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Recent Blog Posts
Helping Children Cope During the Divorce Process
When parents go through a divorce, they often wonder what will help their children cope during the process. Some try to take the focus off the divorce, sometimes to the point that they are unintentionally minimizing its impact on the child. Others try to cater to their child’s wants and needs, sometimes to the point that the child does not ever truly feel the complex emotions that children of divorce often experience. Sadly, this can ultimately stunt the child’s emotional and psychological growth. Learn what you can do to help your child deal with the divorce process in a healthy way, and discover how a seasoned attorney can assist you with the process.
Your Actions and Behavior in Divorce - Why It Matters
Parents sometimes mistakenly tell their children that the divorce “is between the adults” and “has nothing to do with them” when, in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, while the divorce proceedings are truly about the parents and their decision to end the relationship, it is important that parents avoid behaving or acting in ways that inadvertently minimize the impact that the parents’ decision has on the child. Their entire life is changing.
Millennials Focus on Dog-Friendly Properties When Renting - What This Could Mean for Your Real Estate Portfolio
If you want to win over the millennial generation and expand your real estate portfolio, it may be time to let your properties go to the dogs - literally. Recent surveys indicate that this generation is not looking for design features or your typical amenities when deciding where to rent or buy. Instead, they are focused on finding a home that caters to their furry friends. Learn how you can better cater to this generation by adding more dog-friendly amenities, and discover how a seasoned real estate lawyer can help you to further expand your real estate portfolio to secure a better, healthier financial future.
Real Estate Has Gone to the Dogs
The millennial generation has finally reached the age where they are not just renting, but also purchasing homes. The reason is not to start a family, however. Instead, millennials are looking to give their dogs the best life possible. In fact, one survey found that 33 percent of the millennials who purchased a home did so because of their pets, which outranked marriage (25 percent) and the possibility of a child (19 percent). Another 42 percent of millennials who do not yet own homes say they are planning to eventually purchase one to accommodate a dog.
Estate Planning for Your Pet - What Pet Owners Should Know Before Writing Their Will
When creating an estate plan, most people ensure their children and spouse are covered. Sadly, few people consider how their death could impact their furry family members. In fact, statistics indicate that only about 18 percent of pet owners have considered making provisions for their pet in their will. This oversight, which may be partially attributed to the fact that not everyone knows you can estate plan for a pet, often results in a poor outcome for beloved animals. Learn how you can prevent such a fate for your family pet using a pet trust or comprehensive estate plan, and discover how a seasoned estate planning lawyer can assist you with the estate planning process.
Why Include Your Pet in an Estate Plan?
When Business Partnerships End - How to Survive a Business Divorce
Business partnerships can end for all sorts of reasons. One of the partners may have a shift in their personal needs or goals (i.e. having a family, wanting to change industries, etc.). Other partnerships end over a matter of contention (unprofessional behavior, poorly job performance, etc.). Yet, regardless of the reasons, ending a partnership can be a complex process, and there are numerous pitfalls that can cost one or both parties a great deal of money. Learn how to mitigate against such issues, and discover how a seasoned business law attorney can help you survive the end of your business partnership.
Protecting Your Business Before the End of a Partnership
While partners do not typically enter a business together, thinking it will one day end, it is highly encouraged that they anticipate and effectively plan for its eventual end. Not only does this make ending the partnership easier, should the need arise, it can also protect the interests of the partners and ensure the continuity of the business. Additionally, partners are encouraged to revisit their original agreement when needs change or the company grows, as this can ensure the exit strategy always reflects the business’s most current goals, profits, and vested parties.
Dividing Retirement Accounts in an Illinois Divorce Can Derail Your Plans for the Future
Couples who have raised children often look forward to their retirement years because they consider it well-earned time together. However, many baby boomers are finding they are no longer compatible with their mate, or that they no longer want to spend all that uninterrupted time with one another. In fact, divorce rates for those over the age of 50 have more than doubled in the last decade. Unfortunately, that increase in divorce is creating some serious financial issues for this demographic group - sometimes to the point that it completely derails their plans for retirement. Learn how a seasoned Illinois divorce lawyer may be able to help you protect your assets and increase the chances of a healthy financial future during your gray divorce.
Divorce, Retirement, and Your Pension Plan
When parties plan for retirement, they are generally only accounting for one set of expenses. Divorce can double the expenses, and it requires that the parties split whatever assets they have. In short, there is less money to go around, and more expenses to cover. For some, this may mean downsizing or living a less luxurious life during their retirement years. Others may have to give up plans that they had made (i.e. traveling). Still, there are some who may be at a significant risk for divorce-induced poverty. Whatever your circumstance, rest assured that there are strategies that one may use in divorce to help protect their assets and financial future.
Student Housing Market is Growing - What You Need to Know Before Investing in It
Thinking of expanding your investment portfolio this fall? Student housing saw a 10 percent increase in value over the past year, even as several other commercial real estate (CRE) sectors experienced a decline. The student housing market is also projected to continue in an upward trend over the next several years. Learn more about how to invest this growing market, and discover how a seasoned real estate lawyer can help you make the first steps.
Why Invest in Student Housing?
Student housing is unlike any other CRE sector. It tends to be less volatile since students typically continue to enroll in college, despite (and sometimes because of) economic downturns. Another major advantage to this market is that students typically only sign year-long leases, so landlords can analyze the market each year and increase their rental rates accordingly. Since the rent costs are typically shared between roommates, landlords can also typically charge more per square foot in a student housing unit - especially if they are in a highly desirable location. Lease renewals may also be easier to obtain in areas nearest to campus since students often know well in advance whether they will be returning the following year.
Estate Planning Basics: Choosing a Suitable Guardian for Your Children
Of all the things that a parent must do, creating an estate plan that names a guardian for their children is, by far, one of the most difficult. That is because it not only requires the parent to consider the possibility of their death, it also requires the them to determine who may be willing, able, and best-suited to raise their child in their absence. Learn more about choosing a guardian to raise your children if a tragedy occurs, and discover how a seasoned estate planning lawyer can assist you with the process.
Why Choosing a Guardian is Important
Although most people know that life is unpredictable, they often want to avoid considering their own mortality - and that includes drafting estate planning documents like wills and guardianship papers. Other people simply get lost in their day-to-day lives and simply put off estate planning until “tomorrow.” Regardless of the reason for their delay, parents are highly encouraged to consider the potentially devastating consequences for their children.
Small Business Concerns: What You Should Know About the New Anti-Discrimination Bill
Although small businesses have started to become more optimistic about their future, the state of Illinois can make it difficult for them to keep their doors open. A lot of the issues can be attributed to the growing list of regulations to which small businesses must comply. Now the state wants to add yet another regulation that could open small business owners up to frivolous and expensive lawsuits over purported discrimination. Learn more about this bill and what it could mean for your small business, and discover how our seasoned small business attorneys may be able to help you mitigate the issues that could arise if the bill is passed.
Lawmaker Pushing for Anti-Discrimination Bill
Want to Avoid a Messy Divorce? Try These Tips
Few couples enter a divorce, planning to fight and argue. Yet, when they start to discuss touchy issues like money, assets, and children, tempers can quickly flare. Thankfully, there are some tips that you can use to avoid a messy divorce - and none rely on the actions of your spouse, meaning you can still attempt for a relatively amicable divorce, even if your ex becomes vengeful.
Focus on the Best Interests of Your Children
Parents who remain mindful of their child’s needs often fare better, even if their spouse starts to act out. That is because they understand that children usually cope better with divorce when they are able to have a healthy, continued relationship with both parents. They are less focused on “winning,” and more concerned about what their child needs and wants most.
Sometimes that can mean coming to terms with a difficult truth (i.e. their child would do best if they stayed with their other parent during the week because it would allow them to stay in the same school). Other times, it is simply recognizing that their spouse is a wonderful, loving parent, despite their short-comings as a partner. In short, the parent recognizes that their child is not a bargaining chip, but an innocent party in a difficult and painful separation - and that can change everything from how they negotiate to the way they talk to their spouse while doing parenting time exchanges. You can even do this if your spouse is attempts to make things difficult by minimizing your contact with them as much as possible.
Growing Access to Data and How It Is Affecting the CRE Market
Technology has changed how we communicate with family and friends. It has made shopping easier and more convenient. It has even changed how people invest their money. Yet, when it comes to the commercial real estate market, not much has changed. Investors still rely heavily on traditional methods for buying and selling property - but all of that is slowly starting to change.
New technology-based companies are cropping up. They are giving commercial real estate (CRE) investors that chance to access real-time data, such as neighborhood statistics, buyers and sellers, analytics, and even the asset itself. What does all this mean for the CRE market’s future, and how can you get in on the game? The following information explains, and it details how the aid of a seasoned, competent commercial real estate lawyer can help you stay on the cutting edge.
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