Gregory Turza is among the few professionals in the estate planning industry in Illinois who thinks outside the box.  Keeping apprised of the codes and procedures, and finding ways to ensure his clients protect their assets is his bread and butter.  Mr. Turza went through a few examples through his presentation to highlight specifically how marshalling assets of a will address estate administration.  The outline for his presentation can be found below:

Must determine ownership

1. Ownership
   1. Decedent
   2. Decedent’s wife
   3. Living Trust
   4. LLC
   5. Corporation
   6. Co-Ownership with others etc.
2. Beneficiary designations
   1. Should have one document that shows all policies and information addressed one time
      1. Retirement plans
      2. Life insurance
      3. Annuities
      4. TOD or POD accounts
3. Why it matters. It determines:
   1. The asset delivery vehicle, e.g. probate, trust, Small Estates Affidavit, etc.
   2. Who has the power to deliver the asset (Trustee, executor, the institution, etc.)
4. Illustration: Here are the decedent’s assets and how they were owned
   1. Home in the living trust
   2. Checking account in joint tenancy
   3. A 3 unit apartment building the Decedent bought with his brother as Tenants in Common, not joint tenancy i.e. no right of survivorship.  Decedent’s share was owned individually, not in his trust
      1. With a “Pour Over” Will to the Decedent’s living trust
         1. Names the beneficiary
      2. Without a will: Intestacy
         1. w/o estate plan, goes through probate, ½ to spouse, ½ to children
      3. Probate
   4. IRA that named the wife as beneficiary with the children as contingent beneficiaries
      1. Person who fills out the form is named as trustee
         1. The decision to rollover or not
         2. Naming new beneficiaries
   5. Car in decedent’s name only
      1. Secretary of state has specific rules governing the distribution of property if trust is not formed
   6. EE bonds with a face amount of $55,000 bought in 1983 in Decedent’s name only

For more information on how to properly structure your estate, contact Gregory Turza at https://legacylaws.com.