Long-term security, peace of mind

To avoid probate in Illinois, the fair market value of your estate must be less than $100,000.  In other states, the threshold is even less. Generally, a will alone does not avoid probate. Therefore, a trust also makes sense for most people considering estate planning.

A revocable trust, also known as a living trust, complements a will by managing assets during both a client’s lifetime and after death. Under such a trust, clients identify the beneficiaries of their assets in a private, secure manner.

Because assets owned by a revocable trust are not subject to probate, they are generally not subject to court-supervised distribution. Our Estate Planning & Asset Protection Group works to ensure that clients properly title their assets to avoid unnecessary court involvement and expense, and to provide asset protection for beneficiaries. Furthermore, by using a revocable trust, we leverage estate tax laws to minimize the amount of state and federal estate and other death tax liabilities.

Eighty percent of businesses that end up in probate due to poor planning fail in the first 8-12 months after the death of a key owner. We help clients beat these odds by planning ahead, ensuring that their businesses provide liquidity for their families, rather than instability.

Understanding and balancing the goals and needs of family members. Whether the intent is to keep a business in the family for the next generation or sell it to an outside investor, we help clients evaluate their options and develop business succession plans.

We balance the needs of active and passive family members by creating buy-sell agreements that enable the active family members to acquire the interests of passive family members (or other shareholders). We create effective exit strategies, negotiate and draft the agreements, assess valuation issues and minimize overall tax consequences to the family.

In addition to a carefully crafted buy-sell agreement, we use outright transfers and transfers in trust for the benefit of descendants, as well as other more complex techniques such as:

• Spousal lifetime access trusts (SLATs)
• Installment sales to intentionally defective grantor trusts
• Installment notes
• Private annuities
• Self-canceling installment notes
• Life insurance trusts

Producing significant savings of gift and estate taxes.Both the federal gift tax and estate tax rates are upwards of 40%, and Illinois imposes a separate estate tax at the state level. Chuhak & Tecson’s Estate Planning & Asset Protection Group assists clients in maximizing all available exemptions and utilizing all available exclusions to limit estate, gift and inheritance taxes at both the federal and state levels.

We harness additional tax savings by using techniques to take advantage of discounting principles, including:

• Recapitalizations of business interests
• Family limited liability company
• Family limited partnerships

In addition, we handle the preparation and filing of estate and gift tax returns, to ensure that our clients realize all available estate-planning benefits upon submission of tax returns.

Helping to keep clients’ dreams and legacies alive. Making a difference and passing the charitable and philanthropic torch to future generations are important goals for our clients. We bring extensive experience and creativity in helping them realize these goals. Planning for the charitable, religious, civic and social causes that mean so much to them, we work to ensure our clients meet their charitable and philanthropic objectives by utilizing techniques that maximize both income and estate tax savings.

We also help clients implement charitable and philanthropic plans that help mentor younger generations in the art of giving. We provide legal advice in a variety of gifting techniques, including:

• Public 501(c)(3) organizations
• Private foundations
• Charitable remainder trusts
• Charitable lead trusts
• Charitable gift annuities
• Supporting organizations
• Donor-advised funds

Seamlessly integrating an asset protection structure with a client’s estate plan. More and more professionals – including corporate officers, business owners, physicians, real estate investors, entrepreneurs and high net worth individuals – are looking to insulate their assets from liability. Our Estate Planning & Asset Protection lawyers conduct an in-depth analysis of clients’ personal and professional asset portfolios and make recommendations on how they can reorganize ownership to maximize protection and utility.

Each situation is unique and requires a customized approach to best achieve protection in light of the client’s opportunities and potential liabilities. Based upon a client’s asset portfolio, we may recommend a limited liability company, a limited partnership or other vehicles. We make recommendations on where entities should be sitused (i.e. formed), based on the nature of the business, income tax planning considerations and asset protection concerns. In addition, where an asset protection structure also provides estate-planning benefits, we work to integrate it within the client’s estate plan.

Putting in place the tools to address life’s most difficult situations. In addition to drafting wills, which provide the overall structure to an estate plan, we advise clients to put in place the following powers of attorney:

Property power of attorney. Also called a durable general power of attorney, this tool is essential when, due to age, illness or injury, a person is unable to carry on their legal and financial affairs. It authorizes an agent to act on a person’s behalf and sign their name to property and legal documents.

Healthcare power of attorney. Also called a medical power of attorney or an advance medical directive, this document designates a “medical agent” who will have access to medical information and the power to make decisions with respect to a person’s medical care in the event they are physically or mentally unable to do so.