In this installment of Ask Sam and Kendal, Rincker Law, PLLC associate attorneys Sam Ellis and Kendal A. Schoepfer explain why transferring a farm to an LLC or trust became an important legal question after the federal government’s Residential Real Estate Reporting Rule took effect on March 1, 2026. Below, we explore “Could Transferring a Farm to an LLC or Trust Trigger FinCEN Reporting?”
The rule was intended to identify certain non-financed transfers of residential real estate to legal entities and trusts. Because many farm succession and estate-planning transactions involve deeds transferring property to family LLCs or trusts, the rule
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The New Wave of Deepfake Fraud Is Coming for Small Businesses
The call comes in on a Tuesday afternoon.
It sounds exactly like your business partner. Or your CFO. Or the vendor you have worked with for six years. The voice has the same cadence, the same phrasing, the same slight accent you have always recognized. Maybe there is a video call and the face matches too.
There is an urgent wire transfer. A confidential acquisition. A vendor payment that needs to go out before end of business. The request is unusual but the person making it is someone you know, someone you trust, someone you would wire money for without
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Missouri Microbusiness License: 7 Critical Round 3 Rules
The Missouri microbusiness license Round 3 application window is open right now — July 13 through July 27, 2026. If you qualify, you file electronically through the state’s online registry portal, pay a $1,637 application fee, and your name goes into a random lottery drawn September 9, 2026. Licenses issue in December. That’s the whole timeline — and the clock is already running.
Our team has been through this before. Collateral Base consultants have secured two Missouri microbusiness licenses in prior rounds, so what follows is what actually matters in the application — not a rewrite of the state’s
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Commercial Lease Traps
Commercial leases are complex and lengthy documents prepared by and generally favoring the landlord. While the most obvious terms are the focus of negotiation, like rent, length, and build-out credit, many of the other provisions that are often overlooked as “boiler plate,” can be traps for a tenant, substantially reducing the value of the lease and eroding profits during its term.
Some of these hidden tenant traps include:
- Exclusivity. Can the landlord lease other space in the property to a competitor?
- Property Tax Reassessment. What is your exposure to increasing property tax assessments and can you cap it?
- Common Area
The Illinois Farmer’s Annual Legal Checklist: What to Review Each Season
The Illinois Farmer’s Annual Legal Checklist: What to Review Each Season can help farm owners address legal and business issues before they become expensive problems. Farming rarely leaves much time for paperwork, but contracts, leases, insurance policies, employment records, succession plans, and business filings should not be ignored until a dispute or emergency occurs. Dividing these reviews by season can make annual legal planning more manageable.
Winter: Review the Farm’s Business Foundation
Winter is often the best time to step back and review how the farm business is structured. Begin by examining the farm’s partnership agreement, LLC operating agreement, shareholder
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What Happens to an LLC When Its Owner Dies in Illinois?
What Happens to an LLC When Its Owner Dies in Illinois? The answer depends on whether the company has one owner or several, what the operating agreement says, and how the owner planned for the transfer. An Illinois LLC does not necessarily close when an owner dies, but the death can affect management authority, ownership rights, and the company’s ability to continue operating.
The LLC Does Not Automatically Disappear
An LLC is a legal entity separate from its owners. A member’s death does not cause the company’s contracts, property, employees, or debts to vanish. The business may continue, be purchased,
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How to Avoid Money Mistakes in Marriage: Cari Rincker Joins the Money Girl Podcast
How to Avoid Money Mistakes in Marriage was the focus of a recent episode of the Money Girl podcast featuring family law attorney Cari Rincker. As part of host Laura Adams’ wedding series, Cari joined the show to discuss an important part of marriage that can easily be overshadowed by venues, guest lists, flowers, and honeymoon plans: financial transparency.
Marriage is a romantic commitment, but it is also a legal and financial partnership. Couples do not need to approach marriage expecting it to end. They should, however, understand the financial obligations they are assuming, the laws that could affect
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Your Employees Are Uploading Company Secrets to ChatGPT. What Happens If They Do?
Your employee is not trying to steal anything.
They are trying to finish a task faster. They paste your pricing model into ChatGPT to reformat it as a client proposal. They upload a draft contract and ask the AI to clean up the language. They feed your source code into the prompt to find a bug. They summarize a confidential internal investigation report to save time writing it up.
None of this feels like a security incident. It feels like using a tool.
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The Supreme Court Just Made Reverse Discrimination Claims Easier to File. What Illinois Employers Need to Know
If your promotion process, your DEI initiative, or your last round of layoffs has ever been shaped around demographic targets, the ground under your feet just shifted. On June 5, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in *Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services* that majority group employees do not have to clear a higher legal bar to sue for discrimination than anyone else. That sentence sounds technical. It is not. It is a direct warning to every Illinois employer who has treated “reverse discrimination” claims as the rare, hard to prove exception.
Here is what changed, why it matters
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The Dispensary Pricing Leak AI Can Spot Before Your Next Reset
Dispensary pricing mistakes are rarely obvious one row at a time. The leak usually appears across the whole menu: flower is chasing a competitor too hard, vapes are priced without enough tier separation, edibles are compared by package instead of milligrams, or a storewide discount turns a decent shelf price into a bad margin decision.
That is where AI can help, if you use it correctly. It can inspect evidence faster than a person can scan hundreds of rows. It cannot decide what your store should publish without a manager who understands the inventory, the customers, and the trade-off.
AI
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Does My Child With Disabilities Need a Guardian at Age 18 in Illinois?
Does My Child With Disabilities Need a Guardian at Age 18 in Illinois? The answer depends on your child’s ability to understand, make, and communicate responsible decisions, not simply on a diagnosis. When a child turns 18, Illinois generally treats that person as a legal adult, and a parent’s automatic authority ends. Some young adults may need a court-appointed guardian, while others may be able to make decisions with limited assistance or another legal arrangement.
What Changes When a Child Turns 18?
A parent’s legal guardianship over a child ends automatically when the child turns 18. After that birthday, a
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Rural Attorney Shortages and Legal Deserts: How States Are Expanding Access to Justice
Rural Attorney Shortages and Legal Deserts: How States Are Expanding Access to Justice examines a growing challenge facing rural America. Many rural communities do not have enough attorneys to meet the legal needs of residents, farmers, families, and local businesses.
Rincker Law attorneys Sam Ellis and Cari Brett Rincker recently examined several efforts aimed at addressing this problem, including expanded access-to-justice funding in Illinois, a rural practice academy in Indiana, financial incentives for attorneys in Kansas, and technology-based service models developing across the country.
Although these programs take different approaches, they share a common goal: improving access to legal services
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Agricultural Law Updates for 2026: What Farmers and Agribusinesses Should Know
Agricultural Law Updates for 2026: What Farmers and Agribusinesses Should Know examines several federal and Illinois developments that may affect farmers, ranchers, agricultural landowners, food businesses, and other members of the agricultural industry.
Rincker Law attorneys Sam Ellis and Cari Brett Rincker recently reviewed major developments involving the 2026 Farm Bill, pesticide regulation, specialty crop assistance, antitrust enforcement, rural development, and Illinois conservation programs. Although these developments affect different parts of the agricultural sector, they reflect a common theme: agricultural law continues to become more closely connected with environmental regulation, market competition, federal funding, and national economic policy.
Farmers and
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Can You Use an Illinois Small Estate Affidavit Instead of Probate?
Can You Use an Illinois Small Estate Affidavit Instead of Probate? In many cases, yes. Illinois law allows certain estates to transfer personal property through a small estate affidavit without opening a formal probate proceeding. However, the estate must meet specific legal requirements, and the person signing the affidavit assumes important responsibilities regarding debts, heirs, beneficiaries, and the distribution of property.
What Is an Illinois Small Estate Affidavit?
An Illinois small estate affidavit is a sworn, notarized document used to collect and distribute a deceased person’s personal property. Instead of asking a probate court to appoint an executor or administrator,
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Summer Travel With Children After Divorce: What Illinois Parents Should Know
Summer Travel With Children After Divorce: What Illinois Parents Should Know is an important topic for separated and divorced parents planning vacations with their children. A family trip can create lasting memories. It can also lead to conflict when parents disagree about dates, destinations, passports, or missed parenting time.
Whether an Illinois parent may take a child on summer travel depends on the parenting plan, court orders, and the facts of the trip. Some orders require advance notice, while others require consent. International travel may also raise additional passport and documentation issues. Parents should not assume that a vacation is
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Summer Agritourism Legal Risks: What Farm Owners Should Know
Summer Agritourism Legal Risks: What Farm Owners Should Know is an increasingly important topic for farms that welcome the public. U-pick fields, farm tours, livestock encounters, educational workshops, farm dinners, and seasonal activities can create new sources of revenue. They can also expose the operation to legal and financial risks that may not exist on a production-only farm.
Before inviting visitors onto agricultural property, farm owners should review their insurance, contracts, business structure, property conditions, local requirements, and safety procedures.
Agritourism Changes the Farm’s Risk Profile
Agritourism generally connects agriculture with recreational, commercial, or educational visitor experiences. Once members of
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