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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.

Bank Of America, N.A., Trustee v. Carpenter, 401 Ill.App.3d 788, 340 Ill.Dec. 919, 929 N.E.2d 570 (1st Dist., 2010). Under the Rule Against Perpetuities a future interest which may not vest within 21 years after a life or lives in being at the time of its creation is void. With respect to a trust income interest payable to the descendants of someone, the grantor can specify that the lives of remaindermen living when the trust was created can be among the measuring lives.

Woolard v. Woolard, 547 F.3d 755 (7th Cir., 2008). A trustee for a minor under a trust authorizing distribution to the beneficiary, a legally appointed guardian or a custodian under a Uniform Gifts to Minors Act breaches his or her fiduciary duty to the beneficiary by making distributions to the beneficiary’s father without getting any evidence of how the distributions were applied for the benefit of the beneficiary. The provision in the Trust and Trustees Act allowing distribution to an adult relative does not apply when the trust instrument contradicts it. (The father of the beneficiary created the trust).

The organs, tissues or parts of a decedent’s body may be donated to hospitals, doctors, schools, organ banks or storage facilities, organ procurement agencies or individuals for research, therapy or transplantation. The gift may be made by the decedent while alive or by certain persons in the order designated by statute in the case of someone who has died. The persons who may make the gift in the order they may act are:

1) agent under power of attorney for health care;

2) designated health care surrogate at the time of death;

3) guardian of person at the time of death;

4) spouse;

5) any adult child;

6) either parent;

7) any adult brother or sister;

any adult grandchild;

9) a close friend who can provide an affidavit demonstrating facts showing the relationship and familiarity with the decedent’s health, social history and religious and moral beliefs;

10) guardian of estate at the time of death;

11) anyone authorized to dispose of the body.

If the decedent expressed a desire not to donate or there is reason to believe the gift is contrary to the decedent’s religious beliefs or a person with priority objects, the gift cannot be made. Only persons in the highest priority class available can consent.

The decedent, while living, can make the gift (to take effect on death) in a will or any writing. The writing need not be witnessed or delivered. The donee does not have to be identified. In the absence of specification of the donee, the attending physician at death may accept the gift. The donor can designate the doctor who will carry out the gift.

When someone other than the decedent makes the gift the gift must be made in writing or a recorded message.

Paying or even offering to pay for an anatomical gift is a misdemeanor and a felony if repeated, at least if the payment is to the donor or persons making a gift of a decedent’s organs. Whether or not payment to family members who are not involved in the consent is permissible has not been decided.

Contact Chicago probate lawyer Don Thompson today.

Trusts can be contested on some of the same grounds wills can be contested, namely –

1. Forgery

2. Fraud or duress

3. Lack of mental capacity

4. Undue influence

There is generally no time limit on contesting trusts other than the equitable doctrine of laches. However, if the trust is a revocable inter vivos trust (created while the grantor was still alive) to which the grantor’s will makes a gift, the six month from date of admission of the will limit applies if the will is admitted to probate.

The Dead Man’s Act does not usually apply to trust contests because the decedent’s administrator or executor is ordinarily not a party.

Learn more at Chicago Probate.

The representative (administrator or executor) of an estate can sue in any court for property taken from the decedent. A summary procedure is also provided for in a supplemental proceeding before the same probate court handling the estate. The representative can file a petition for a citation either to discover property or to recover it. The court orders the citation to issue commanding the person to whom it is directed to appear and respond and the citation is served on the respondent by the Sheriff just like any other lawsuit. Any interested party can also bring a citation against the representative.

To learn more contact Chicago Probate Attorney Don Thompson.

The funeral arrangements of a decedent are the first matter which must be attended to. This is done before anyone has been appointed by the probate court and often before any will is found. For this reason burial instructions in wills are not always effective. Someone will have to pay or guaranty the funeral home and cemetery bills. They will be entitled to reimbursement from the decedent’s property along with those who administer the estate before anyone else gets anything.

Whoever handles the arrangements with the funeral home should get a good number of death certificates from the home. At least 10 for ordinary estates and at least 25 for larger or more complicated estates.

The next thing to do is look for a will. If one is found whoever has it is obligated to file it with the probate court. This is not the same thing as beginning probate proceedings. Filing the will is all that is required.

At this stage it will be necessary to determine whether or not to open a probate estate. This will depend on a variety of factors. Often the size of the estate is determinative.

The next thing to do is determine who the heirs are. This sometimes involves a search for missing heirs or trying to determine if a known heir is alive or dead. It is necessary to trace the family tree as well as just determining the heirs by name and relationship. It will also be necessary to get each one’s exact name, address and social security number.

The same information (name, address and social security number) will be needed for all other persons involved such as legatees named in a will and any executor, administrator or guardian. It is important to get zip codes because addresses are useless without them. It is a good idea to get phone numbers also.

The person doing all this is usually the one named in the will as executor or the person who will petition to become administrator. However, sometimes there are questions about who should act or more than one person claims the right to act. The designation in the will usually will be respected by the court, if it accepts the will. Otherwise there is a statute which states which persons have a right to be appointed and in what order.

Read Further: Matters to be Attended to in Estate Settlement

For assistance with any estate planning or probate matters in Illinois contact Chicago probate attorney Don Thompson.

This is a trust that is held for the benefit of successive generations for a very long time. The trustee holds the assets with a direction to pay the income to children, then grandchildren, then great grandchildren and so on.

Since each person only has a life interest in the trust the trust assets would not be in his or her taxable estate. The trust would be subject to generation-skipping taxes so the value of such trusts on creation is usually limited to the exemption under the generation-skipping tax.

In the past the duration of a trust was limited by the rule against perpetuities. A trust could last only so long as a life in being upon creation of the trust plus 21 years. The “life in being” refers to all the current beneficiaries. Certain states now allow you to opt out of this rule.

For more information on creating an Illinois Dynasty trust or other type of trust contact Chicago estate planning attorney Don Thompson.

This is a written agreement entered before a marriage that usually deals with what happens to the parties’ assets and income in the event of divorce or death. For instance, it can specify what a surviving spouse gets on the death of the other spouse. It can increase or decrease inheritance rights. To be enforceable each party should have separate legal counsel, each party should make full disclosure of all income, assets and other material facts, and no duress should be involved. This is also called a antenuptial agreement.

To learn more contact Chicago Estate Planning Attorney Don Thompson.

The Federal estate tax used to allow a credit for state death taxes. The Illinois estate tax was the amount of the credit allowed under Federal law. Under this scheme the total Illinois and Federal tax was the same as the total Federal tax before the credit.

The Federal law has been changed and the credit for the state death taxes is being phased out beginning in 2002. Because of this, as of January 1, 2003 Illinois has a new estate tax law. This provides that the Illinois estate tax is the amount that would have been allowed as a credit for state death taxes under the Federal tax before 2002. The net effect is a substantial increase in the total of Illinois and Federal estate taxes.

The pre-2002 Federal credit was based on the adjusted taxable estate which is the taxable estate less $60,000. The Federal state death tax credit schedule was (and thus the Illinois estate tax schedule is):

The Illinois tax is based on the Federal adjusted taxable estate and Illinois adopts the same exclusion amounts as Federal law. These exclusion amounts are scheduled to rise as follows:

The Illinois Estate Tax is thus based on amounts over the Federal exclusion amounts.

The Federal exclusion amount rises to $3,500,000 in 2009, but Illinois limits the amount to $2,000,000.

The Illinois Estate Tax is computed with respect to the Federal Taxable estate. However, the Illinois Estate Tax is a deduction in computing the Federal Taxable Estate. Thus you have interrelated computations. The Illinois Attorney General’s office has software to make the calculation which you can find on their site at www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov.

Many estate plans avoid federal estate tax by saying the marital deduction gift is the least amount that will result in no federal tax. Thus the marital gift is everything over the exclusion amount. In 2009 the federal and Illinois exclusion amounts will be different so this type of estate plan will result in no federal tax, but some Illinois tax. This could be avoided by increasing the amount of the marital deduction gift to the least amount that will result in no federal or Illinois tax.

In 2010 the Federal tax expires and so does the Illinois tax. If Congress passes no further legislation the Federal estate tax then comes back into effect in 2011 as it was in 2001 with the same tax rates and $1,000,000 exclusion amount applicable to that year. If that happens, the Illinois law provides that it reverts to what it was then when it was the amount of the federal credit for state death taxes.

Unlike the Federal tax, the Illinois tax does not apply to lifetime gifts.

Contact Chicago Probate Lawyer Don Thompson for further information.