If you are caring for your mother or father, you may be able to claim your parent as a dependent on your income taxes. This would allow you to get an exemption for her or him. There are five tests to determine if you can claim a parent as a…
Many people believe that if they have a Will, their estate planning is complete. But there is much more to a solid estate plan. A good plan should be designed to avoid probate, save on estate taxes, protect assets if you move to a nursing home and appoint someone to…
There is a lot of information your heirs should know which does not necessarily fit into a Will, Trust or other component of an estate plan. The solution is a Letter of Instruction which can provide your heirs with guidance if you die or become incapacitated. A Letter of Instruction…
Social Security provides benefits to a worker’s spouse or ex-spouse and to a deceased worker’s surviving spouse. Spouses are entitled to benefits if the marriage lasted at least 10 years. A spouse is entitled to an amount equal to one-half of the worker’s full retirement benefit. To receive this benefit,…
As she points out in her article titled, Estate Planning for Your Eighteen Year Old: What You Need to do Now May Surprise You, Lauren Keenan Rote points out that becoming an adult comes with certain privacy rights and independence under the law. An eighteen year old has rights under…
In his article, Estate Planning 101: Don’t forget the Digital Assets, Eric McWhinnie points out the need to consider intangible property when creating your estate plan. The internet is increasingly becoming the main storage of an individual’s financial life. A survey from Pew Research shows that 51% of American adults…
Eight of the most common estate planning objectives which influence a couple’s estate plan are set forth in an article by Lewis Saret in Forbes magazine. PROVIDE FOR LOVED ONES The most important estate planning objective for most married couples is to ensure that their loved ones are provided for if…
Keeping beneficiary designations up to date is important as Jason Zweig points out in his article, When Your 401(k) Has a Bad Heir Day. He cites the example of three adult children of a wealthy telemarketing executive who died suddenly. His Will states that all of his assets are to…
It is common for spouses to name each other as the beneficiary of their IRA and their children as the successor beneficiary if they are the second spouse to die. But as Sandra Block points out in her article, “Getting the Most From Inherited IRAs”, although your children will still…
In general, IRAs, 401(k)s and pensions are exempt from the account owner’s creditors under Illinois law. They cannot be seized or garnished by creditors. In an article by Bruce E. Bell, Protecting Retirement Plan Assets from Creditors, he points out that assets passing to beneficiaries of the deceased plan owner…