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!