Trusts & Estates

The newsletter of the ISBA’s Section on Trusts & Estates

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2002 Articles

Alternatives in administering a decedent’s assets By Jane Hartley Pratt September 2002 Traditional estate administration includes either administration fully supervised by the court or the minimally supervised "independent administration."
Although an attorney’s fee may qualify as a trust administrative expense, it not be deductible for federal tax purposes By Edward Campell November 2002 State law controls whether an attorney's fee is a valid administration expense payable from a trust's corpus, but federal law controls the federal tax implications.
Educational expenses in Illinois: An analysis of §529 Plans in Illinois after EGTRRA By David A. Berek December 2002 As Trusts and Estates practitioners, we advise our clients and their families not only on estate planning matters, but also life planning matters.
Exception to six-year statute of repose for attorney malpractice applies to any mechanism, be it probate or non-probate distribution By Michael Sue November 2002 Section 13-214.3(c) of the Code of Civil Procedure (the Limitations Act or the Statute of Repose) (735 ILCS 5/13-214.3(c) (West 1994)) prescribes that in the event an attorney is sued for malpractice for services rendered regarding a client's estate, the claimant has six years to file the claim.
From the editors November 2002 Our feature article is from Mike English, of Princeton, giving us recent developments in estate and gift tax.
From the editors September 2002 Our feature article is from Jane Hartley Pratt, in which she provides a practical review of alternatives to traditional estate administration.
From the editors June 2002 We have three excellent articles authored by section council members. The first, by Franklin M. Hartzell, examines the details and requirements for the execution of estate planning documents.
From the editors April 2002 We begin with an article by section council member Thorpe Facer on the Garrett case, which was reviewed in the prior newsletter.
From the editors: December 2002 This issue features a terrific article by section council member David Berek on § 529 plans, as modified by the 2001 Tax Act.
Garrett revisited By Thorpe Facer April 2002 In Re Estate of Pearl Garrett, No. 3-01-0066, (2001 Ill. App. Lexis 748), decided by the Third District on September 21, 2001, and briefly summarized in a previous newsletter, is interesting enough to examine in more detail.
The IDIT—What, why, how By Jay S. Goldberg November 2002 In our world of acronyms, this has come to refer to the Intentionally Defective Irrevocable Trust--a trust so designed that it is excluded from the estate of the grantor but the grantor is, under the grantor trust rules, treated as the "substantial owner" and taxable on the income.
Innocent spouse relief update By Robert Weber June 2002 One would think that with the Tax Relief Credit issues, and the relief to victims of the September 11th terrorist acts, the IRS wouldn't have time to do much with respect to Innocent Spouse Relief, but they still managed to have a "full plate."
Internal Revenue Service adopts final minimum distribution regulations By Philip E. Koenig June 2002 On April 17, 2002, the Internal Revenue Service adopted final regulations relating to minimum distributions from qualified retirement accounts and IRA accounts.
Odds and ends By Mark E. Zumdahl November 2002 Private Letter Ruling 200234019 is a taxpayer friendly ruling which could apply in a future estate you handle.
Practical considerations in the execution of estate planning documents—beware of the bomb By Franklin M. Hartzell June 2002 In the execution of estate planning documents, whether you believe the execution to be such that the instrument or instruments are contest proof or you have concern that the documents might be contested, certain safeguards should be established.
Practice pointers By James K. Say September 2002 Readers are advised that an excellent summary exists at the FDIC Web site, (www.fdic.gov), for avoiding mistakes in FDIC insurance coverage.
Practice tips By James K. Say April 2002 The Victims of Terrorism tax Relief Act (P.L. 107-134) was signed into law by President Bush on Jan. 23, 2002. The Act provides income and estate tax benefits to victims of the Oklahoma City bombing, the September 11 attacks, and the anthrax attacks.
Protecting charitable gifts By Marilyn Ratay November 2002 In In re Estate of Lind, 734 N.E. 2d 47 (Ill. App. 2000), the Illinois appellate court protected a charitable devise from failing.
Recent decisions By James K. Say September 2002 In re Estate of John R. Lundahl, Docket No. 2-01-0508, 2002 Ill. App. ___, July, 2002. A claimant to the estate, Elizabeth Gabel, had pursued payment arising from a 1990 agreed order.
Recent decisions By Mark E. Zumdahl June 2002 Hurst v. Hurst, decided by the Fourth District Appellate Court under Case No. 4-01-0528, gives us a little bit of everything. Chuck Hurst died in June, 1998. He had two children by his prior marriage, Lori and Todd.
Recent decisions By James K. Say April 2002 The Society of Lloyd's v. Estate of John William McMurray & Harris Trust and Savings Bank, ___ F. 3rd ___, No. 01-1965, 7th Cir, December 11, 2001. McMurray was one of the individual underwriting members of Lloyd's, also known as "Names."
Recent developments in estate and gift tax By Michael L. English November 2002 The tax court, in Christine M. Hackl, 118 T.C. No.14, ruled that gifts of ownership interests in a limited liability company did not qualify for the section 2503(b) annual gift tax exclusion where the ownership interests failed to confer substantial present economic benefits to the recipients.
Recent developments in estate and gift tax By Michael L. English April 2002 The Chief Counsel's Office in Legal Memorandum 200141013 addressed the issue of a refund of estimated estate tax paid with a request for an extension of time to file a federal estate tax return.
Special trusts By Michael C. Wiedel April 2002 In estate planning as well as asset management, the dilemma of the adult disabled child often presents itself.
Strategies for estate planning: A summary of EGTRRA 2001 provisions with immediate effect on planning By James M. Lestikow April 2002 After all the rhetoric in Congress, and by the President, on the need to do away with "death taxes," the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) was enacted.
What did the testator really want? December 2002 How would you distribute this estate?
Where section 3-1 is applicable to one decedent, courts must apply that section to the estate of all individuals determined to have died simultaneously By Nigel Smith November 2002 As we face uncertain times during which the unwelcome subject of death may invade our collective thoughts more frequently, the question of how courts distribute the property of decedents who die simultaneously may also arise.