by Tom Olofsson, Attorney at Law, www.MyTrustLawyer.com (773) 905-1193

A trust is three people working together. They are called the grantor, the trustee, and the beneficiary.

The Grantor’s job is to set up the trust and put money and property into the trust. The Trustee’s job is to manage the money and property that is placed inside the trust. The Beneficiaries job is to sit back and get the benefits of the trust.

The Grantor sets up the trust and puts their assets into it. The Grantor then picks a trustee who will manage the assets for the benefit of the beneficiary.

My mother spent her birthday with my sister in Tucson, Arizona this year. I sent my sister a check to buy mom some flowers on her birthday.

In that situation I was the Grantor, my sister was the Trustee, and mom was the beneficiary. I picked my sister to go shopping because I knew she would do what I asked her to do.

Every trust, large or small, has a Grantor, a Trustee, and a Beneficiary.

With a Living Trust you can be the Grantor, Trustee, and Beneficiary of your own trust. While you are able to manage your own money and property then you remain the Trsutee. Your trust will have, written into it, special provisions, that provide for a time when you become ill or when you are no longer able to manage your money and assets.

Within your trust are the names of the people or professional trsutees who will take over management for you. You name the people who will take care of your assets for you when you are unable to do it for yourself

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by Tom Olofsson, Attorney at Law, www.MyTrustLawyer.com (773) 905-1193

Probate is a court supervised process which helps make sure that your final bills are paid, that your final wishes are known, and that your stuff gets to those you intend to get it.

There is nothing wrong with the process. Probate allows for the orderly passing of assets from generation to generation.

The reasons which most people give for wanting to avoid probate can be boiled down to these:

1. Probate takes too long. Probate generally takes between 1 and 2 years. During the process the family must relive the death of their loved one with each new letter and each meeting with the executor. If the process can be made shorter then the family will be able to come to closure more quickly.

2. Probate costs too much. The fees for Probate in Illinois can average around 5% of the estate. With home values over $300,000, in many cases, it is easy to see why people would like more of their money to go to their children and less to court costs and fees.

3. Probate is not private. The courts are public and so are most court records. Many people I talk with keep their financial matters private during their lives and tell me that they would like to keep their information private even after their deaths. It makes sense, then, to stay keep the estate distribution process private. This can be done by staying out of court.

Technorati Tags: Estate Attorney, Estate Planning, estate planning chicago suburbs, Last Will and Testament, Living Trust

by Tom Olofsson, Attorney at Law, www.MyTrustLawyer.com (773) 905-1193

A will does 5 very important things.

• Cancels your old will.
• Names a personal representative (executor).
• Waives the bond on the personal representative.
• A will can act as a back-up document to a living trust.
• Names a guardian for minor children and for special needs children.

There are several ways to cancel your old will. You can tear it up. You can burn it. You can write “revoked” across the pages or draw large X’s on each page. The most common way is to write a new will. The first paragraph of your will normally revokes all of your former wills.

When your will goes to probate a person is put in-charge of the paperwork. This person is called a personal representative. They may also be called an executor. Most people have someone in-mind for the job. Your will should name a personal representative and a back-up in case your first choice is not available.

A bond is an insurance policy that guard against mismanagement or dishonesty by your personal representative. It helps make sure that assets that end up going through probate will not be stolen or wasted. Since many people name their spouse or a trusted family friend as their personal representative it seems unecessary to require that person to be bonded.

Every living trust should be accompanied by a short will know as a “pour over will.” This legal document is set up to make sure that assets are put into the trust even when the Grantor failed to get the job finished during their lifetime.

The most important job that your will does is to name a guardian for your minor children or for children with special needs. If you do not name a guardian then the court may need to appoint one. Most people tell me that they want to make these choices rather than leaving them up to the Judge in probate or guardianship court

Technorati Tags: Estate Attorney, Estate Planning, estate planning chicago suburbs, Living Trust

by Tom Olofsson, Attorney at Law, www.MyTrustLawyer.com (773) 905-1193

Many of my clients have asked me, “Who should I name as my Trustee? Should I name a family member, the trust department of a local bank, or an independent trust company?”

A trust is created to last many years for the benefit of people you select. It is hard to predict how the world will change over the life of the trust. Laws may be different in a few years and investment strategies come and go. Because of this, it is to your benefit to select a trustee who will supervise the trust assets in the way you intend.

In some cases the grantor will serve as the trustee of his or her own trust. If you have a revocable trust, and serve as the trustee, your service ends when you become incapacitated or when you die. If you create an irrevocable trust then you must usually name someone else to serve as a trustee. In most cases, at some point, a person other than yourself will serve as trustee.

A trustee has several responsibilities. The main responsibility is to interpret and carry out the grantor’s instructions. Such interpretation should be done impartially and without any conflict of interest. Some other responsibilities include:

· Meeting the needs of the beneficiaries
· Making sure that the trust assets are secure
· Preparing accountings for the beneficiaries
· Maintaining records
· Filing tax returns

Since it is an important job, you should select a trustee that you believe will take the proper care needed in order for your trust to function properly. An individual may not have enough time available to properly address all the needs of your beneficiaries. A local bank may be subject to unfavorable state regulations which do not offer the best environment for investing or reporting the trust assets, or worse still, the local bank may merge with or be purchased by another bank. A professional trustee in another state may have favorable regulations, but may not understand your wishes due to a lack of local connection.

Individuals, banks, and professional trustees each have positive and negative aspects. Your ultimate trustee determination relies most upon your confidence that the trustee you choose will follow your wishes.

Technorati Tags: Estate Attorney, Estate Planning, estate planning chicago suburbs, Living Trust

by Tom Olofsson, Attorney at Law, www.MyTrustLawyer.com (773) 905-1193

What Does An Estate Attorney Do?

Estate Planning is a broad category of legal practice. It encompasses many of the issues that are important to Seniors and to their families. It touches upon several areas and combines them into a unified approach to the way a Senior interacts with her family, with her estate, with the government, with medical care providers, and with her community.

The main areas that we explore with our Senior clients include:

• Wills and Trusts
• Guardianship for Disabled Adult
• Asset Protection
• Medicaid Planning
• Wealth and Tax Planning
• Planning for Incapacity

Technorati Tags: Estate Attorney, Estate Planning, estate planning chicago suburbs, Living Trust

by Tom Olofsson, Attorney at Law, www.MyTrustLawyer.com (773) 905-1193

When you give someone a gift you sign a check. When you buy a meal in a restaurant you sign a credit card receipt. When you sell your home you sign a deed.

In each of these situations it is your signature which marks that the sale has taken place.

If you wish to give assets to someone after your death something different has to happen. Since you can not sign after you have died, someone’s signature must be substituted in place of yours.

The judge, in probate court, substitutes his or her signature in place of yours. This way any money and property, which was in your name when you died, can get into the hands of the new owner.

This is one of the main purposes of the probate court.

The process is more complicated than I have described but when you boil it down, we are getting stuff out of your name and into the name of the people you let it to in your will

Technorati Tags: Estate Attorney, Estate Planning, estate planning chicago suburbs, Last Will and Testament, Living Trust