Recent Blog Posts
Legendary Comedians, Estate Battles and Your Stuff
The late George Carlin is one of my favorite comedians of all-time. One of his legendary routines revolves around how the meaning of life is basically finding “a place for all your stuff!” More recently, Jerry Seinfeld riffed on how we have “too many things” and that it’s all simply in different states of… Read More »
Facebook Adds “Legacy Contact” Option (Plus, I’m now on Twitter)
Almost exactly one year ago, I posted about a policy change that Facebook had made with respect to accounts of deceased individuals (see “Facebook Makes Memorialized Accounts More Public“, February 25, 2014). Last year, Facebook’s change fixed the privacy settings for “memorialized accounts” so that they would not be changed after death. When I… Read More »
Ernie Banks and the Illinois Disposition of Remains Act
First, a confession: I am a lifelong die-hard Cubs fan (an inherited condition). Yes, I know, that can take a toll on one’s mental health. And yes, I actually do believe that ‘next year’ could be this year. Or at least next year. No player embodies Cubs baseball more than the legendary Ernie Banks…. Read More »
District 211 Trusts and Estates Class in March
In March I will be teaching an adult continuing education class for District 211 covering a broad range of estate planning and estate administration topics. The class takes place at Fremd High School in Palatine from 7pm to 9pm on Wednesday, March 4 and Wednesday, March 11. I’ve been teaching this class for several… Read More »
Class Gifts, Later-Born Grandchildren, and the Ambiguous Ambiguity
One of the challenges in estate planning is making and expressing decisions now within documents that may be ultimately administered and interpreted many years down the line — sometimes under changed circumstances. In some situations, this planning requires a great deal of forethought, nuance and flexibility to achieve goals. Certain changes are fairly easy… Read More »
Beneficiaries: How to Deal With a Rogue Executor or Trustee
Last April I blogged about The 3 Habits of Highly Effective Trustees and Executors. As a reminder, they are: (1) Read (re-read) the trust and/or will (and follow the terms); (2) Communicate with beneficiaries — early, often and well; and (3) Document and keep records. But what if you’re the beneficiary of an estate… Read More »
2015 Estate Tax Summary
Previously I wrote summaries of estate and gift taxes for 2013 and 2014. As with last year, the changes this year are primarily inflation adjustments. The unified federal estate, gift and GST tax exemption rose from $5.34 million in 2014 to $5.43 million in 2015 (big fun for those who like to transpose numbers!)…. Read More »
Article by Jeffrey R. Gottlieb Published in Illinois Bar Journal
The January 2015 edition of the Illinois Bar Journal features a lead article written and published by yours truly, entitled “A New Weapon Against Elder Abuse: Presumptively Void Transfers to Caregivers.” CLICK HERE FOR A PDF OF THE ARTICLE The construct for the article began right here as a blog post on September 2,… Read More »
20 New Illinois Laws to Know for 2015
Happy New Year! As the new year rings in, so do new Illinois laws taking affect. Roughly 220 new Illinois laws went into effect on January 1, 2015. Most are mundane and relatively uninteresting. But there are quite a few noteworthy new laws this year. Briefly summarized below (with links to the statute) are… Read More »
Happy Holidays and New Beginnings: Firm Announcement!
I hope you’re all having a joyous and memorable holiday season filled with friends and family and fun! The new year is right around the corner, and with that, big news here at our law office: As of January 1, 2015, Law Offices of Robert H. Glorch will be transitioned to Law Offices of… Read More »