If you have a relative who is bad with money but needs support, you may want to form a spendthrift trust. Many people have someone close to them who cannot manage their own money. A relative may have a gambling Read More….
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When planning your estate, you may wonder if it is a good idea to sign a joint will with your spouse. You love your spouse and want to share everything with him or her – why not make your wills Read More….
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When you get divorced, you may wonder if the divorce decree invalidates gifts to your ex-spouse made in your will. In Illinois, a divorce nullifies any language in your will that makes your ex-spouse an heir. Effect of Divorce on Read More….
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If one of your heirs listed in your will happens to die before you, your estate gets distributed differently. It is a good idea – for your own peace of mind – to figure out who would receive the inheritance Read More….
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If your ailing relative wants to make his or her will, the concept of capacity could come into play. Capacity to make a will affects whether the will is valid when the relative’s estate is distributed. If the creator of Read More….
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When someone uses undue influence to affect the contents of a will, that will may not be valid. If you are helping a relative manage his affairs, you should know how undue influence could negatively affect his legacy. Alternatively, if Read More….
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If you are in debt, you might hope that the creditors will go away after you die. Your relatives shouldn’t have to pay back the debts that you owe, right? Unfortunately, the law does allow creditors to seek repayments of Read More….
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Sometimes, the creator of a trust also acts as its trustee. This situation most often happens when someone creates a trust intended to benefit relatives after the creator passes away. Why Would the Trust Creator Act as the Trustee? Often, Read More….
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After a trust settlor dies, the trustee often needs to gather important information about the trust. The settlor’s death triggers the need to inventory the trust assets and perform administrative tasks. A trustee in this situation must first locate documents Read More….
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Trust beneficiaries have legal rights in Illinois to receive information related to the trust and to receive distributions from it. If you are a trust beneficiary, you may want to know more about your rights to ensure that the trustee Read More….
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Not long ago, your relative told you that he chose you as the executor of his estate. You are not sure what being an executor means, and you don’t know what your responsibilities are. Now, your relative has sadly  passed Read More….
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Not long ago, your relative told you that he chose you as the trustee of his trust. You are not sure what being a trustee means, and you don’t know what your responsibilities are. Maybe your relative is in poor Read More….
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When you decide to make changes to your will, handwriting them in on the will document may seem like the easiest way to do it. But making handwritten notations on your will could invite a lot of confusion and not Read More….
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