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

An Estate Planning Attorney listens. An Estate Planning Attorney asks questions about your life, your family, your hopes and dreams and then he listens.

My goal is to understand your family and all the personalities involved. To get a feel for how you want your assets, your property and wealth, handled. How much involvement you desire from your children and other family members. We look at the best way to involve people and not step on anyones toes. We work to find the best way to keep the peace and encourage family unity. Then we can work together on a plan for making your hopes become real for your loved ones.

The main areas that we explore with our clients include:

• Power of Attorney – preparing ahead
• Estate Taxes – Federal and State
• Last Will and Testament – instructions to the court if probate is required
• Living Trust – to avoid probate and manage assets during lifetimeGuardianship for Disabled Persons
• Asset Protection Planning – keeping wealth and property safe from creditors and preditors
• Medicaid Planning – protecting wealth and property from high nursing home bills
• Preparing for the day when you are no longer able to participate in decisions about your health and wealth
• Passing Wealth and Property to children and loved ones
• Protecting your wealth, which you have worked hard for, from the creditors of your family

Each family is different. Each family has their own things that they feel are important. Each family is special.

We only find out about these differences through listening

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

At one time a power of attorney and a will were all the estate plan that most people needed. Today this no longer true.

Back in the 1990’s part of the federal government made a new rule that resulted in powers of attorney which are more than 90 days old to not be honored by brokerage firms, mutual fund companies, and most recently by banks.

There is no law that says a bank or other financial company can ignore or refuse to take your power of attorney. They still often refuse to allow the use of an old power of attorney document. These financial institutions would like your chosen agent to go to court. They would like a judge to tell them that they must follow the instructions of your agent.

If this happens and they make a mistake or the power of attorney was revoked in the past then the financial institution is off the hook.

All of this makes a financial power of attorney less helpful than it once was.

I still recommend that everyone have a power of attorney but it can no longer be relied upon as the centerpiece of your estate plan.

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

More and more people ask me to help them set up a trust these days. They feel that a trust is the better choice. They often ask me, “Now that I have a trust, why do I still need a will?

A will does 5 very important things.

* Cancels your old will.
* Names a personal representative (executor).
* Waives the bond on the personal representative.
* Acts 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.

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

A trust is a relationship between three people, 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 (a Living Trust is a trust you set up during your lifetime) 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 Trustee. 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 trustees 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.

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.

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.

Tom Olofsson, Attorney at Law, www.MyTrustLawyer.com

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

Power of Attorney describes a relationship between two people. The first person (we will call him “Tom”) thinks there may come a time when he will not be able to handle his own affairs. He may think that he will become ill or that he will be out of the country, such as while he is in military service, he may be on vacation for a period or time or he may simply have some things coming up which he would rather have someone else handle for him.

If Tom wants someone else to be ready to stand in his place and take care of important matters for him he may name a trusted friend, relative, or attorney to take care of business for him.

Tom has a friend who we will call her Sue. Tom can name Sue as his agent to take care of his business at the bank. When this is done Sue is said to have “power of attorney” for Tom. Sue is now authorized to act on the behalf of Tom. Sue will have papers with him to show that Tom has asked him to help.

These papers are known as a Power of Attorney. The papers are evidence that Tom trusts Sue to help him with his business matters.

Sue must be careful with the money and assets of Tom and Sue must never use Tom’s money for Sue’s benefit. Sue is a trusted person which is known as a fiduciary. As a fiduciary Sue must do only what is best for Tom.

Sue can get paid for being an agent. The fees must be reasonable but Sue can be paid for her efforts.

Powers of attorney differ in when the power starts. Sue can get her power right when the paper is signed or after Tom’s doctor says he is ill enough to need help.

Powers of attorney are also differ in when the power ends. the power of attorney papers show that the authority expires at a certain future date such as after Sue has finished selling Tom’s car.

The authority under some power of attorney papers can end when Tom becomes unable to speak for himself.

If a power of attorney grants authority which lasts beyond any disability Tom may have in the future is called a ‘durable’ power of attorney. It is said to be durable because it lasts through the disability.

In any case all powers of attorney end with the death of Tom. No authority lasts after Tom has died.

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

The first President Bush, George H. Bush, signed the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) into law in 1990 and now George W. Bush has signed the ADA Amendments Act.

The new law straightens out the mess that has been made of the original Law by clarifying what is a protected disability and who needs to make accommodations for people with disabilities. The Amendment reaffirms our commitment as a nation to including people with disabilities in mainstream life.

During the years since the ADA was passed state court decisions have limited the protections of the ADA. State court rulings have effectively excluded people with disabilities from many activities which should be covered under ADA protections.

Groups which champion the rights of those with disabilities have worked long and hard with law makers to rebuild and strengthen protections for those with special needs and for their families.

The new law will contain a more clear definition of what it means to be disabled and who is protected under the ADA. It also does away with, or overturns, some state court rulings that denied ADA protection for some people with disabilities. The law makers who sponsored of the amendment say, it “…fulfills our promise to tear down the barriers of ignorance….”

I see this amendment as the next logical step in the process of fully embracing people with special needs into full membership in our society. Parents of children with disabilities will find it easier to take the entire family out to dinner.

The doors are opening and everyone is invited in.