Recent Blog Posts
Estate Planning and the Five Stages of Grief
Most people are familiar with the concept of different “stages of grief.” While you may not necessarily be able to list the five stages as they were introduced in 1969, you are most likely aware that grieving, for most people, is a process with fairly distinct elements. While there are other situations that could cause a person to go through the grieving process—such as a divorce or giving a child up for adoption—the most common is during the period following the death of a loved one. When you die, your children, grandchildren, and other family members will almost certainly experience a great deal of grief, which makes responsible estate planning all the more important.
What Are the Five Stages?
In 1969, a Swiss-American psychiatrist named Elisabeth Kubler-Ross published a book called "On Death and Dying" which introduced the stages of grief as she saw them. Based on her experience and study, she identified the five stages as Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. Despite being laid out as linear—suggesting that one stage leads into the next—the reality is much more complicated. A person who is largely in the Anger stage of grief is likely to experience moments or days of Denial and Depression. He or she may even skip a stage and effectively come back to it at a later point.
What Is Divorce By Publication?
Most of the time, when two people want to get divorced, they simply inform the other person by having a copy of the papers served upon them, usually by hand delivery. However, there are some very rare situations when the spouse cannot be located. When that happens, a suitable alternative must be found. The answer in Illinois and many other states is called divorce by publication.
A “Good Faith Search”
In all cases, your soon-to-be-ex-spouse must be informed of your desire and intention to file for divorce. However, if they have moved or are trying to avoid you and have left no forwarding address, the normal methods of mail or hand delivery are impossible. Yet it is contradictory to public policy to demand that two people remain married when they are not even living together and all communication has broken down. Publication is generally the best possible chance for your information to reach your absent spouse.
Communication Is Key in Estate Planning
Do you have a signed and executed will or any other elements of an estate plan in place? If so, you are already ahead of more than half of American adults.
Next question: Have you had in-depth discussions about estate planning with your children and other important family members? If so, you and your family are well prepared for unexpected surprises—assuming your estate plan addresses all or most of the details that are significant to you and your loved ones.
Final question: Would your children agree that you have had the necessary conversations and do they know where to find important documents, passwords, and account information? Unfortunately, serious disconnects in communication are all too common when it comes to estate planning.
A Relevant Study
Earlier this year, Fidelity Investments released a study showing that aging parents and their adult children are often on different pages in regard to important estate planning conversations. The survey indicated that nearly 70 percent of parents believed that they had talked at length with their children about wills, estate plans, and finances. More than half of their children, however, said that the conversations had not happened—at least not in sufficient detail.
Adopting an Abandoned or Deserted Child
Adoption can be a wonderful and happy event for everyone involved. However, there are times when the process becomes quite complex, especially when an adoption involves a parent who ostensibly could assert parental rights, yet is nowhere to be found. There is a very specific process to go through before a child with an absentee parent (or two absentee parents) may be adopted into a family where he or she will receive the kind of attention he or she deserves.
Abandonment and Desertion
In most situations, a child is presumed to have two parents, but this is not always the case. However, this may be untrue in certain cases. Illinois allows paternity to be legally established immediately following the birth of a child, by one of four methods:
- The mother and father are married either at a child’s conception, birth, or both;
- Both parents sign and complete a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity form;
Text Messages Can Interfere with Family Law Matters
It is almost too easy to send a text message on your cell phone. It takes only a few moments to type out a quick hello or make plans with friends and family. More than six billion messages are exchanged every day in the United States—that is over 2.2 trillion each year! Unfortunately, the ease of sending a text message can sometimes get people into trouble, as they may send a message without thinking or in the heat of a moment. This can cause problems for those involved in legal proceedings such as a divorce or child custody battle.
Text Messages Last Forever
An individual who is going through a divorce or other matter of family law may experience a wide range of emotions. He or she may feel betrayed, spiteful, confused, and upset. Often, there is animosity and tension between spouses who have decided to end their marriage. Divorce is an especially emotional process, and there may be many things left unsaid between two former romantic partners who have called it quits. There may also be things that are said but that should have been left unsaid. This is when the ease of pulling a cell phone from a pocket and quickly sending a nasty text message can cause problems.
A Living Will Can Address Quality of Life Questions
Every person deserves to have control over the medical care they receive, including that which is provided at or near the end of their lives. Advance medical directives, such as a living will, give you the power to make certain decisions about your end-of-life care in advance, taking into account the possibility that you may not be able to make such decisions if and when they are necessary. Unfortunately, many advance medical directives are open to interpretation which could result in a decreased quality of life and unneeded suffering. There are some things you can do, however, to ensure that medical care is provided in accordance with your wishes, regardless of your condition at the time care is needed.
Death-Delaying Procedures
A living will is used primarily to specify the types of death-delaying procedures that you wish to be provided if you are ever diagnosed with a terminal condition and are unable to make care decisions for yourself. Death-delaying procedures refer to treatments and care that are postponing death in situations where healing or curing the condition is not possible. Such procedures include blood transfusions, artificial respiration, dialysis, and intravenous feeding or medications.
Is a No-Contest Clause Right For You?
There are many things to consider when you are creating your Last Will and Testament. One you may have not considered is what will happen if your will is contested. A will contest is a lawsuit that an individual files in order to invalidate a deceased person’s will. Someone might file a will contest because they don’t believe a family member’s or friend’s will accurately reflects their true final wishes. Any intestate heir or beneficiary named in the person’s will can file a will contest.
In previous blog posts, we have talked about challenging the will of a recently-deceased loved one using a will contest. Today, however, we will look at how you can help prevent your will from being challenged. There are a few things that can be done to protect your will. One of these is a provision included in the will known as a “no-contest clause.”
What Is a No-Contest Clause?
The purpose of a no-contest clause is to discourage heirs or beneficiaries from challenging the will. Such a clause provides some sort of penalty to any party that challenges the will and loses. Often, a no-contest clause will state that any person who is named in the will and brings an unsuccessful challenge against it shall lose the inheritance which was originally theirs. Consequently, an heir who was set to receive a large portion of the estate is less likely to contest the will.
The Readoption of Foreign-Born Children
Despite the occasional controversy on the subject, U.S. citizens adopt foreign-born children fairly regularly. The regulations differ when negotiating depending on the country, as one might expect; however, the requirements that must be met upon reentry to the U.S. are the same. It is sadly common for a foreign-born adoptee to experience citizenship-related issues, though many can be solved by going through what is referred to as a readoption. It is usually not required to do so by law in Illinois, but it can prevent future issues for you and your adopted child.
Was the Adoption Completed?
Illinois does not require any further adoption proceedings if you completed the process abroad and abide by all immigration regulations. Yet, a readoption is the easiest way to quiet any potential citizenship issues before they even happen. It is sometimes referred to as an official recognition of a foreign judgment, which gives a clue to its purpose. If you travel to a foreign country and adopt a child, completing the process overseas, that is usually good enough for U.S. government to consider that child a citizen. However, if you are able and choose to bring the child to the U.S. for the purpose of completing the process (and, obviously, coming to live), recognition of the foreign judgment is usually required, because the process has not yet been completed to the satisfaction of the U.S. government.
The Four Elements of Estate Planning
When most people are asked about the concept of estate planning, they immediately think about a will and how it can be used to determine what will happen to a person’s assets and property upon his or her death. A will is certainly one of the cornerstones of a comprehensive estate plan, but on its own, a will is not always enough. There are four major elements of estate planning, and an experienced attorney can help you address each one properly.
Protecting Your Property During Your Lifetime
While estate planning is largely focused on what will happen after you die, the process also includes ensuring you have enough financial security to live out the rest of your life as you see fit. Investment strategies and savings, of course, are important, but you may also want to take steps toward protecting your family business or income-generating real estate holdings. You should also consider assigning power of attorney for property to a trusted person who can make decisions regarding your affairs in the event that become incapacitated and unable to make such choices for yourself.
An Overview of Illinois Guardianships
In Illinois and indeed all over the country, there are children and disabled people who require a bit of extra help to have their needs met. While most often, people have family members to act for them, those who do not may need temporary or permanent guardians. There are specific procedures one must follow to become one and specific rules to be followed once one has the position.
General Guardianship Information
Most guardianship proceedings are conducted through the probate court. However, guardianship of a child differs slightly from seeking the guardianship of a disabled person in that guardianship of a minor automatically ceases when that child turns 18. Able-bodied adults over 18 are entitled to a rebuttable presumption that they can handle their own affairs. As such, obtaining guardianship for a 17-year-old may be more difficult and less practical than seeking guardianship over a 10-year-old simply because it would expire so quickly.
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