Law Office of Thomas F. Sammons

03/13/2022

You don't need this. Very few home titles are stolen...

https://www.hometitlelock.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAybaRBhDtARIsAIEG3klM1bpPIG4KXIn5YMlRb1jxy-eSnXN8-BsIpQKPo0GlJVQgl5wwFooaAjT8EALw_wcB

06/27/2020

Closings were down in May, but have already come back nicely

Closings in Illinois in May dropped by 34%, according to Illinois Realtors. That's great news for sellers, but makes for a tricky time for homebuyers.

03/30/2020

Weird closing today....title company door was locked and no one was allowed in. The closer came to the door, after we knocked, and told the buyers and I to sit in the hallway. She went back inside and we did the closing by ourselves and could only talk to her by knocking on the window and waiting for her to come out. Took forever....

03/21/2020

Normally trusts and wills are signed in my office because old fashioned, "wet" signatures are still required (that needs to change). We have a workaround though and can still get trusts signed without office visits.

Getting Trusts Done During Shelter in Place March 21, 2020Estate Planning, Living Truststsammons Strange times as we all navigate the shelter in place mandate here in Illinois. With a few changes, clients can still sign new trusts or amend existing ones without office visits. Here’s how it works: ...

01/14/2020

Cook County Assessor just released the senior freeze and senior exemption forms for the 2019 tax year that need to be filled out and returned. Get these at www.cookcountyassessor.com and click exemption forms.

News flash: If you file the senior exemption this year, there is no need to reapply each year thereafter. This is new and a positive change!

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/greg-hinz-politics/senior-property-tax-break-now-permanent

Cook County homeowners no longer will have to apply every year to get the lucrative senior homestead exemption.

12/19/2019

Inherited IRAs may no longer stretched out for income tax payments if proposed law is passed and would be limited to a 10 year payout. I don't really agree that this is for the "wealthy."

Lawmakers are poised to severely curtail the "stretch IRA," a strategy allowing wealthy Americans to leave sizable inheritances to beneficiaries who can then tap those assets for decades.

01/20/2018

Cook County senior exemption and senior freeze applications are out and are due on Feb. 7, 2018 . http://www.cookcountyassessor.com/Office/News.aspx?id=445

01/11/2018

This is the best explanation that I've seen of the new 20% deduction for small businesses.

The 20 percent deduction for pass-through entities sounds good, but make sure your business qualifies.

01/09/2018

Yesterday in probate court, the case of "Ernest Banks" was called. It was a routine status call, for the estate of Mr. Cub. Ernie never made more than $75k playing baseball, but today he would make millions. He left a very small estate, but that didn't stop the heirs from fighting. This probate has everything, dispute over remains, will contest, citations to recover personal property. Quite the mess. Another attorney in Palatine wrote an interesting summary of the case:

This is the ninth installment in my series on various legal aspects of the Estate of Ernie Banks. You can read my first nine pieces here....

01/06/2018

Good summary on incorporating or not under new tax law

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is now law. Taxpayers and tax professionals alike have been mulling what the provisions of the new law might mean - and how to be best get around them. Tops in the minds of many taxpayers: Should I incorporate to save money?

02/06/2015

Some things are better left out of a living trust.
http://illinoislawnews.net/?p=932

12/29/2009

Estate tax goes away on Friday, but capital gains tax replaces it. Be sure to review will/trust for any estate of over $1 million.

The inheritance tax is abolished starting January 1. But it only stays abolished until December 31, 2010. On January 1, 2011, the old inheritance tax system returns, except that the amount that is free of inheritance tax changes to $1 million per person. Make sense? Of course not.