With the passing of the Illinois Civil Union Act, partners may not take advantage of their new found status under the probate act. This advantage comes to play in a number of scenarios. The first of which is if there is children involved. Under the new law, partners under the Civil Union Act have the same rights as spouses under the law. This means that if two incomes were needed to maintain the family, and one partner meets a premature death, the other spouse will have the proper assets to care for their child. The reason for this is that spouses, and not partners, have the privileged of being designated in the primary prefrence category for receipt of assets. A partner would be ensured a primary preference category for up to 9 months and an award of no less than $20,000.00. Partners will also have preference category for being designated as the administrator of the estate. This is wildly different than the previous designation for same sex partners.
The key for couples who have taken advantage of the Civil Union Act is to consult an attorney about the status of their estate planning because there is only a limited number of states that recognize this law. A knowledgeable attorney should be consulted before any move is contemplated. If you would like to find out more about probate or estate planning under the civil union law, call;
Law Office of Jonathan W. Cole
5013 W. 95th St.
Oak Lawn, IL 60453
708-529-7794
www.jwcolelaw.com
No comments:
Post a Comment