Let us handle the hard stuff.

ELDER LAW • ESTATE PLANNING • WILLS & TRUSTS • GUARDIANSHIP & PROBATE LITIGATION

Happy Halloween from Generation Law!

 

October offers all kinds of fun whether that means visiting a local pumpkin patch, cheating on your diet to eat handfuls of candy, or enjoying all the great costumes that the kids (and adults) are wearing this year.

 

At Generation Law, we like to celebrate the season by decorating the office and doing a mystery monster gift exchange. Hopefully if you enjoy the Halloween season, you have fun festivities lined up to celebrate with. After all, a little bit of fun and holiday joy goes a long way to provide happiness these days.

 

Aside from the scary movies and spooky campfire stories, Generation Law has valuable wisdom to help steer our clients away from real life horror stories. This month in our News to Know section, you can read up about what can happen when a care giver manipulates an elderly couple, coercing them to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and real property. In these instances, the best defense against messy litigation is creating a rock-solid estate plan ahead of time. Of course, Generation Law is here to help whether it be in the form of proactive estate planning or litigation. 

 

On the topic of estate planning, another horror story is highlighted about the potential pitfalls of DIY estate planning. Hiring an expert estate planning attorney to handle the estate planning can prevent unnecessary shock and horror down the road.

 

I think we can all agree that it’s best to leave horror in the pretend world. In our focus areas of law, we see the horror stories, and we offer fantastic services that will help navigate our clients through the horror stories as they arise. Of course, we also pride ourselves on providing services that prevent horror stories from ever happening. Preparation is key, and we are experts in preparing your future to be as stress-free as possible for your loved ones.

 

Until next month, be safe and remember we are always here to help.



OCTOBER'S NEWS TO KNOW

Handling Post-Death Litigation

Just in time for Halloween, here’s a real horror story: An elderly couple met a caregiver through their church, who promptly coerced them to give almost $300,000 in cash and real property to her. With the help of Generation Law, the couple’s adult children fought tooth and nail to recover those assets – and the elderly man died during this arduous process.

READ MORE

Halloween Horrors:

How DIY Planning Can Haunt You

If you need a good scare, this DIY estate planning case should do the trick.


In Centrue Bank v. Voga, an Illinois court case decided, a woman tried to amend her late father’s trust to include benefits for her sister. 

READ MORE
FIRM BRIEF

Generation Law Employee Spotlight

Rachel K Anderle, J.D.

Associate Attorney


We are thrilled to welcome Rachel K. Anderle, J.D. to Generation Law! Rachel is freshly armed with a Juris Doctor from the University of Washington School of Law and was admitted into the Illinois Bar Association earlier this year.

 

Rachel earned a dual Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Strategic Communication from Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, graduating with summa cum laude honors. She served as the Editor of the Butler Collegian, where she honed her abilities in listening, being detail-oriented, and putting people at ease while discussing potentially stressful matters. These skills (among many others) make her a valuable asset to the Generation Law team.

 

Prior to joining Generation Law, she interned at the Washington State Attorney General’s Office in Seattle. Before that, she served as a clerk at the UW Regulatory Environmental Law & Policy Clinic in Seattle.

 

Her professional goals are to use her skills to assist her clients and make a positive impact on their lives. She takes pride in drafting estate plans, trusts, wills, advanced directives, and powers of attorney to meet the unique needs of each client.

 

In her leisure time, Rachel enjoys reading non-fiction current events and history books, mystery novels, and an occasional Jane Austen novel. She is also a skilled baker and enjoys making her signature cheesecakes for family and friends.

Generation Law Leads the Way at IICLE's Elder Law Short Course


On October 23 and 24, 2023, Ben Neiburger, Melissa Johnson, Dirk Bromberek, and Rachel Anderle attended the two-day Elder Law Short Course by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) in Burr Ridge, Illinois. Ben led one of the panel discussions, Melissa co-moderated the second day of the conference, and Dirk and Rachel attended all the sessions.

 

Ben’s panel, "Faith Based End of Life Decision Making," was based on an idea he originally conceived of 20 years ago, and finally brought to fruition. Ben moderated the panel which included an Islamic Cleric, a Jewish Rabbi, and a United Methodist Reverend - discussing how each of their faith’s end of life and burial traditions intersect with estate planning documents.

 

Melissa moderated the Litigation Presentation Track of the conference’s second day which included topics such as Contested Trusts & Estates, Special Needs Trusts, Estate Planning in Adult Guardianships, Citations to Discover and Recover, and Settlement Agreements.

Legal Questions?


Not sure where to start? Have questions for us?

We can help!


Call 630-782-1766 for questions, or visit our website to submit your questions online. We’ll publish the most commonly asked questions (and provide answers) in a future newsletter. 

Get social with us

for all the caregiver essentials: planning tips, checklists and a few laughs

747 N. Church Road • Suite B4 • Elmhurst, IL 60126

408 S. Oak Park Ave • Suite 4 • Oak Park, IL 60302

630-782-1766 • www.generationlaw.com

Info@GenerationLaw.com

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: This email newsletter does not create an attorney-client relationship. It does not contain legal advice for you or anyone else (so don’t act on anything we say unless you speak with an attorney first). It does contain facts and stories we think you might be interested in. We tried to keep this short because we really like you.