PROBATE - Probate is a court proceeding in which the assets of a deceased person are legally transferred to a living person, whether a spouse, child, friend or lover. If you have a Will, your estate may still need to go through Probate. In Illinois, the use of living trusts, insurance contracts, property held in joint tenancy and some other planning vehicles may avoid probate. Check with our probate lawyers.

WILLS - If you don't have a valid Will at the time of your death, your assets will be distributed to your spouse, heirs or other relatives in accordance with laws written by the legislators in Springfield. If you have specific plans on how your assets should be distributed at the time of your death, you must have some estate plan, whether a Will or some other instrument. Only proper estate planning can avoid probate.

OWNING PROPERTY- In Illinois, there are many ways to hold title to real property. A Land Trust affords you a certain amount of anonymity and freedom in transferring property. Tenancy by the Entirety gives husbands and wives special benefits for their primary residence that are not available if owned as Joint Tenants. Our real estate attorneys can give you the proper insights to various ways to hold title to property.

INJURIES FROM NEGLIGENCE OF OTHERS- Sometimes the actions of other people, through little or no fault of your own, may cause severe injuries resulting in substantial medical expenses, lost time from work, permanent medical treatment and other unexpected expenses. If the person causing your injuries had insurance, you can be certain that the insurance company will attempt to offer less than your claim is worth. To protect yourself, talk to an attorney before signing any papers or settling on an amount to compensate you for your losses.

PRIVATE MORTGAGE INSURANCE - If you are financing the purchase of your house with loan amount of more than 80% of the purchase price, many lenders will require that you have private mortgage insurance (PMI). PMI is NOT standard insurance to protect you, the homeowner, in the event of fire or some other casualty. PMI protects the lender in the event you default on the loan. It does not pay-off your mortgage if you die. PMI adds a significant cost to the closing costs since the lender requires that you pay all premiums. If possible, try to come up with 20% of the purchase price to avoid PMI.

DOMESTIC RELATIONS - In Illinois, child support is largely based on standard guidelines established by statute according to the number of children eligible for support and the net income of the parent owing support. For more information on these guidelines, and other divorce and parenting issues, contact one of our family law practitioners.

CONSUMER FRAUD - Often an individual consumer falls victim to a "bait-and-switch" or other type of fraud or misrepresentation by a large company. When the amount of money involved is small, most people just let it go. However, class actions afford many individuals who have been taken advantage of in similar ways by the same business to band together to sue, often to stop the unfair practices and recover what they were promised in the first place. Our firm concentrates much of its practice in class actions.

OWNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT SUCCESSION - Many business owners fail to make any provisions for ownership or management succession in the event of death or other event. Who would take over the business and how would ownership be transferred? In some instances, spouses of your partner or co-owners could succeed to control. Buy-Sell Agreements are but one method to provide for a smooth transition. These issues can be explored and resolved with the assistance of our business and corporate attorneys.

EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT - Illinois follows the Employment-at-will principal which provides that an oral employment relationship can be terminated by either party for any reason, provided of course, the reason is not discriminatory. Certain documents, whether a specific employment agreement or an employee manual or handbook may control the employment relationship, including termination. Depending on the type and size of your business, an agreement may or may not be appropriate. Consultation with our attorneys can help you sift through the laws to meet your specific goals.

NON-COMPETITION, NON-DISCLOSURE & NON-SOLICITATION AGREEMENTS - In today's competitive market, confidential and proprietary business information must be protected. Employees having knowledge of your trade secrets may quit to strike out on their own or take your proprietary information to your competitor. Non-competition and non-disclosure and non-solicitation agreements must be carefully drafted as Illinois courts scrutinize these agreements strictly. Our knowledgeable attorneys not only have the necessary experience to properly advise you with respect to these agreements, but have the court experience in both enforcing and declaring them unenforceable.

CORPORATE FORMALITIES - Is a corporation, a partnership or a limited liability company the proper entity for your new business? Do you want pass-through tax treatment or limited liability? The structure and administration of an LLC is similar to many aspects of a corporation, such as limited liability. However, an LLC is treated as a partnership for tax purposes. And, an election under the tax codes to be treated as a sub-chapter S corporation may not be available to all corporations.

CREATIVE PROTECTION - The process of obtaining a copyright is widely misunderstood. A copyright is generally created automatically when an original idea is first fixed in a tangible medium of expression, and is notated simply as "©1999 by Jane Doe." You should contact an attorney for further information on this definition, this symbol, copyright registration, and the specifics of our federal copyright laws.