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Recent Blog Posts
On What Grounds Can a Will Be Contested?
One of the most critical reasons it is important to work with a lawyer when drafting a will is that a will can be formally challenged, or contested, if it does not meet certain criteria. If a will is successfully challenged, then some or all of the directions for property distribution contained within the will are rejected. Instead, the testator’s property is distributed according to state law. An individual cannot contest a will simply because he or she considers it to be unfair or is unhappy with his or her share of the inheritance. Read on to learn about the grounds or reasons that a person may contest a will in Illinois.
Lack of Testamentary Capacity
“Testamentary capacity” refers to person’s cognitive abilities. A testator must be of sound mind in order to legally approve of the terms contained within his or her will. If a person lacked testamentary capacity when he or she agreed to the will, the will may be considered invalid. If a person suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or another cognitive health issue and wishes to draft an estate plan, he or she should seek legal guidance from an experienced lawyer so that steps can be taken to prevent his or her will from being contested in the future.
Should I Buy a Franchise or Start My Own Business?
There are numerous advantages to being a business owner. For example, it can be disheartening to work for another person or company. You may feel unappreciated by your superiors or frustrated at the inefficient way you are expected to do your job. When you own a business, you get to be your own boss. You control how your business is operated and managed.
However, owning a business also comes with a great deal of responsibility and liability. You may need to spend a tremendous amount of time and resources for only marginal growth—especially at first. If you are thinking about becoming a business owner, two options you may be considering are buying a franchise or starting your own business. There are benefits and drawbacks to both of these choices, all of which should be fully researched before you make a commitment to either path.
Do You Want Input and Guidance from a Franchisor?
Does My Child Have a Say Regarding How Much Parenting Time I Will Get?
When you and your child’s other parent are forced to come up with arrangements regarding for parenting time—previously known as visitation under Illinois law—it can be regrettably easy to get caught up in your own wants and needs. Some, of course, are entirely reasonable, such as building parenting time schedules around your career obligations, but many parents often forget to take their child’s wishes into account.
What the Law Says
While parents are encouraged to develop a parenting plan—including arrangements for parenting time—on their own, such a plan must be reasonable and serve the best interests of the child. If the parents cannot agree on a plan, arrangements may be made by the court. In doing so, the court is required by law to take a number of factors into account, including the wishes of the child in question. The child’s wishes are not necessarily binding but should factor into the court’s ultimate decision. Your son or daughter’s opinion is just one of many factors that the court will take into account during the process.
What You Should Know About Selling Your Home This Winter
Most real estate agents and attorneys will tell you that that the spring and summer are the most popular seasons for buying a new home. As a result, they are also the seasons during which many people will sell their home, since, without a home that is for sale, the buyer cannot buy, obviously.
While it is true that spring and summer are traditionally the prime home-buying seasons, if you are ready to move now, there is no reason to wait until winter is over. With the right guidance, selling your home during the colder months could help you realize an excellent return on your investment.
A Smaller, More Competitive Market
Since springtime is allegedly the “best” time to sell a home, many owners throughout the region are likely to wait until the weather breaks before they list their homes. This means that if you decide to wait as well, your home will be on the market with dozens, if not hundreds, of homes, many of which will probably be in and around your neighborhood.
The Many Benefits of Drafting a Living Will
A living will is a type of advance health care directive that allows a person to make decisions ahead of time about their wishes regarding medical treatments and end of life care. It is not a pleasant thought to have, but have you ever wondered what would happen if you were incapacitated and could not express your wishes regarding the type of medical care you do and do not want to undergo? For example, if a serious car accident leaves you in a permanent vegetative state, would you want to be kept alive via a ventilator? It can be very emotionally taxing to make the decisions contained in a living will, however, doing so means that your surviving loved ones will not have to make these decisions on your behalf.
A Living Will Lets You Make Decisions About Your Future Medical Care
In a living will, you describe the medical treatments you do and do not want to receive if you become incapacitated and cannot specify this information yourself. Medical treatments commonly discussed in a living will include dialysis, mechanical ventilation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), tube feeding, antibiotics and antiviral medications, and palliative care. You will also be able to dictate if you would want to be allowed to spend your last days at home. Many people have strong feelings about organ, tissue, or body donation. In your living will, you can specify that you only wish to be kept on life-sustaining machines for the purposes of organ donation. If you wish to donate your body to a university or other donation program, you will also be able to specify this in your living will, as well as in other estate planning documents.
How Can a Non-Disclosure Agreement Protect My Business During an Acquisition or Business Merger?
If you are a business owner, you have probably poured a great deal of your time and money into growing your business. If you are considering a business merger or acquisition, it is essential that you take steps to protect your business. During a business transaction, confidential and proprietary information is often discussed. You may even share trade secrets or access to confidential software or computer files. In situations such as these, a non-disclosure agreement may be needed to ensure that the company given access to valuable information does not use it to your detriment.
Acquisitions and Mergers
The terms “merger” and “acquisition” are often misunderstood. Many people assume that these words mean the same thing, but there are important differences between these two processes. When one company purchases another company, this is referred to as an acquisition. The company that was purchased no longer exists.
When Can I Modify My Illinois Parenting Plan?
Divorcing parents in Illinois must submit a parenting plan or parenting agreement to the courts. The plan must explain how parental responsibilities and parenting time will be allocated to the parents and include other important child-related decisions. Parents are encouraged to create their own parenting plan, but parents cannot always come to an agreement about the issues addressed in the parenting plan. In these cases, the court will step in and assign a parenting plan that is in the child’s best interests, called an allocation judgment. If the parents need to make a post-decree change to their parenting plan, they will need to do so through the family court system.
Changing a Court-Ordered Parenting Schedule
Any change to the final divorce decree is called a post-decree modification. Divorced individuals cannot make a post-decree modification for just any reason. Although it is still sometimes referred to as “child custody,” Illinois uses the phrase “parental responsibilities” to refer to a parent’s decision-making authority and parenting schedule. You may request a modification to the court order allocating parental decision-making responsibilities if it has been two years after the order was established. However, the court may grant a modification before two years if there is reason to believe that the current child custody arrangements may endanger the child’s health or emotional development. Parenting time, formerly called visitation, may be revised if there is a substantial change in circumstances that requires a change to serve the best interests of the child.
Five Important Duties of a Commercial Landlord
When you own and lease out commercial property, such a venture could be extremely profitable. However, you could also face serious risks, especially if you are not properly prepared to handle the responsibilities associated with being a commercial landlord. Some of these risks include the possibility of financial loss or being sued for failing to meet your obligations as the property owner. It is important to understand what these responsibilities are and how to fulfill them. A qualified commercial leasing attorney can help.
Duty #1: Comply With All Applicable Laws
There many different federal, state, and local laws that apply to all property owners who rent out their properties, including commercial landlords. For example, as a commercial landlord, you are not permitted to discriminate against would-be tenants on the basis of certain criteria, including religion, race, and national origin. You must also follow all zoning laws and building codes. If you fail to comply with any applicable law, you could face serious consequences, including legal action.
The Holidays Could Provide the Chance to Discuss Your Estate Plans
It is hard to believe that the winter holiday season is here again already. By this time next week, you may be getting ready to sit down for Thanksgiving dinner with your family, loved ones, and friends. A few weeks later, many families will get together to celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, the upcoming New Year. If your family members live in various parts of the country, the winter holidays could be the only time during the year that your entire family is able to be together. Therefore, I might also be the only chance you have to talk about important subjects such as estate planning.
Prepare for the Conversation
It can certainly be difficult to start a discussion about your estate plans. In fact, even just thinking about estate planning can be uncomfortable because doing so requires confronting your eventual death. The conversation, however, is too important to skip completely. There is no need for your estate plan discussion to take many hours, nor does it need to prevent your family from enjoying the holidays. You can control the situation and keep the tone light and positive, but you will need to do a few things in advance, such as:
How Business Owners Can Motivate Employees Without Breaking the Bank
As the owner of a small or medium-sized business, you probably do not have unlimited money to do the things you would like to do. After paying your bills, honoring your contracts with suppliers, and covering payroll, you might not have a whole lot left at the end of each month. This is especially true of companies in their fledgling stages. Without extra money, you may find it difficult to think of ways to motivate your staff and to keep your employees working hard. While it is true that workers appreciate financial incentives like bonuses or gift cards, you may be surprised to learn that there are other effective strategies for motivating your staff that cost far less than you might expect.
Be a Leader, Not Just a Boss
Have you have ever been to a restaurant that was obviously short-staffed? It might have been obvious by the frazzled look on your server’s face, not to mention longer-than-usual wait times and other indications. Can you remember what you saw the manager or owner doing? If he or she was cleaning off tables, carrying trays, or mopping up spills in the bathroom, there is a good chance you were seeing a solid leader, not merely the boss. A “boss” might have been content to give directions and tell others how to handle the problem while the “leader” was not afraid to get dirty and help.
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