Recent Blog Posts
Message to Clients re: Coronavirus Impact
I wanted to personally update all past, current and future clients regarding the coronavirus impact on my office and on estate planning and probate in general. My family and I are doing well, and I hope you are too. I know that these are challenging times, but I am confident we will all get… Read More »
The 2020 “Secure Act” is a Game Changer for Retirement Account Planning (Part 1 of 2)
Happy New Year everyone! I know I haven’t written on this blog in a little while, but there are some brand new estate planning and estate administration changes that I will be discussing in the coming weeks and months. Today I will outline the MAJOR change passed late in 2019 that will impact the… Read More »
Estate Tax Reform: Top 5 Takeaways
Last week I summarized the 2018 rates and exemptions for gift, estates and trusts. Compared to the major tax code reforms to personal and business taxation, the estate tax changes appear relatively straightforward. The estate tax was not repealed, but the unified Federal gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions more than doubled overnight… Read More »
2018 Estate Tax Summary
I previously provided summaries of estate and gift taxes for 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Unlike the minor changes of the prior few years, 2018 brings major federal tax law changes via the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” signed late 2017, which includes significant changes to Federal estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes…. Read More »
Wishing Bob Glorch a Happy Retirement!
If you haven’t already heard, Bob Glorch is retiring from the practice of law next week, at the end of 2017. Bob retires after a 50-year distinguished legal career focused on estate planning. I had the great fortune of being hired by Bob as a law clerk in 1998 while attending DePaul Law, and… Read More »
Big News! IRS Extends Portability Election Deadline For Estates Since 2011
In an unexpected move, the IRS announced in Rev. Proc. 2017-34 (June 9, 2017) that estates who failed to file an optional estate tax return (Form 706) to elect “portability” of a deceased spouse’s unused exemption (DSUE) now have until at least January 2, 2018 to file. This relief extends all the way back… Read More »
New Illinois Laws for 2017, Part 3: Real Property, Disability & More
This is the third and final post in a series about new Illinois probate and estate laws taking effect in late 2016 or the beginning of 2017. Read Part 1 and Part 2. In all, last year the Illinois legislature passed 192 new laws. To download a summary of all of them in an… Read More »
New Illinois Laws for 2017, Part 2: Unclaimed and Abandoned Property
This is the second in a series of posts about new Illinois probate and estate laws taking effect in late 2016 or the beginning of 2017. One of the primary tasks of an executor or successor trustee is to ascertain and marshal the decedent’s assets. As an attorney who regularly advises and assists executors… Read More »
New Illinois Laws for 2017, Part 1: Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets
This post will be the first in a series of posts about new Illinois probate and estate laws taking effect in late 2016 or the beginning of 2017. I have been writing about the emerging issues surrounding estate planning for digital assets for several years (read all of my posts here). After years of… Read More »
2017 Estate Tax Summary
I previously provided summaries of estate and gift taxes for 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. As with the last few years, the changes at the beginning of this year are primarily inflation adjustments. For 2017, the unified federal estate, gift and GST tax exemption rises by just $40,000 — from $5.45 million in 2016… Read More »