Law Office of Mark DeRue

01/27/2021

𝐊𝐨𝐛𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐭’𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 & 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝

It is hard to believe but it’s been one year since the death of Kobe Bryant. Someone, who seemingly had everything and was entering the prime of his life, was gone in an instant. Today, the media will show countless pictures of him and his family.

Since then, we have all been dealing with Covid-19 and its devastating effects. I have known many people who have contracted it and some who have died from it.

The idea of losing a spouse, child or relative is just heartbreaking. But no amount of fame and fortune cannot prevent tragedies from happening.

When someone you know passes away, have you ever asked yourself “what would I say to them, if given one more chance?” We all live with regrets in our lives.

This lead me to think about why so many people wait to act, until it’s too late. Why do we push off doing or saying something when we have the chance right now?

𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬

In my estate planning practice, I see the results of this all the time. Someone has to have surgery, and I get the panicked call asking if I can prepare a Power of Attorney for Health Care.

Someone else calls saying their elderly parent just got diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and asking “is it too late for them to complete a will or trust?”

Why do we wait until a crisis arises to do something that could have easily been done before?

Why do we push off some of the most important things in our life?

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐭 𝐒𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞

Recently, I read an article on the reasons people procrastinate. A lot of these are common sense, but according to Psychology Today, typical reasons include:

-Depression & Anxiety
-Can’t prioritize
-It’s hard or painful to complete
-Parents or siblings were procrastinators

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫

I have a lot of prospective client’s contact me about getting a will or trust completed. I will send them some information and then, I don’t hear from them for months on end. From my perspective, here are some reasons why that is:

1. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧- We are bombarded with interruptions in our daily lives. Phone calls, emails, texts, sick kids, you name it, we all have this in our lives. This is the built in excuse for putting things off.

2. 𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬- Have you ever gone to a diner with someone who stares at a 6-page menu and can’t figure out what they want to eat? Too many choices lead to paralysis.

3. 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬- Or, what I call, the “what if” game. You can analyze things all you want, but you can’t predict the future. This leads to delay after delay.

4. 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠- When it comes to estate planning, some people think that by signing their will they are also signing their death warrant. 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐈𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍 𝐀 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋!

𝐍𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧!

We all are procrastinators to one degree or another. Most of the time, the consequences for our procrastination doesn’t really cause us much harm. However, there are things that, if you procrastinate doing, will come back to bite you in a big way.

Most of us hate having to get our paperwork together to have our taxes done. But what if we don’t? The IRS comes calling.

When it comes to estate planning, no decision = no plan.

No plan will cost your loved ones:

𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒, 𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍, 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘

Don’t delay. Contact me today.

____________________________________________________________

Do you want to avoid the problems I have described here?

Invest 35 minutes of your time and meet with me.

-I won’t charge you a nickel for meeting with me
-I will review your situation and I will make recommendations for you
-I take a no pressure approach

**************************************************************************************************************
Feel free to forward this to anyone who may benefit from it.
**************************************************************************************************************
Comments? Ideas? Opinions or questions?
I invite you to share them with me. You can reach me as follows:

𝐋𝐚𝐰 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐃𝐞𝐑𝐮𝐞

𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞: (𝟖𝟒𝟕) 𝟑𝟓𝟔-𝟐𝟐𝟑𝟑

𝐄𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥: 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤@𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐋𝐚𝐰𝐲𝐞𝐫.𝐜𝐨𝐦

01/05/2021

Common Estate Planning Mistakes-Part I

4 Blunders That Can Cost You & Your Family Big Money!

by Mark DeRue, Attorney at Law
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Make Sure You Are Not Doing Any of These

In my years of practice, people tend to make similar mistakes over and over again. The results of these mistakes will cost money, time, stress and unnecessary aggravation for your family.

BLUNDER #1: NOT HAVING A WILL OR TRUST

By not having a will or trust someone else is making decisions for you. Here is what happens:

-The State of Illinois, not YOU, determines “who gets your assets”

-A Judge, not YOU, decides who gets to raise your children

-Unnecessary expenses must be paid for bonds, court fees and guardian expenses

-Your children get their hands on your money at age 18, WITHOUT ANY RESTRICTIONS

BLUNDER #2: PREPARING OWN WILL/TRUST or GETTING ONE ON THE INTERNET

By getting some “fill in the blank” form off of the internet you are more likely to end up leaving your family with a mess or worse, litigation.

Some people think you are saving money by going to some online, document preparation service. The truth is it actually may cost you more because you are not getting any legal advice from these sights. They do not give any legal advice (read their disclaimers). They will just prepare it any way you tell them.

The problem with that is: You don’t know what the best for your situation is.

Do I need a trust or will?

Who should be guardian of my children?

When should my kids be allowed to get their share at age 18, 21 or 25?

I could list 50 more questions, but I hope you get my point. This is why you need solid advice.

Another problem in preparing your own documents or having a service prepare them, is with witnessing, attesting and notarization.

If these are done wrong, your cheap will IS NOT VALID.

These “do it yourself” documents tend to create language that is ambiguous and not very clear. This can lead to uncertainty as to what was intended, which can lead to arguments and even lawsuits to try to figure out what you meant to say.

For example: Aunt Millie wants to leave her car to her nephew, Steve. Her will states:

“I give my 2019 Pontiac Firebird to my nephew, Steve”. The problem with this is a few months before she died her car was totaled and she bought a 2019 Toyota Camry.

Is Steve entitled to the Toyota Camry? Does the estate have to buy him the Pontiac Firebird?

BLUNDER #3: ADDING YOUR CHILD or CHILDREN TO THE TITLE OF YOUR HOME

The idea behind someone doing this is that they think that this makes it easier. Here is why this is a really bad idea:

Loss of the Stepped-Up Basis- Without going into a lot of detail, there could be significant tax consequences.

Gift Tax Consequences- You are gifting away a large portion of your home. Do you have to file anything with the IRS?

Someone Sues Your Child(ren)- If your child has a judgment against them, that could result in a lien, levy or foreclosure of your home.

Your Child Gets Divorced- Is your home now tangled up in their messy divorce?

Horror Story: You decide to sell your home and move away. One of your children that you added to your house is no longer speaking with you. You tell them that they will have to sign a deed to sell your house, but they refuse to. You know have to sue your child to force them to sell the property. And here is the really bad news: They get their percentage of money from the sale of your property, not YOU!

BLUNDER #4: NOT HAVING ENOUGH LIFE INSURANCE

A larger percentage of client’s that I meet with do not have nearly enough life insurance. Just think about this: If you die, is there enough income and assets that your family won’t have to move?

Right now, life insurance is cheap. Particularly, if you are talking about term insurance. There are a lot of variables with life insurance, but if you are under 45 and a non-smoker, you can easily get $500,000 of life insurance for around $50.00 per month.

Life insurance provides money to pay mortgage payments, taxes, car payments & college. You do not want the death of you or your spouse to affect the lifestyle of your family.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that your life insurance through work is enough. Usually it is a few times your annual income, which is not enough. Also, if you lose your job, there goes the life insurance.

A lot of people don’t think they have that much to leave to their spouse or children. Having the proper amount of life insurance solves that problem. Also, if you are in a 2nd marriage situation, the right amount of life insurance can go a long way.

Do you want to avoid the problems I have described here? Invest 35
minutes of your time and meet with me.

-I won’t charge you a nickel for meeting with me
-We’ll review your situation and I will make recommendations for you
-I take a no pressure approach
-You can think about it

**************************************************************************************************************
Feel free to forward this to anyone who may benefit from it.
***************************************************************************************************************

Comments? Ideas? Opinions or questions?
I invite you to share them with me. You can reach me as follows:

03/08/2019

02/18/2019

Guide To Understanding the Changes to the 7.0 Real Estate Contract -

As you know, the recent release of the 7.0 Multi-Board Residential Real Estate Contract was unveiled. Unlike past changes, the 7.0 has significant changes that dramatically affect many aspects of negotiating a real estate contract. 

01/30/2019

Wills vs. Trusts: Which Is Better for You? - https://mailchi.mp/eda8f98d6c4b/wills-vs-trusts-which-is-better-for-you

01/25/2019

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