Creating a personal brand can be a way to establish an authentic image and stand out from the crowd. For most people, personal branding is a communications strategy rather than a career path. A carefully cultivated personal brand lets people know at a glance who we are, what we stand for, and the value we provide. But for anyone with …
Beginning your retirement is a great milestone that is worth celebrating. You have put in many years of hard work, and you are now able to focus your energy on the next phase of your life. However, before you begin this next chapter, you need to make sure that you have fully thought through this exciting change in your life. …
The simplicity of partnerships is alluring. They are easy to form, and often easy to operate. It can be tempting to hit the ground running with a partnership without first setting a partnership agreement out in writing. In this blog, I explore why a written partnership agreement is nevertheless important, and I review a few relevant terms to include in …
Estate planning is about protecting you and your loved ones. Sometimes this can be a difficult endeavor when there is a loved one who may require additional support at your death. While you may want to give as much as possible to this individual, you may not want to do so at the expense of others you care about. A …
While the word “trust” is often used to refer to certain legal instruments in the estate planning world, “land trust” is sometimes instead used to describe a nonprofit organization that holds an interest in land for conservation purposes or for the benefit of a certain community of people. In this blog, I review the concept of conservation land trusts. What …
A family office provides management services to a family whose businesses and wealth have become too complex and significant to manage by themselves. A family office often combines investment, legal, and tax services along with lifestyle and administrative services, such as making travel arrangements or coordinating the use of the family’s private aircraft. In addition to supporting and simplifying a …
In the State of Illinois, there are three types of guardianships of a minor. You can be the guardian of a minor’s person, a minor’s estate, or a minor’s person and estate. Regardless of which type of Guardianship of a Minor is needed, the process is typically the same. A Guardianship of a Minor’s Person is needed when a minor’s …
In estate planning circles, the word “probate” often carries a negative connotation. Indeed, for many people—especially those with valuable accounts and property—financial planners recommend trying to keep accounts and property out of probate whenever possible. That being said, the probate system was ultimately established to protect the deceased’s accounts and property as well as their family, and in some cases, …
A trustee has a duty under the law to communicate with beneficiaries and keep them reasonably informed as to the progress of the trust administration. Depending on your state’s law, such duty to inform may require the trustee to give beneficiaries a copy of the trust document, provide information regarding the anticipated timeframe of the trust administration, and prepare an …
Getting ready to embark on your next great adventure? Before you zip up the last suitcase, here are five issues you need to address to protect yourself and your loved ones. Do you have a foundational estate plan? Has it been reviewed? An estate plan is a set of instructions memorialized in legal documents that explains to your trusted decision …
Standing out in today’s crowded digital marketplace requires business owners to think creatively about brands. Customer attention is a limited commodity that all brands compete for. But there may be opportunities to partner with other brands to gain consumer attention and loyalty. Brand collaboration, or co-branding, is a strategic advertising and marketing partnership between two brands that each bring success …
Adult guardianship proceedings are complicated in their own right, but sometimes jurisdictional confusion adds an extra layer of difficulty. There may be no question about the appropriate jurisdiction for an adult guardianship proceeding where all relevant parties have lived, and continue to live, in the same jurisdiction; however, such is not always the case given the increasing mobility of the …