Secretary of State Warns of Scam on Corporations

The Illinois Secretary of State posted the following warning of a scam to charge a fee for filing corporate minutes. As the Secretary of State warns corporations are not required to file their corporate minutes.

WARNING! A non-governmental firm called "Illinois Corporate Compliance" or "Annual Corporate Compliance" is contacting Illinois businesses in an attempt to collect a $150 fee to file corporate meeting minutes. Please be aware that corporations are NOT required by law to file minutes with ANY government or private entity. It is recommended that corporations do NOT reply to the solicitation.

If you have questions about whether it is necessary to file a particular document you should contact your attorney.

Disclaimer

This is a passive blog and the materials contained herein are provided for informational purposes only. Nothing contained in this blog should be interpreted as a solicitation of business and none of the information contained herein constitutes legal advice. The law is subject to change without notice, and the local laws of your residence may be different from the general information displayed on this blog. You should not rely on the information provided on this blog without first consulting an attorney. Contacting this website does not establish and attorney/client relationship between you and its publisher Christopher W. Matern.

An attorney/client relationship can only be established with Christopher Matern by engaging in direct person-to-person contact with Christopher Matern. Christopher Matern does not intend to practice law in any jurisdiction in which he is not licensed.

Will Essentials

A Will is a very important document. You should review it periodically to make sure that it expresses your intentions. Along with the provisions that deal with to whom you are leaving your property, there are several other provisions that are equally important to make sure that your Will functions that way you intend. Here are a few provisions that should be part of your Will:

• Waiver of bond for the executor
• At least one successor executor (in case the first named executor can't serve)
• Trust provisions if you have minor beneficiaries
• Comprehensive powers for the executor and/or incorporation of statutory powers
• Contingent beneficiaries (in case the primary beneficiaries are deceased)
• Self-proving affidavit (witnessed and notarized)

If you have a Will you should check it to make sure that these provisions are included.

Disclaimer

This is a passive blog and the materials contained herein are provided for informational purposes only. Nothing contained in this blog should be interpreted as a solicitation of business and none of the information contained herein constitutes legal advice. The law is subject to change without notice, and the local laws of your residence may be different from the general information displayed on this blog. You should not rely on the information provided on this blog without first consulting an attorney. Contacting this website does not establish and attorney/client relationship between you and its publisher Christopher W. Matern.

An attorney/client relationship can only be established with Christopher Matern by engaging in direct person-to-person contact with Christopher Matern. Christopher Matern does not intend to practice law in any jurisdiction in which he is not licensed.

Estate Planning Not Just for the Wealthy

Estate Planning is not just for the wealthy. Estate Planning also is important for people with modest means too.

A recent article in the Chicago Tribune titled Estate planning saves headaches for heirs discussed reasons that estate planning is important for people with modest means.

The article highlights some of the challenges people are now facing such as providing for children from a prior marriage. It also gives a good explanation of the differences between a Will and a Revocable Trust (also known as a Living Trust).

Disclaimer

This is a passive blog and the materials contained herein are provided for informational purposes only. Nothing contained in this blog should be interpreted as a solicitation of business and none of the information contained herein constitutes legal advice. The law is subject to change without notice, and the local laws of your residence may be different from the general information displayed on this blog. You should not rely on the information provided on this blog without first consulting an attorney. Contacting this website does not establish and attorney/client relationship between you and its publisher Christopher W. Matern.

An attorney/client relationship can only be established with Christopher Matern by engaging in direct person-to-person contact with Christopher Matern. Christopher Matern does not intend to practice law in any jurisdiction in which he is not licensed.

Providing for Parents in Your Will

This linked article provides two good examples of why it can be appropriate to include your parents and or grandparents as beneficiaries of your Will or Revocable Trust.

If you currently are supporting either your parents or grandparents or even if you anticipate needing to provide some support for them in future, it would make sense to include a provision in your estate plan to provide for their support.

This should not be very difficult or expensive.

Disclaimer

This is a passive blog and the materials contained herein are provided for informational purposes only. Nothing contained in this blog should be interpreted as a solicitation of business and none of the information contained herein constitutes legal advice. The law is subject to change without notice, and the local laws of your residence may be different from the general information displayed on this blog. You should not rely on the information provided on this blog without first consulting an attorney. Contacting this website does not establish and attorney/client relationship between you and its publisher Christopher W. Matern.

An attorney/client relationship can only be established with Christopher Matern by engaging in direct person-to-person contact with Christopher Matern. Christopher Matern does not intend to practice law in any jurisdiction in which he is not licensed.

Illinois Estate Tax

New Illinois estate tax legislation may provide a way to defer Illinois estate tax. Currently there is $1.5 million difference between the Illinois and Federal estate tax credits. This could result in some estates for Illinois residents having to pay Illinois estate tax even though they were exempt from Federal estate tax.

For 2009 the Federal estate tax credit is $3.5 million. However, the Illinois estate tax credit is only $2 million. An Illinois resident with a $3.5 million estate would owe $0 of Federal estate tax, but would owe Illinois estate tax of $209,124.

The proposed legislation would permit a husband and wife to defer that $209,124 until the second spouse passed away. For this to work the couple would have needed to include a specific provision in their estate plan. This specific provision is called a qualified terminable-interest property trust. This type of trust is commonly known by its acronym as a QTIP trust.

If a husband and wife residing in Illinois have a combined estate over $2 million, a review of their estate plan might be worthwhile.

Disclaimer

This is a passive blog and the materials contained herein are provided for informational purposes only. Nothing contained in this blog should be interpreted as a solicitation of business and none of the information contained herein constitutes legal advice. The law is subject to change without notice, and the local laws of your residence may be different from the general information displayed on this blog. You should not rely on the information provided on this blog without first consulting an attorney. Contacting this website does not establish and attorney/client relationship between you and its publisher Christopher W. Matern.

An attorney/client relationship can only be established with Christopher Matern by engaging in direct person-to-person contact with Christopher Matern. Christopher Matern does not intend to practice law in any jurisdiction in which he is not licensed.

Good Estate Planning – Not Just a Will and a Trust

A good estate plan includes not only a Will and possibly a Living Trust, but also includes a review of beneficiary designations.

It seems obvious that a Will transfers property in your estate.  But what may not be so obvious is that if you have beneficiaries named for bank accounts, brokerage accounts, life insurance policies those would not be part of your estate.  Your will would have no effect on how they are distributed.  The assets in those accounts will pass directly to the named beneficiaries.  This is also true for real estate owned in joint tenancy.  It too is not part your estate.  While this may work exactly as you intend but then it may not. 

For example, a person early in their life may name their parents as beneficiaries.  This is fine at the time since the person might want to provide for the future care of their parents.  But in later years they marry and have children and, if they thought about it, they would want to change the beneficiary designations.

So, beneficiary designations and joint tenancy accounts and real estate in joint tenancy should be considered in evaluating your estate plan.

This is even more important with respect to IRA and 401(k) accounts.  Because these types of accounts have special rules involving withdrawals, extra consideration should be given to the beneficiary designations.

Disclaimer

This is a passive blog and the materials contained herein are provided for informational purposes only. Nothing contained in this blog should be interpreted as a solicitation of business and none of the information contained herein constitutes legal advice. The law is subject to change without notice, and the local laws of your residence may be different from the general information displayed on this blog. You should not rely on the information provided on this blog without first consulting an attorney. Contacting this website does not establish and attorney/client relationship between you and its publisher Christopher W. Matern.

An attorney/client relationship can only be established with Christopher Matern by engaging in direct person-to-person contact with Christopher Matern. Christopher Matern does not intend to practice law in any jurisdiction in which he is not licensed.

US Targets Smaller Businesses for Hiring Illegal Aliens

The Department of Homeland Security announced last week that it is going to be targeting businesses that employee illegal aliens for prosecution.  In a fact sheet, the Deparment of Homeland Security indicated that it will target smaller businesses for prosecution.  Previously, the Homeland Security targeted business with at least 150 illegal employees.  Now Homeland Security is targeting business with at least 25  illegal employees for prosecution.

Employers who might have illegal alien employees might want to review their personnel files to make sure that they have current I-9 forms or have used some of the new verification tools such as E-Verify.

Disclaimer

This is a passive blog and the materials contained herein are provided for informational purposes only. Nothing contained in this blog should be interpreted as a solicitation of business and none of the information contained herein constitutes legal advice. The law is subject to change without notice, and the local laws of your residence may be different from the general information displayed on this blog. You should not rely on the information provided on this blog without first consulting an attorney. Contacting this website does not establish and attorney/client relationship between you and its publisher Christopher W. Matern.

An attorney/client relationship can only be established with Christopher Matern by engaging in direct person-to-person contact with Christopher Matern. Christopher Matern does not intend to practice law in any jurisdiction in which he is not licensed.