Cook County, Illinois residents will get a big surprise in their mailboxes around July 1. Just in time to celebrate the nation’s birthday, the Cook County Treasurer will come looking for the 2nd installment of 2011 real estate taxes (remember, property taxes are paid in arrears). This year will mark the first time in decades that the bills are not […]
How real property taxes are calculated in Cook County
Illinois re-writes Medicaid eligibility rules
Without much advance fanfare, the State of Illinois has passed a law intended to close Illinois’ $2.7 billion dollar Medicaid funding gap. On June 14, 2012, Governor Quinn signed Public Act 97-689 into law. Among other things, the law amends the Illinois Public Aid Code to change Medicaid eligibility rules. The Chicago Sun Times printed a story criticizing the law […]
HAFA approved or half approved?
Real estate MLS listings often proclaim “HAFA Approved Short-Sale” as a key selling point for a listed short sale property. HAFA is the “Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative” program. Part of the program is a process for pre-approving a short sale (a short sale is when a bank with a mortgage releases the mortgage in return for less money than is […]
All about EINs
An EIN is an “Employer ID Number” issued by the Internal Revenue Service. (Sometimes, this is referred to as a Federal Employer ID Number or “FEIN”) EINs are necessary for decedent’s probate estates, non-grantor trusts, corporations, and LLCs. Even single member limited liability companies, which are treated by the IRS as disregarded entities, can obtain an EIN. The EIN is […]
Cook County “Property Tax Portal” is pretty cool
This April, Cook County unveiled a one-stop source that consolidates information from the Cook County Assessor, Cook County Treasurer, and Cook County Recorder all in one place. Even better, a search may be done by common address only if you don’t have a PIN number handy. Kudos to the people running the various Cook County government websites for creating this […]
Pardon our dust and welcome!
Welcome to the new and improved version of the Reda | Ciprian | Magnone, LLC website. We’ve redesigned our site to make access to our information easier and to allow us to blog about interesting issues related to our practice and Illinois law. A big thanks to the boys at ethercycle.com who helped us with the website.
Estate Planning for Unmarried Couples Remains at Issue
Political notions aside, many unmarried couples, both heterosexual and homosexual, may be at risk of passing their estate in a manner that does not suit their desires. Despite the rapidly changing mores and norms of modern society, increasingly accepting of committed co-habitation among unmarried couples, the estate planning and probate laws are slow reflect these changing standards.
Convenience Bank Accounts in Illinois Estate Planning
On January 1, 2010, a new law, the Illinois Banking Convenience Account for Depositors Act goes into effect throughout Illinois. The law allows banks to offer a new type of bank account, known as a convenience account, to their customers. The Problem Prior to the new law’s passage, many people engage in the somewhat unsophisticated and dangerous practice of adding, for their […]
The pitfalls of joint tenancy estate planning
IS JOINT TENANCY ESTATE PLANNING ENOUGH? Many people utilize the concept of joint assets or joint tenancy to plan their estate without a will or a trust. Because joint assets transfer automatically to the surviving owner upon the death of a co-owner, the assets avoid probate. Assets commonly owned in this way are real estate, bank accounts, and stocks or […]
Do You Really Need a Last Will?
TO DIE WITHOUT A WILL? The will is an estate planning tool surrounded by a myriad of myth and misinformation. Many people believe that merely having a will results in lower estate taxes or higher attorney fees. These ideas are false and contribute to the public’s misconception of wills. Simply put, a will is a person’s written direction as to […]