2017 Articles

The obsolescence of the full power deed in trust By Gary R. Gehlbach March 2017 Author Gary Gehlbach considers whether the 'full power' provisions of a trust continue to be necessary.

Post-death conservation easements—Another way to save the farm? By Andrew G. White November 2017 A conservation easement is a contribution of a qualified real property interest to a qualified organization to be used exclusively for conservation purposes. Conservation purposes include, among other things, the preservation of farmland.

Posthumously conceived children reborn in Illinois re Social Security survivor benefits and inheritance By David Shayne August 2017 A look at the changes brought about as a result of Public Act 100-0085, which rewrites Illinois Probate Act Section 2-3.

Postnuptial agreements: An effective tool in Illinois after marriage By Joshua S. Singewald & Kellie Rose Bylica December 2017 Tips and considerations when drafting a prenuptial agreement in Illinois.

Powers of attorney, living wills, advance directives and religion By Michael J. Maslanka November 2017 Religious denominations may have their own suggested or recommended language-- consider informing your clients so that they may make informed decisions that don't contradict their religious beliefs.

Probate citation proceedings By Cary A. Lind December 2017 There are two kinds of Citations: Discovery and Recovery. The usual procedure is to do the Discovery Citation first with the Recovery Citation afterwards if further proceedings are warranted.

Property powers of attorney are needlessly dangerous By Graham B. Schmidt April 2017 Illinois jurisprudence automatically attaches a fiduciary relationship between principal and nominated agent at the execution of the Property Power of Attorney instrument, regardless of whether the agent has accepted the appointment.

2 comments (Most recent May 9, 2017)

Proposed 2704 changes meet stiff resistance at IRS hearing By Bruce A. Johnson January 2017 Since the tax court decision of Kerr v. Commissioner, the IRS has been concerned that certain loopholes exist in IRC 2704 that allow taxpayers to gift interests to family members in entities that have no business purpose and allow the transfer of wealth without due consideration of the value to the transferor.

Public Act 99-743: Deeds in Trust and Acceptance by the Trustee By Richard F. Bales August 2017 A look at the Trusts and Trustees Act's new Section 6.5, "Transfer of Property to Trust."

Should Illinois estate tax always be paid under protest? By John R. Simpson May 2017 In two recent circuit court cases, the Attorney General's office has argued that “Illinois law does not recognize a suit to determine Illinois estate tax as an independent cause of action.” Such an assertion goes against a century of practice and precedent.

Summary of the Trusts & Estates Section’s April 2017 business meeting August 2017 Find out what your Section Council has been working on.

A summary of the Trusts & Estates Section’s December, 2016 business meeting March 2017 See what this Section has been up to recently.

A summary of the Trusts & Estates Section’s February 2017 business meeting By Colleen L. Sahlas June 2017 Check out what the section has been up to recently.

A summary of the Trusts & Estates Section’s June, 2017 business meeting By Colleen L. Sahlas October 2017 Find out what this section has been up to lately.

A summary of the Trusts & Estates Section’s October, 2016 business meeting January 2017 See what your section has been working on recently.

Technology at end-of-life: Estate planning for Millennials By Steven T. Mann September 2017 As estate planners, we owe it to our clients to make sure they can control how they are represented post-mortem. The fast and ever-changing pace of technology, however, is making this process more and more difficult.

U.S. v. Balice: IRS successfully pierced trust By Martin M. Shenkman November 2017 The lessons of Balice, acknowledging that it’s yet another very bad fact case, might still provide some insight to practitioners and clients structuring trusts for asset-protection planning, divorce planning, as well as estate-tax planning.

What constitutes a gift of farm land? By Jeffrey A. Mollet June 2017 The recent opinion of Jackson v. DBR Jackson partnership, et al., presented an unusual question: is a parent’s adding a party to a contract for deed as a purchaser sufficient to vest that party with an interest in or title to that property?

Who gets the painting on the living room wall? By Cary A. Lind September 2017 Distributing tangible property can be one of the most trying tasks that a fiduciary has, whether the distribution is through a Probate estate or through a trust.