ensure that her children will have a proper guardian to continue to care for them, as well as guarantee that her children will be financially prepared by providing them with the best inheritance possible.

Establishing a Proper Caregiver

One of the benefits of an estate plan is that a mother can designate who she would like to take over as guardian of her minor children. Without this designation, it is most likely that the other parent will be given full guardianship over the minor children. However, this designation is not always in the best interest of the children for many reasons. Whether there is a lack of relationship, lack of parental responsibility, or distance that would severely hinder the children's permanency, a single mother is tasked with the responsibility of making this decision. It is imperative that the minor children are placed with someone who is familiar and will be able to provide for them both financially and emotionally. By creating an estate plan, the single mother can make her primary guardian designation, as well as contingent guardians, should the primary guardian be unable to care for the children.

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 Posted on January 04, 2023 in Estate Planning

Bristol Living Trust Lawyers

Estate planning is a legal specialty that assists people and families plan their legal future. There are key legal documents, which are essential in a well-planned and executed estate plan. Estate planning is designed to provide peace of mind and provide financial security. Estate planning is a crucial step in providing for one’s retirement planning goals.

There are four (4) major documents, which are the foundation of estate planning. These documents include the following:

• Living Trust or otherwise known as a “Revocable Living Trust” or “Family Trust”

• Illinois Short Form Statutory Attorney for Finances

• Illinois Short Form Statutory Attorney for Healthcare

• Pour Over Will

Montgomery Living Trust Lawyers

The first major document in a solid estate plan is a living trust. A living trust is a legal document called a “trust agreement,” which is a written document declaring your wishes upon death or disability. A living trust may be revoked or modified while one is living and has capacity. A person holds their assets in the trust’s name and the trust is managed by a trustee or co-trustee, which is appointed by the creator of the trust. The creator of the trust is called a “grantor” or “trustor.” The grantor or the trustor is the person (or couple) that created the living trust.

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 Posted on December 30, 2022 in Estate Planning

The fundamentals of estate planning are the way to build financial security. An estate planning attorney assists clients anticipate future problems and develop a solution to these potential conflicts. Estate planning and asset protection combine to set-up roadblocks and prevent future liability concerns by setting up limited liability companies and other liability protection strategies devised to maximize asset protection.

Living Trust are Smart Estate Planning

A living trust is a legal instrument that appoints a trustee to over see and manage one’s financial assets. A person or couple create a written agreement called a “trust agreement” where they are appointed as co-trustees to manage their property interests. The goal of living trust is to create an easy transition of one’s assets upon a death or incapacity. A living trust differs from a last will and testament because it avoids probate processes and court procedures. Second, a living trust is a private document, which is shielded from the public view.

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