What's New
How to buy real estate at the sheriff's sale
Married couples: Estate tax may be due IL in 2009
How to set up an Illinois Series LLC
FDIC Increases coverage for Living Trust Accounts
So you want to buy a foreclosure?
Client extranet
For the last two years we have offered clients a free extranet site
for any active file. Generally, we use this for real estate, trust
administration or probate matters. It has proven very popular and
clients love it. Everyone gets notice by e-mail anytime a
message is posted to the site or a file is uploaded. The software was
recently updated so that one does not need to log into the extranet to
post a reply; it can be done from your email program. The
extranet helps client stay up to date on their cases.
This
short video shows how the extranet works.
There is no extra charge for establishing a site.
IRA Protection Trust
New type of trust allows "stretch out" of IRA for
heirs, protects IRA from divorce, creditors and mismanagement
 The IRS
recently allowed the IRA Protection Trust. Previously, it was
difficult, if not impossible, to leave an IRA account to a trust and
to allow heirs to stretch out payments from the IRA over their life
expectancies. Now, it is possible to do so using the IRA
Protection Trust.
The benefits of the trust are as follows:
1. IRA distributions can be taken over
the life expectancy of each beneficiary. "Stretching out" IRA
distributions allows the IRA funds to continue to accumulate tax free
inside the IRA. The tax-free compounding of the funds inside the IRA
greatly increases the funds available to heirs as compared to taking
all of the funds out of the IRA (and paying taxes on the funds).
2. IRA funds are protected from divorce
and creditors and influence of in-laws.
3. Distributions from IRAs can be "turned
off" and the IRA Protection Trust can be turned into an "accumulation"
trust. This builds in flexibility. If a trust beneficiary became
disabled and was receiving SSI, the trust would not disqualify the
heir from SSI payments (which are needs based).
To read more about the pros and cons of
an IRA Protection trust click
here. |
