Real Estate Update - $8,000 Tax Credit Extended

As you may have heard, the first-time home buyers credit of $8,000.00 has been extended recently by the Federal government, which is welcome news to the real estate community. The extension is good through June 2010 and the hope is this extension will allow further progress on the housing market for the last quarter of 2009 through the typically heavy spring/summer housing market in 2010. We welcome this as an opportunity for continued economic growth.

QMM concentrates in residential and commercial real estate transactions. If you or anyone you know might be a first-time home buyer, this would be an ideal time for them to purchase while taking advantage of this historic credit. We are happy to assist in all closings and welcome all questions/referrals.

In addition, the new legislation allows other categories of persons to obtain credits of up to $6,500 even if they are not first-time home buyers, but rather, are persons who have owned and occupied their homes for five years out of the past eight. Again, another welcome incentive for persons that might otherwise not have been able to move out of their existing homes due to the falling price of their home.

For more information, feel free to contact one of our attorneys at 630-759-7000 or via e-mail at: info@qmmlaw.com.

Do You Have Enough Auto Insurance Coverage?

Having represented persons involved in motor vehicle collisions for many years, this is a question I wish more clients would have address before being the victim of an injury resulting from the negligence of another driver. Whenever I give presentations with respect to personal injury, this is also the number one recommendation I have for people - GET MORE INSURANCE AND PROTECT YOURSELF!!

Per Illinois law, persons operating a motor vehicle need only have a minimum of $20,000.00 in liability coverage. (For complete list of state insurance requirements - see www.insure.com). This means, that if one is the victim of an injury due to the negligence of another driver and you incur medical bills over $20,000, it is unlikely that you will recover anything more than $20,000.

What is the problem you might ask? Well, in today's world, medical treatment costs have risen to all time highs. A person can incur medical bills totaling over $20,000 very quickly, considering the large costs of Hospital care, tests such as x-rays and MRI's, and physical therapy. If a person sustains and injury requiring hospitalization or surgery, it is likely that his/her bills will go over $20,000. Legally, the person responsible for an accident (the Defendant) can be personally liable for any medical charges or pain and suffering as a result of their negligence over and above $20,000; however, in today's society, most people don't have large sums of extra money laying around and thus, it's difficult to recover anything further from them personally.

What should you do to protect yourself? You can obtain coverage on your own, called underinsured coverage. This would pay for anything over and above what is paid by the Defendant (over $20,000 for example, or an additional $80,000 if you had a $100,000 underinsured policy. I would recommend a policy of AT LEAST $100,000 to ensure you can recover both the medical loss and pain and suffering caused by another negligent driver. I have been told by many insurance agents that the difference in an underinsured policy of $20,000 versus $100,000, is many times only $5 to $10 extra dollars per month. Considering statistics show motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for Americans aged 3-33 since 2002, why take the risk of having little to no insurance to properly compensate you for a loss? If you seek the proper coverage BEFORE your accident, you won't have to wonder why you can only recover such a small amount if your the victim of an injury caused by the negligence of a driver with low insurance coverage.

Will County Approves Memorials for Crash Victims

The Will County Board recently became the first county in Illinois to approve a roadside memorial program allowing families who have lost loved ones to drunk drivers to apply for signage that will be placed at the site of the accident. A 36 x 24 inch blue sign with white letters will read, "Please Don't Drink and Drive," and an optional plaque can be placed below the sign with the name of the victim and the date of the crash. The bill is intended to raise public awareness of impaired driving by emphasizing its dangers and the loss of human life through roadway signs. Those interested may contact the highway department at 815-727-8476 for more information.

As a Bolingbrook Law Firm representing hundreds of will county residents in personal injury matters, Quinn, Meadowcroft & Marker is aware of the dramatic impact an injury or loss of life by a negligent driver can cause one's family. We applaud the legislation - The Roadside Memorial Act of Jan. 1, 2008 - and will continue to fight for the rights of those suffering injuries as a result of the negligence of other drivers.

If you or someone you know has suffered injuries as the result of a auto collision, please contact QMM for a free consultation. We can be reached via our website at http://www.qmmlaw.com/, via e-mail at info@qmmlaw.com, or by calling 630-759-7000.

Work Injury - Tip of the Week

Be sure to notify your employer immediately any time you have any injury. Many employees are afraid to notify their employers when they are injured at work. Sometimes this is due to feeling one's injury is "nothing big" or "will go away". Other times, employees are afraid to tell their employers about their injuries for fear of being fired. Notifying one's employer of a work injury is required under the Illinois Workers Compensation Act. Specifically, employees must notify their employers of work injuries within 45 days.

We recommend employees notify their employers immediately even though you have 45 days to do so. This is because the more time that elapses between your injury and your notice to your employer, the more likely they will red flag your case.

Additionally, be sure to ask your employer to complete an accident report in writing. Most employers should have this form on hand and if they do not, their insurance company can forward one to them. We recommend employees notify their employers of EVERY part of their body they feel pain, even if minimal.

For more information on work injury claims, do not hesitate to contact our firm at 630-759-7000 or e-mail one of our attorneys at info@qmmlaw.com.

Estate Planning Tip of the Week - Are Your Beneficiaries Up to Date?

As the economy continues its difficulties, we thought a tip to secure your family's future income was in order. The average persons owns either an IRA, 401(k), 403(b), or some other sort of retirement vehicle, by which they likely plan on living off of when they reach retirement age. Generally, we sign up for these accounts and list an initial beneficiary and perhaps a secondary beneficiary. However, thereafter, years pass and many of us forget to ensure our beneficiaries are listed properly on these retirement accounts. This tip is to remind you to review your beneficiaries listed on your accounts and update them frequently and often if you should need.

Why is this important you might ask? In some cases, the money may be paid to someone other than who you actually wanted to receive the funds. An example would be an IRA set up before you are married naming your parents or beneficiaries, when you really want the fund to go to your spouse. Also note that if no named beneficiaries survive you, your probate estate may end up as beneficiary by default. This can cause several problems as you probably cannot maximize tax deferrals by spreading out the distribution, and a probate will involve additional costs. Also, do not forget you probably want to designate secondary beneficiaries.

When it comes to the tax issues, your spouse is generally the best choice for a primary beneficiary. However, if your estate is very large, (over 3 million) naming the spouse will increase the size of the spouse's estate for possible death taxes at the time of your spouses death.

Remember, most inherited assets, such as bank accounts, stocks and real estate pass to the beneficiaries without income tax being due. This is generally not the case with 401(k) plans and IRA's. In any event, our tip is to review the beneficiaries on your retirement accounts, life insurance and/or other policies and make changes if necessary.

Should you have any further questions about this or any other estate planning issue, please feel free to contact us at 630-759-7000 or e-mail any of our attorneys at out website: www.qmmlaw.com.

Away We Go...

The Bolingbrook law firm, Quinn, Meadowcroft & Marker (QMM), is pleased to announce the creation of its new Blog - BolingbookLegal !

The Blog was created to provide the people of Bolingbrook and surrounding communities with additional legal resources in the areas of practice in which the firm concentrates - which includes Injury Law, Workers' Compensation, Family Law (Divorce, Child Support, etc.), Real Estate Law, Business Incorporation, and Wills & Trusts. QMM is one of the most long standing legal firms in Bolingbrook. The firms initial partners, Reynar Meadowcroft and Robert Quinn, have been practicing in Bolingbrook and the surrounding communities for over 30 years. The firm has been nominated for the "Best of Bolingbrook Business" award the past 5 years. With such a history of excellence, the firm has become a mainstay in the area, providing expert legal representation within the areas of its concentration.

Currently, the firm comprises of four (4) attorneys. Along with Mr. Quinn and Mr. Meadowcroft, are attorneys Jason A. Marker, Esq. and Amber Mikula, Esq. Mr. Marker handles all injury matters, but most specifically work place injuries and serious auto collisions. He has successfully represented thousands of residents in the surrounding communities and is well respected by his peers. Mr. Marker litigates cases in Will, DuPage, Cook, Kane, and Kendall counties. He has successfully tried many jury cases and obtained large verdicts and settlements for clients. In addition, Mr. Marker serves on various Boards and devotes many hours to community endeavors, including Blue Chips for Life, a non-for-profit organization.

Ms. Mikula is a highly respected and experienced attorney, who practices family law the Will, DuPage, Cook, Kendall, and Kane counties. She is well known for her trial preparation and experience, having successfully litigated many family law matters before judges throughout the surrounding communities. In addition, Ms. Mikula serves as a Board member for the Joliet Habitat for Humanity non-for-profit organization and devotes countless hours to its success.

All of the attorneys at QMM have one main goal - to provide the highest quality of legal representation while communicating effectively with our clients every step of the way. At QMM, we truly value each and every client. We have not forgotten that the legal profession is a service profession and we take pride in forming relationships with out clients.

Now that you know about the firm, you may wonder why we created a Blog? This Blog is an effort to provide further communication to existing clients, new prospective clients, and the legal community, as to issues one may face on a daily basis within the areas of our practice. As many clients can attest, once faced with a life-altering event, (such as a serious injury, divorce, real estate closing, etc.) it is important to find proper guidance - tips if you will - by qualified and experienced professionals - to help navigate through the variety of minefields that ultimately befall them. It is the hope of each attorney at QMM that we can provide persons with the type of information that will help during these times of crisis.

As such, we anticipate posting various summaries, tips, and other communication in a well thought-out and practical manner. It is our goal to allow anyone who reads this Blog to understand how they can help themselves in these times of crisis. Of course we invite anyone reading the Blog to contact the firm with any questions. The firm telephone number is 630-759-7000. We are located conveniently on Boughton Rd., just east of Schmidt Rd. in Bolingbrook. The firm website address is http://www.qmmlaw.com/.

As any proper attorney should, we must caution all persons reading this Blog with a proper disclosure - that is - every persons situation is different. The postings on this site are meant as general guidance and/or summary only. We caution all persons to understand that every situation is unique and by these postings, we are in no way meaning to provide legal representation or form an attorney-client agreement. This can only be done after proper consultation with QMM attorneys and signing appropriate representation documents.

And so, the QMM Blog is off and running....into a computer near you!