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You should be able to tell the lawyer the names and addresses of all people involved. This includes the executors, guardians, trustees, and beneficiaries.

You should be able to describe what property you own and how title is held and identify any beneficiaries which you have designated.

You should also be able to list all your debts, at least by category. For both assets and debts you should be able to provide approximate values.

Finally, you should be able to say who you want to get your property

If you need assistance with your estate planning affairs, contact Chicago Estate planning lawyer Don Thompson at 312-782-0844 or email him at

Someone who has a will or a trust should tell their heirs and beneficiaries they have made a will or trust and they should tell them where the documents are. However, this is not always done.

To find out if a decedent left a will or trust you can do the following:

- Go through the decedent’s belongings and look for a will or trust.- Look for a safe deposit key or bank records showing there is a safe deposit box. People often keep wills or trusts in safe deposit boxes.

- Ask all the other family members and acquaintances of the decedent if they know anything about a will or a trust.

- Ask them if they know anyone else who would know.

- Ask them if they know who the decedent’s attorney, accountant, and tax preparers were. Then ask those people.

- Go through the decedent’s belongings and look for bills from an attorney or checks to an attorney, accountant, or tax preparer.

- Get copies of documents involving the decedent’s real estate. If you cannot find them among the decedent’s records, get them from the Recorder of Deeds. They will often show the attorney who prepared them.

- If you can identify a lawyer, accountant or tax preparer, ask them about a will or trust.

- Look for the decedent’s tax returns. They may reveal something, like a deduction for legal fees for a will or safe deposit box costs.

- Whoever has the will of an Illinois decedent is obligated to file it with the clerk of the probate court where the decedent lived.

- Wait 30 days and then check with the clerk.

Ask anyone who had contact with the decedent what they know about a will.

Read more about Finding out of there is a will or Trust.

If you need assistance with your estate planning affairs, contact Chicago Estate planning lawyer Don Thompson at 312-782-0844 or email him at donthompsonlaw@sbcglobal.net.

A lease as the transfer of the exclusive right to use specific real estate for a definable period of time. Commercial leases involve premises to be stores or the sale of goods or services at retail.

Commercial space is usually marketed on a dollars per square foot basis. However, not all square feet are useable. Some stores contain space which is unusable or hard to use, at least for certain tenants. Also, not all measurements of square footage are comparable. Some landlords measure from the outside wall surfaces and include some common area space, such as half the hallway between two stores. A prospective tenant should be aware of this and make its own determination. Landlords will usually disclose how they measure if asked.

Commercial rents are usually a set amount per month or a percentage of sales or some combination of the two. Set amounts usually are scheduled to rise each year. Rents based on a percentage of sales often have a set monthly base amount (minimum rent) and sometimes the percentage varies with the level of sales (usually going down as sales increase).

Usually, in addition to the fixed or percentage amount, the rent includes some or all of the expenses of the premises which the tenant must pay. These expenses can include real estate taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance, common area maintenance and advertising in shopping centers, and any other cost of the premises. The cost of the landlord’s mortgage payments are not usually included. Since the lease term is usually fairly long the object is to insulate the landlord against the risks of inflation.

“Net lease” is the term for a lease where the tenant pays real estate taxes, utilities, insurance and maintenance expenses as well as rent. This is also called a triple net lease. When the landlord continues to pay maintenance expenses while the tenant pays other expenses the lease is often called a “double net” lease.

Continue reading about commercial leases or contact Chicago business attorney Don Thompson at 312-201-1436.

Estate planning is a task that lends itself to procrastination.

For parents of a developmentally disabled child, planning is even easier to put off – but more crucial to do.

“It’s an emotional issue,” said Patty McMahon, information and referral coordinator for Arc of Southwest Ohio, an advocacy and service agency for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. “Families get stuck in the crisis of the day or the moment and try not to think about what’s going to happen when they’re no longer there to take care of their child.”

In fact, 62 percent of parents or caregivers don’t …

If you would like to begin planning your estate, contact Don Thompson today at 312-201-1436.

Persons with larger estates should review their estate plans at a set time each year. Estate plans are prepared on the basis of certain things. As these things change, so should the plan. Births, deaths, changes in marital status, changes in law, changes in residence, changes in wealth, changes in the composition and titling of one’s assets are all things which can require estate plan changes.

For help with your estate planning matters, call Don Thompson at 312-201-1436 or email him at donthompsonlaw@sbcglobal.net.

One of the simplest techniques in estate planning for business owners is to give interests in the business to children while alive. The interests can be non-voting interests. The interests will also usually be minority interests and they qualify for a discount in value. Substantial value can be transferred this way by making initial gifts of the tax free amount ($5,000,000) to the children. Also, each year, each parent can give $13,000 worth of business interests to each child. If one of the parents does not own any of the business the owning parent can transfer any amount of the business to the non-owning parent tax free because of the unlimited marital deduction. Over time a very significant value can be transferred to the children this way free of estate and gift tax, especially if the value of the business is appreciating. Note that taxable income can also be transferred to the children this way.

The gifts can be made to the children outright or to the gifts to them can be made to a trust for their benefit.

Use of this device requires an appraisal whenever gifts are made and business appraisals are expensive so that must be considered when using this device.

If you need assistance with your estate planning affairs, contact Chicago Estate planning lawyer Don Thompson at 312-782-0844 or email him at donthompsonlaw@sbcglobal.net

Did you know that you must file a will within 30 days?

Any person who has possession of the will of a decedent must file the will with the clerk of the probate court within 30 days of the date of death. Failure to do so if the person knows of the death is a felony.

If you would like professional assistance with your probate or estate planning matters, contact Chicago probate lawyer Don Thompson. Either call 312-201-1416 or email Don at donthompsonlaw@sbcglobal.net

What if you forget minor items of property or it is not convenient to transfer all your property such as your checking account or car? $100,000 or less of personal property can be transferred to your heirs or the beneficiaries of your will without probate by means of a small estate affidavit. This is an affidavit by a survivor which states what property is in your estate (outside the trust or without beneficiary designation), what debts still must be paid, and who is entitled to the property. This authorizes banks and others to release the property to the persons indicated in the affidavit without court intervention.

If you need assistance setting up a small estate affidavit or with other estate planning matters, contact Chicago’s estate planning attorney Don Thompson at 312-201-1436 or email at donthompsonlaw@sbcglobal.net

Chicago Trust Attorney Don Thompson on Irrevocable Trusts

These are trusts which the person who created the trust cannot revoke or amend. A transfer of assets to such a trust results in a gift to the beneficiaries of the trust for tax purposes. The assets transferred are usually out of the transferor’s taxable estate.

If you need assistance setting up an irrevocable or other type of trust in Chicago, contact Chicago trust lawyer Don Thompson at 312-782-0844 or email him at donthompsonlaw@sbcglobal.net.

A pay on death account is exactly what it sounds like: an account in which will be transferred to a named person upon the account owner’s death.

There are a variety of bank accounts which pass on death to a named survivor. During the life of the owner of the account the survivor has no rights. That is, the survivor cannot withdraw funds from the account like a joint tenant could. A will does not affect these accounts. They pass to the person designated in the bank records regardless of any will or probate court action. Whether or not such an account has been created depends on the agreement with the bank. Sometimes these accounts are called “Pay on death” accounts. Sometimes they are called “Totten Trusts”. Sometimes the account ownership designation merely says “X in trust for Y”, although there is no trust agreement.

If you would like to set up an account of this nature or discuss other estate planning legal matters, call IL estate planning attorney Don Thompson at 312-782-0844 now.