Author name: Joe Lucheck

Find Money That You May Not Have Realized You Were Missing Finding money in a coat pocket is always a nice surprise, but what if you found that you could search the internet to locate lost assets?  Most states have an unclaimed property website that allows you to search your name to determine whether you may have property that the state is holding for you. Illinois is currently holding $3.5 billion in abandoned assets that are unclaimed by its residents.  It is a good practice to check every year or two with your state to see if you may have unclaimed property in the state where you currently or previously lived.  Many times when you move, checks are sent to your old address.  If the payor is not aware that you moved, the funds are eventually deposited with the state as unclaimed property.   You may also find assets that may have been held by loved ones who have passed away. This is one of the most common reasons for unclaimed property to go to the state when someone dies and accounts are abandoned.  As estate planning attorneys, we do a search frequently for estates that we have handled to make sure we did not miss anything when administering an estate. What is unclaimed property? Common types of unclaimed property include: checking and savings accounts, uncashed wage and payroll checks, uncashed stock dividends, and stock certificates, insurance payments, utility deposits, customer deposits, accounts payable, credit balances, refund checks, money orders, traveler’s checks, mineral proceeds, court deposits, uncashed death benefit checks, and life insurance proceeds. In most states, you can file a claim form to reclaim your property.  The claim form will tell you which documents you will need to provide to make a claim.   The following are a few websites for unclaimed property if you live or have lived in these states.  Illinois Wisconsin Minnesota Iowa Indiana If you have any questions about tax and estate planning, please feel free to contact Glick and Trostin, LLC at 312-346-8258. Disclaimer: The materials on this website are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice.  Transmission of the information is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship between any attorney and any other person, group or entity. No representations or warranties whatsoever, express or implied are given as to the accuracy or applicability of the information contained herein.  No one should rely upon the information contained herein as constituting legal advice.  The information may be modified or rendered incorrect by future legislative or judicial developments and may not be applicable to any individual reader’s facts and circumstances.

  Everyone can Now Take a Charitable Deduction on Their Taxes Since the last tax law was passed at the end of 2017, nearly nine in 10 taxpayers now take the standard deduction on their income tax return and are no longer able to claim a charitable deduction for donations made to qualifying charities.  Now, under the CARES Act and the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, individuals who take the standard deduction can now claim a deduction of up to $300 for cash contributions made to qualified charities in 2021.  Married couples can deduct up to $600.   Therefore, as you begin to put together your tax documents to file your 2021 tax return, double check your charitable contributions for the year as you may be eligible for an additional tax deduction when you file.  If you have any questions about tax and estate planning, please feel free to contact Glick and Trostin, LLC at 312-346-8258. Disclaimer: The materials on this website are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice.  Transmission of the information is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship between any attorney and any other person, group or entity. No representations or warranties whatsoever, express or implied are given as to the accuracy or applicability of the information contained herein.  No one should rely upon the information contained herein as constituting legal advice.  The information may be modified or rendered incorrect by future legislative or judicial developments and may not be applicable to any individual reader’s facts and circumstances. [1] Gift tax return (Form 709) reporting may be required.

Bright Start: A Primer on a 529 College Savings Plan As children begin to return to school for the 2021-2022 academic school year, parents with children of all ages should know that it is never too early to begin saving for their children’s college fund. The Illinois Bright Start College Savings Plan is an excellent vehicle that offers tax breaks to encourage savings for college tuition. The Bright Start College Savings Plan allows Illinois taxpayers to claim state tax deductions on contributions up to $10,000 for individual taxpayers and $20,000 for married couples filing their taxes jointly. An account owner can contribute $15,000 each year, provided that no other gifts are made to the same beneficiary that year.  It also allows tax-free withdrawals for higher education expenses at the federal and state level. This includes, among other things, withdrawals for tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment, room and board, etc. There are narrow exceptions to this rule, however. A contributing taxpayer does not have to be the parent of a beneficiary to open a 529 College Savings Plan. The program has no limitations with respect to who can open accounts. Therefore, if you are a grandparent, relative, or even a friend to a potential beneficiary, you are able to open a 529 College Savings Investment Account for that individual. There are also no income limitations to individuals opening these accounts, so you can open an account no matter what your income level may be for tax purposes. If you have contributed to the 529 Savings Plan and your beneficiary decides not to enroll in higher education, you do have options. For one, you could change the beneficiary to an individual who intends to enroll in higher education or you can withdraw the funds from the account. Keep in mind that if you were to withdraw these funds, the amount would be subject to federal and state income taxes, plus a 10% penalty. The Bright Start contribution is simple and easy to use. You can contribute via an automatic investing plan which allows you to have a fixed amount automatically debited from your account on a periodic basis. You can also choose to make a lump sum one time deposit of up to $75,000[1], or have a payroll deduction taken straight from your paycheck each pay period. Additionally, if you are new to Illinois but have a 529 College Savings Plan already established in a different state, Bright Start allows you to roll over the funds from the out of state program to the Bright Start 529 account and keep all of the funds, while potentially earning an Illinois state Income tax deduction by rolling over. For more information and to open your 529 College Savings Investment account, you can visit www.brightstart.com.  They have a number of different portfolios that you can choose to enroll in. It is recommended that you complete the Risk Tolerance Questionnaire on the website prior to enrolling. This questionnaire will help determine how you would like to allocate your money and develop an investment plan going forward. If you have any questions about the Bright Start College Savings Plan, please feel free to contact Glick and Trostin, LLC at 312-346-8258.  Disclaimer: The materials on this website are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice.  Transmission of the information is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship between any attorney and any other person, group or entity. No representations or warranties whatsoever, express or implied are given as to the accuracy or applicability of the information contained herein.  No one should rely upon the information contained herein as constituting legal advice.  The information may be modified or rendered incorrect by future legislative or judicial developments and may not be applicable to any individual reader’s facts and circumstances. [1] Gift tax return (Form 709) reporting may be required.

5 Reasons to Review Your Estate Plan If your estate plan or your parent’s estate plan hasn’t been reviewed in the last few years — or the last twenty years — it’s time to review your estate plan — sooner, not later. Rather than fix a messy situation after death, it is best to work with an estate planning attorney to review your estate plan with you now. The following 5 reasons help explain why older documents may no longer work to achieve your or your parents’ wishes. Stale documents are disliked by financial institutions. If a power of attorney is more than eight years old, don’t expect it to be received well by a bank or brokerage house. The financial institution will probably want to get an affidavit from the attorney who originally created the document to attest to its validity. A regular review and refresh of estate documents allow for the document to remain current as well as confirm that the individuals named as agents and their contact information. State laws change. Changes to state laws alter how estates are handled. They may have a positive impact that could benefit you and your family, but they could also have a negative effect. If the will or trust hasn’t been reviewed in ten or twenty years, you won’t know what consequences new state laws have on your estate planning. More importantly, if the impact is negative, you won’t be able to take advantage of revising your estate planning to protect your estate. Lawyers use updated language in estate planning documents. In addition to changes in the law, there are changes to language that may have a big impact on the estate. Many attorneys have changed the language they use for trusts based on the SECURE Act, which went into effect in 2020. If your parent has a retirement account payable to a trust, it’s critical that this language be modified so that it complies with the new law. Lacking these updates, your parent’s estate plan may create unnecessary increases in taxes, fees, or penalties. Federal estate laws change over time. Recent years have seen major changes to estate law, from the aforementioned SECURE Act to current proposals to federal exclusions and gift taxes. Is your estate plan (or your parents) in compliance with the new laws? If assets have changed since the last estate plan was written, there may be tax law changes to be incorporated. Are there enough assets available to pay the taxes from the estate or the trusts? The decedent’s wishes may not be followed if documents aren’t updated. Over time, individuals die, people get married, children and grandchildren are born, and relationships change.  If an individual’s wishes are not updated in their estate planning documents, the inheritance may go to individuals that are no longer in the person’s life or may leave out important people. We recommend that our clients review their estate plans with us every three years. This way we can ensure that their estate plans will continue to meet their goals. If you have any questions about tax and estate planning, please feel free to contact Glick and Trostin, LLC at 312-346-8258. Disclaimer: The materials on this website are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice.  Transmission of the information is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship between any attorney and any other person, group, or entity. No representations or warranties whatsoever, express or implied are given as to the accuracy or applicability of the information contained herein.  No one should rely upon the information contained herein as constituting legal advice.  The information may be modified or rendered incorrect by future legislative or judicial developments and may not be applicable to any individual reader’s facts and circumstances.