Creating a comprehensive estate plan is one of the most valuable gifts you can give to yourself and to your loved ones. At Hedeker LawLtd, we understand that the attorney you select to assist you with that plan is one of the keys to the ultimate success of the plan. We would be honored to sit down with you and discuss how we can help you create a plan that protects you, your estate assets, and the people you love.
Morton Grove, Illinois
Located in Cook County, in northeastern Illinois, the Village of Morton Grove encompasses just over five square miles and was home to 23,270 residents as of the 2010 Census.
Farmers from England, Germany and Luxembourg started arriving in the 1830s, clearing the land by cutting the walnut, oak, hickory, elm and maple trees. Around 1850, the road to/from Chicago now known as Milwaukee Avenue was improved to become a single lane plank (toll) road, which reduced a four-day journey into Chicago to about a half day. Lumber was also hauled to Jefferson Park to fuel locomotives, as the first railroads were built in the area.
In 1872, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad bought Miller’s Mill and laid track. The stop, which later became a station, was named Morton Grove to honor one of the railroad’s New York financiers, Levi Parsons Morton. The Morton Grove settlement grew rapidly and by 1874 had grown enough to have its first postmaster, Civil War veteran Medard Lochner. The first subdivision of 177 lots was platted in 1891 and the village formally incorporated on December 24, 1895, just eight days before Morton became the Governor of New York.
The first greenhouses were built in Morton Grove in 1885 (the railroad transported 135,000 tons of coal annually to heat them in cold weather), and the Poehlman Brothers’ floral business grew into one of the world’s largest floral firms, receiving international recognition when one of its roses won first place at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. The orchid department alone included eight greenhouses, and the nearby railroad station received flowers from the Philippines and South America to service customers with more exotic tastes. By 1915 the Poehlman Brothers’ payroll included 400 to 500 people. Sadly, the business went bankrupt in the Great Depression. Baxter Laboratories bought much of the former Poehlman land, and became a major employer in the following decades.
Morton Grove built a school in 1897, gained a telephone exchange in 1900, and established a volunteer fire department in 1904 with gas lines being installed in 1907. Morton Grove continued to grow and prosper with the village population exceeding 1000 in the 1920 census. During the “Jazz Age,” Morton Grove became known for its night clubs and speakeasies. The clubs offered live music and entertainment, dancing, fine food, and ambiance (and discreetly served liquor during Prohibition). Since Evanston to the north was dry (and headquarters of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union) and Skokie in between often hosted temperance lectures, Morton Grove’s speakeasies drew visitors in limousines and cars from across the North Shore.
After World War II, a new era of growth and prosperity began as Morton Grove entered the “Baby Boom” era. The population of Morton Grove grew from 2,010 in 1940 to 3,926 by 1950, then soared to 20,533 in 1960. In 1981, Morton Grove became the first town in America to prohibit the possession of handguns. Victor Quilici, a local lawyer, sued the city (Quilici v. Morton Grove). The federal district court as well as the Appellate Court ruled the Morton Grove ordinance to be constitutional, thus upholding the gun ban. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case, letting the lower court decision stand for almost three decades; however, in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2008 opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller the city dropped its prohibition on handguns.
By the turn of the century, people seeking a better life began venturing into the suburbs from Chicago and found Morton Grove. The community’s demographic mix continued to change from its predominantly Germanic founding. Morton Grove gained many Filipino immigrants, as well as many from Syria, India and Pakistan, so that by 2010 it had one of the largest Asian communities on the North Shore.
Hedeker Law, Ltd. in the Morton Grove Community
The attorneys and staff at Hedeker Law are proud to be active in the Village of Morton Grove community and to call the residents of Morton Grove our friends and family. We firmly believe that our ties to the community and the people of Morton Grove allow us an advantage when helping clients with their estate planning needs. Given the importance of your estate plan, we understand that choosing the right attorney to assist you is imperative and we would be honored to be that choice.
Creating your estate plan will be one of the most important endeavors of your lifetime. Once your estate plan is in place, it should do more than simply dictate what happens to your assets when you are gone. While creating a plan for the distribution of your assets is part of a comprehensive estate plan, a well thought out plan should also help protect and grow those assets while you are here as well as ensure that they are available to provide for loved ones in the event of your incapacity or death. Furthermore, as you move through the various stages of your life, your estate plan should be reviewed and revised to mark those stages and the additional estate planning goals you likely acquire as well. For example, when you marry or become a parent for the first time, you should take the time to update your estate plan to include your spouse and/or child. You may also wish to incorporate new components into your plan, such as incapacity planning and probate avoidance. Hopefully, the value of your estate will grow along with your family, prompting the need to include asset protection strategies into your plan as well. Once you have a well-established family and career, you should begin to focus more on the future by creating a retirement planning component within your estate plan. As you get closer to actually retiring you will also want to discuss the need for Medicaid planning and funeral planning with your estate planning attorney. The highly personal nature of estate planning means that there may be additional, less common, goals and objectives that need to be included in your plan such as special needs planning or business succession planning.
At the estate planning firm of Hedeker Law Ltd. we know it can be difficult to discuss deeply personal, and often sensitive, estate planning issues with a stranger. It is for this reason that we strive to create lifelong relationships with our clients that allow us to help protect you, your assets, and your loved ones both now and in the future.
Contact Us
If you have additional questions or concerns regarding estate planning, or if you are ready to get started on your plan, contact the Morton Grove, Illinois planning attorneys at Hedeker Law Ltd. by calling (847) 913-5415 to schedule your initial consultation.
