As most of you know, Illinois' estate tax now kicks in at $2 million, while the first $3.5 million of an estate are exempt from federal tax. That obviously poses a challenge for estate planners. Fortunately, though, in September the governor signed Illinois' QTIP election into law.
So what does that mean? I'll let Jason S. Ornduff take it from here (he wrote about the new QTIP law in the latest ISBA Trusts and Estates newsletter): "Before the state QTIP election, estate planning attorneys and their married clients faced a quandary; either fund a credit shelter trust up to the maximum federal exemption and pay Illinois estate tax at the first death, or fund the credit shelter trust with the lesser of the two exemptions, avoiding the Illinois estate tax at the first death, but potentially wasting up to $1.5 million of the federal exemption which could cause federal estate tax to be due at the second death.
"After legislation authorizing state QTIP election was enacted, a properly drafted estate plan permits a married couple to leverage at both the federal level and the state level – that is, for federal estate tax purposes, the entire federal exemption is used by (1) a $2 million federal and state credit shelter trust and (2) a $1.5 million federal credit shelter trust that is, for Illinois estate tax purposes only, a QTIP marital trust that qualifies for the marital estate tax deduction."
Read the rest of his article, and watch for one by Robert Kolasa on the new QTIP law in the December Illinois Bar Journal.
Practice News
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October 30, 2009 |
Practice News
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October 30, 2009 |
Practice News
In keeping with the Illinois Supreme Court's desire to bring greater public access and understanding to the courts, audio recordings of all oral arguments in the Illinois Appellate Court will soon be available on the court's website. The new access will be available beginning Monday, Nov. 2 at www.state.il.us/court. The appellate courtrooms in all five Judicial Districts have been equipped with digital audio recording systems that will preserve audio quality long term for archival purposes. The systems also are compatible with standard computer software readily available on most person computer systems, and will allow the legal community and the general public to listen to and download audio recordings of all appellate arguments and workers' compensation hearings.
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October 29, 2009 |
Practice News
Referrals -- and the fee sharing that often goes with them -- are a common and perfectly legitimate part of p.i. practice. But when it comes to fee sharing, you have to get it right. Make a mistake and you can quickly find yourself in trouble with the ARDC. That's why you'd be wise to take a look at Albert E. Durkin's concise summary of fee-sharing basics in the latest Tort Trends, newsletter of the ISBA Tort Law Section. The biggest source of trouble, Albert says: "Receiving a case from another attorney can become problematic when [he or she]...cannot be a 'referring attorney' as defined under the provisions of IRPC 1.5, and, therefore, cannot be disclosed as sharing in the fees or sharing in the financial responsibility of a case to the client. Examples...are when the referring attorney either has a conflict of interest or works for a firm or agency that prohibits maintaining a financial interest in cases outside of their employment."
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October 29, 2009 |
Practice News
This spring's budget bill, Public Act 96-45, changed tax policy effective for tax years ending Dec. 31, 2009 by limiting partnerships’ deduction to “guaranteed payments” instead of “reasonable compensation” for the Personal Property Replacement Tax. That change generally limits the deduction to income partners because equity partners’ income is based on their share of the distributable income of the partnership. House Bill 2239 (Currie, D-Chicago; Harmon, D-Oak Park) restores this deduction. It has passed both chambers today and will be sent to the Governor within 30 days for his signature, amendatory veto, or veto.
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October 27, 2009 |
Practice News
OK, maybe I'm mixing my metaphors. Or cliches. But you get the point, right? Michael A. Mattingly puts it better in the latest issue of The Bottom Line, newsletter of the ISBA's Standing Committee on Law Office Management and Economics: "[W]hen it comes to paying their paralegals, legal assistants, office managers, administrative assistants, interns and other employees, law firms ironically end up violating the law as much, if not more, than other employers." Mattingly's article is full of great advice about how not to run afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which, as he notes, is a strict liability statute -- one that applies to you even if you only have one employee. Read on ASAP.
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October 27, 2009 |
Practice News
Recently enacted Public Act 96-555 increased the fees to petition Illinois government for registered lobbyists and their clients to a $1,000 per year. The fees had been $150 for Sec. 501(c)(3) corporations and $350 for everybody else. This applies to any person or group that falls under the definitions of the Lobbyist Registration Act. Part of the revenue currently generated goes to enforcement of the Act and part goes to the General Revenue Fund. The dedicated part of the enforcement fund now has a $400,000 balance. There is an effort underway to persuade the General Assembly to reduce these fees back to $150 and $350 this week in veto session using Senate Bill 2109 as a vehicle.
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October 26, 2009 |
Practice News
In the latest issue of ISBA's Trial Briefs newsletter, Judge Barbara Crowder discusses some important changes to the business of instructing Illinois jurors. Among them: IPI Civil 1.01 ("Preliminary Cautionary Instructions") now forbids jurors from using "cell phones, text messaging, internet postings and Internet access device" and doing independent research in connection with their duties. Also, Supreme Court Rule 239 was amended to provide that jurors receive a written copy of the instructions after closing argument. And these are just two of the changes wrought, all of which are to the good, Crowder opines. "Both new IPI 1.01 and the changes to Supreme Court Rule 239 will enable the jurors to better understand and follow the evidence and to reach a decision," she writes. Read the article.
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October 26, 2009 |
ISBA News | Practice News
[caption id="attachment_5018" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Appearing on the shows are (front, from left) program moderator John T. Theis, a Chicago lawyer; Cecil J. Hunt II, a professor at The John Marshall Law School; and Michele M. Jochner, judicial law clerk to Justice Charles Freeman of the Illinois Supreme Court; and (rear) Hon. Leonard Murray, an associate judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County"][/caption] The Illinois State Bar Association's Illinois Law cable program will air "Review of Recent U.S. Supreme Court Decisions" throughout the month of November. This two-part series will air on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on CAN-TV Cable Channel 21. Appearing on the shows will be program moderator John T. Theis, a Chicago lawyer; Cecil J. Hunt II, a professor at The John Marshall Law School; Michele M. Jochner, judicial law clerk to Justice Charles Freeman of the Illinois Supreme Court; and Hon. Leonard Murray, an associate judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County Part 1 will air on Nov. 3 and Nov.
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October 26, 2009 |
Practice News
On the recommendation of Justice Thomas L. Kilbride, the Illinois Supreme Court appointed Raymond A. Bolden, a longtime attorney, retired associate judge and one of the founding members of the Black Bar Association of Will County, to fill a vacancy in the 12th Judicial Circuit. Mr. Bolden, who retired in 2001 after 15 years as an associate judge, will fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Circuit Judge Edward F. Petka. The appointment is effective Nov. 1, 2009, and will terminate Dec. 6, 2010.
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October 26, 2009 |
Practice News
Chief Judge Stephen J. Culliton announced that Robert A. Miller has been appointed to Associate Circuit Judge in the 18th Judicial Circuit. Mr. Miller fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Associate Judge Mark W. Dwyer. Mr. Miller received his J.D. from Drake University School of Law in 1987 and is currently the Chief Public Defender for DuPage County.