Hedeker Law

For many people, starting a small business is a dream come true. If you are one of those people, and you hope to one day pass down your business to the next generation, planning ahead is the key. Sadly, many family businesses do not successfully make the transition from one generation to the next because the matriarch or patriarch failed to plan for the transfer of ownership. There are a number of strategies you can use to transfer your business down to the next generation, including a Family Limited Partnership. A Family Limited Partnership, or FLP, is a type of [Read more…]

No one enters into a marriage planning for the marriage to end. The reality, however, is that about half of all first marriages do end in divorce in the United States. The divorce rate is even higher for second, and subsequent, marriages. If you have significant and/or sentimental assets, and you are planning to marry, you need to take steps to protect those assets against the possibility of divorce. You can do that by including asset protection planning in your comprehensive estate plan. How Does Divorce Threaten Your Assets? When you are deeply in love and seeing life through the [Read more…]

For most people, the primary goal of an estate plan is to ensure that their assets are passed down to help provide for loved ones upon their death. For those assets to be available to be passed down, however, they must also be protected over the course of your lifetime from a wide variety of threats. In fact, asset protection tools and strategies should be a routine part of any well thought out estate plan. The asset protection lawyers at Hedeker Law, Ltd. explain how you can use an irrevocable living trust to protect the assets that make up your [Read more…]

Are you already saving money for your retirement? Are you disciplined with your savings and careful with how you invest those savings? Is all of that part of a larger plan to ensure that you have amassed a sufficient retirement nest egg to live comfortably during your “Golden Years?” If so, then you undoubtedly would not want something to threaten your plan, or more specifically your retirement nest egg. There may, however, be a fairly serious and potentially damaging threat to your retirement nest egg – and you may not even be aware of it. The Lincolnshire asset protection lawyers [Read more…]

For many people, one of the primary reasons for creating an estate plan is to ensure that the assets they spend a lifetime accumulating are distributed according to their wishes at the time of death. If that applies to you then there is something else you need to also consider in your estate plan – asset protection. Unless you protect the assets you own, there won’t be anything left to pass down to your intended beneficiaries at the end of your life. A trust can be an excellent asset protection tool if it’s the right type of trust. The asset [Read more…]

When you contemplate your estate plan, your focus is likely on creating a plan that ensures your loved ones will be cared for after you are gone. Executing a Last Will and Testament is one way to pass down assets that will provide for your loved ones in your absence; however, there must be assets left to pass down for that to work. The estate you work so hard to build up while you are alive can only help those you leave behind if your estate assets survive long enough to do so. It is for this reason that many [Read more…]

Estate planning, when done properly, should accomplish a wide range of inter-related goals. While the distribution of your estate assets at the end of your life will remain part of your estate plan, additional goals should be included as well to create a comprehensive estate plan. Protecting the assets that you acquire over the course of your lifetime, for example, should be a primary goal so that you have something left to pass down to your loved ones after you are gone.  The asset protection attorneys at Hedeker Law, Ltd., explain why incapacity planning can help you protect your assets. [Read more…]

For many people, the primary purpose of creating an estate plan is to ensure that the assets they spent a lifetime acquiring are passed down to their children when they are gone. If this applies to you, it is imperative that you recognize the need to protect those assets throughout the course of your lifetime so they remain a part of your estate at the time of your death. To help you, the asset protection attorneys at Hedeker Law Ltd. explain how to protect your children’s inheritance now so it can be passed down later. Estate Planning Goals Although every [Read more…]

For many people, owning a small business is part and parcel of the American Dream. If you are one of those people, and you have worked hard to make that dream a reality, it is imperative that you also take steps to protect the business you have created and nurtured. Not only must you protect that business from a wide variety of potential threats during your lifetime, but you must also include your business in your estate plan to ensure that it successfully makes the transition to the next generation or that your loved ones receive the fair market value [Read more…]

For the average person, becoming a parent is a life-changing event. Everything is viewed in a different light once you are a parent. Your estate planning goals and objectives are no exception to that general rule. In fact, estate planning takes on a heightened importance when you are the parent of a minor child. Although the urgency that you feel regarding the need to have an estate plan in place may give way to a less urgent desire to keep your estate planning current once your children reach the age of majority, the common thread for all parents is the [Read more…]