Recent Blog Posts
What Happens When You Pass Away Without a Will?
There are almost countless ways that drafting a last will and testament can benefit you and your loved ones. With that in mind, it may surprise you to learn that only about 40 percent of Americans currently have a will or other estate planning document in place.
There are many reasons that people choose not to create a will. Some may not understand exactly what the purpose of a will is. Others may inaccurately assume that only wealthy people need a will. Perhaps the biggest reason that people procrastinate estate planning is because it deals with what happens if they become incapacitated or pass away. Although it can be an uncomfortable subject to consider, it is very important for everyone to have a will – regardless of wealth or age. When someone dies without a will, it is often their surviving loved ones who are most negatively affected.
You Relinquish Control Over Significant Financial and Personal Decisions
When Can I Adjust My Parenting Plan?
In every divorce involving children, parenting plans must be formulated. Parenting plans, commonly known as custody arrangements, divide responsibilities between each parent. They define responsibilities such as the time each parent is scheduled to spend with their child, who should be the one taking the child to medical visits, and which house the child will reside in. These are just a few of the many responsibilities required of a parent as well as those that are defined under parenting plans. While parenting plans are legally in place until the child turns 18 years old, it is almost impossible for them to last that long without a need for adjustments – situations change and so do children’s needs.
Which Situations Warrant an Adjustment?
As with any legally-binding contract, there must be legitimate proof that an adjustment is necessary. Judges do not simply change parenting plans for the convenience of the parent. There are certain situations that will allow, and even prompt, judges to modify a family’s arrangement. The following are common examples:
Facing a Serious Health Issue? Consider a Power of Attorney for Health Care
An unexpected illness or injury can happen to anybody. If you have been diagnosed with a serious health concern, you may worry about how medical decisions will be made if you cannot make them yourself. For example, if you fell into a coma, how would doctors know what type of medical treatment you do and do not consent to? In situations like these, a power of attorney for health care, or medical power of attorney, can allow you to choose a trusted representative who will make medical decisions on your behalf.
Responsibilities of a Medical Power of Attorney
Most people want to have a say in the types of medical treatment they do and do not wish to undergo. If you are worried that your health issues may worsen and you will not be able to speak for yourself in the future, consider choosing a representative through a healthcare power of attorney. This representative, called an agent or health care proxy, should be a person who you trust to follow your directions regarding medical treatment and care.
Comparing Wills and Trusts: Which is Right for You?
The world of estate planning can become quite overwhelming for many people. Not only does estate planning force you to confront your own mortality, there is also a vast array of estate planning instruments for you to choose from. It can be difficult to know for sure what types of estate planning tools and documents will best allow you to reach your personal and financial goals. Two of the most common types of estate planning instruments are a last will and testament and a trust. While these tools can achieve similar goals, there are several importance differences between a will and a trust.
The Benefits of Drafting a Will
You may be surprised to know that only about 40 percent of Americans have a will, trust, or other estate planning document in place. When drafting a will, you must consider how your assets will be distributed to beneficiaries upon your death. Understandably, it can be very difficult for people to make plans for after they pass away. However, creating a will allows you to be in control of how your property is disseminated. You worked hard to earn the property that you have, so it is only fair that you should get to choose how it is distributed and who will receive it. Perhaps even more importantly, creating a will saves your surviving loved ones from the burden of having to guess how you would have wanted your property to be passed down.
How Do I Know If My Loved One Needs a Legal Guardian?
Minors are accustomed to having a legal guardian who makes large decisions for them. While they may have some say in the matter, the final decision is left to the older party. Unfortunately, some individuals must experience this more than once in their life. Older people or those with disabilities often have to allow a legal guardian to take on the “official” responsibility of legal decision-making. Being the party taking on the guardianship responsibility can be emotionally and physically taxing, but recognizing that your loved one needs help could save them from making irreparable legal decisions.
Signs That Your Loved One Needs Help
Guardianships are most commonly issued when someone has a mental disability or when someone’s age affects their clarity of mind. However, just because a person has mental disabilities does not mean that they should have a legal guardian. The purpose of legal guardianship is to make legal decisions for another person when they have the inability to do so. Thus, potential guardians should evaluate their loved one and their ability to engage in the decision-making process. The Illinois Guardianship & Advocacy Commission suggests answering the following four questions to gauge your loved one’s mental capacity for making decisions:
How Does Remarriage Affect Child Support Payments in Illinois?
Child support laws vary from state to state, especially in situations where one spouse remarries. Illinois uses an income shares model to calculate how much each parent must contribute to child support. The parents’ combined net income and the number of children will determine their combined child support obligation. Then, each parent will pay a percentage of the obligation that is proportionate to their percentage of the combined incomes. For example, a parent who makes $70,000 of a $100,000 combined income would pay 70 percent of the child support obligation.
The parent who has a majority of the parenting time will receive child support payments from the other parent, regardless of who has a greater income. However, a minority parent with a lesser income is not required to pay as much towards the children’s expenses as the majority parent with a greater income. The equation can change in a shared parenting agreement, which Illinois defines as each parent having at least 146 days with the children during the year. There are also situations in which a parent can request a modification of the child support payment.
How Can I Obtain Child Support if I Am Unmarried in Illinois?
There is a common saying that it takes a village to raise a child. The state of Illinois believes that all children have a right to receive financial support from both of their parents. When an unmarried couple has a baby, child support payments can help spread the child-rearing costs more evenly. Unfortunately, not every parent understands the necessity of paying child support. An unmarried father may think he is not legally obligated to provide for his or her child financially. When a mother wishes to collect child support from an uncooperative father, there are several steps she must take to do so.
Paternity Must Be Established Before You Can Receive Child Support
Before a child support order can be entered, paternity must be established. There are three main ways that paternity can be formally established in Illinois:
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Signing a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity (VAP) form
Can I Get Financial Help With My Adoption?
It is no secret that adoption is expensive. Many families wish they could adopt but simply cannot afford the additional expenses that are tied to adoption. According to Child Welfare Information Gateway, private agency adoptions can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $40,000. This price tag does not include any of the costs associated with raising a child, which can steer couples hoping to start a family away from considering adoption. Foster care adoption is the most financially-friendly option available to potential parents. In many cases, the adoption gets funded by the state, with few fees involved aside from an attorney’s assistance in the legal process. There are even some instances that allow adopting couples to qualify for continued compensation.
What is Title IV-E Adoption Assistance?
Unfortunately, foster children get adopted at a much lower rate, especially those with special needs. The medical expenses or other costs that are unique to a special needs child can keep couples from considering taking them in. What many do not realize is that adoption assistance is available to parents of special needs children adopted through the foster system. Federal adoption assistance is known as Title IV-E, whereas state assistance is non-IV-E. Both forms of assistance can provide monthly maintenance payments, medical assistance, and other support until the child turns 18 or, in some cases, 21 years old. There are three criteria that must be met to qualify for special needs determination:
Defining Incapacitation With Regard to Estate Planning
While many people assume estate planning only involves drafting a will or other estate planning document which dictates how assets are distributed upon an individual’s death, this is only one of many types of estate planning instruments which can benefit you. An advance directive, also referred to as a living will, medical directive, or advance decision, is a type of legal document which specifies how decisions should be made on behalf of an individual who is incapacitated by illness or injury. Read on to learn about how incapacity is defined for the purposes of these types of decisions in Illinois.
An Incapacitating Accident or Illness Can Happen to Anybody
If you are like most people, you have probably not given a lot of thought as to what would happen if you became unable to speak for yourself. Although we often think of incapacitation as something that happens to elderly people or those with Alzheimer’s Disease, the truth is that people of all ages can become incapacitated. For example, if you are in a serious car accident, you could suffer a head injury which leaves you in a coma. Who would make medical decisions on your behalf if this happened? Would you wish to be kept alive via artificial life support if there was little chance of recovery? These are the types of questions which can be addressed through an advance directive.
What are the Benefits of Divorce Mediation?
Divorce mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution that works for many couples seeking to end their marriage but wanting to skip the typical divorce proceedings. This type of alternative resolution becomes somewhat of a conversation between the spouses and a mediator. After the mediator explains the process, they will act as a neutral third-party. The session will typically last a few hours as a group, followed by the mediator meeting with each party individually to speak with them. This will allow the spouse to tell them anything they feel that they left out or any information that they felt uncomfortable sharing with their spouse in the room.
A second session will be scheduled to make final decisions. Issues discussed are uniform to that of a divorce; however, there are supposed to be little to no arguments done in the mediation process. The allocation of parental responsibilities, child support, division of assets, and spousal maintenance are the main topics that are deliberated. The mediator will then draw up the plans based on the conversation between the spouses that lays out their divorce in front of them.
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