by Lauren Jackson | Nov 10, 2018 | Real Estate, real estate closing, selling a home, Transfer Stamp
Many cities and villages in Chicagoland and throughout Illinois require you to obtain a real estate transfer stamp before you can complete the sale of your property. If one is required, title companies will not complete the transaction unless a transfer stamp is...
by Lauren Jackson | Oct 10, 2018 | Beneficiary, Estate Planning, executor, Probate
An Executor for an estate is the person or entity chosen to carry out final wishes as stipulated in a will. Some of an executor’s responsibilities include: filing the will with the county clerk after the death of the testator, ensuring all debts/claims have been paid,...
by Lauren Jackson | Aug 29, 2018 | buying a home, Real Estate, real estate closing, selling a home
If you are selling a house, what exactly happens the day of the closing? First, the buyer will need to accomplish a final walk-through of the property. Before this can happen, all of your possessions must be out of the house. The buyer and their realtor will then...
by Lauren Jackson | Jul 12, 2018 | Estate Planning, Probate, Wills
In the estate-planning world, there are many different requirements (depending on the state) for a last will and testament to be valid. One of the main reasons to make a Will is for it to set forth the final distribution of your assets. There is no point in having a...
by Lauren Jackson | Jun 24, 2018 | buying a home, Real Estate, real estate closing, selling a home, Uncategorized
When you are selling your home (or any type of property for that matter) sellers are always curious what their closing costs are going to run. Sometimes the costs can make the difference as to whether you get money back or have to bring money to the closing. A lot of...
by Lauren Jackson | Jun 6, 2018 | buying a home, Real Estate, selling a home, Survey
In the state of Illinois, if you own a single family home or a townhouse with its own lot number, and you are selling your property, your real estate contract will require you to provide a survey to your buyer dated within the last six months. If you have bought the...
by Lauren Jackson | Apr 17, 2018 | buying a home, Real Estate, real estate closing, Real Estate Inspection
If you are in the process of buying a home or piece of property, one thing I advise my clients to do as soon as the ink on the contract is dry is to set up an inspection of the property performed by a certified home inspector. A lot of individuals think they can have...
by Lauren Jackson | Apr 3, 2018 | buying a home, mortgage, Real Estate, real estate closing, selling a home
As a real estate attorney, I have seen every reason or excuse as to why a buyer can’t close on time and requests an extension of the closing date. The most common reason being that the buyer’s lender is not ready with the loan approval, due to a plethora of reasons,...
by Lauren Jackson | Mar 19, 2018 | Beneficiary, Estate Planning, executor, Probate
If you know that you are listed as a beneficiary in a will or trust estate plan, what rights do you have when the executor is not being forthcoming? If you are a beneficiary of a will only (not a trust), there should be a probate court case that is open in the county...
by Lauren Jackson | Feb 20, 2018 | Estate Planning, executor, Probate, Small estate
If your mom had a trust and the bank account was properly transferred to be owned by the trust, then the trust should be able to distribute it. The bank should not give you any problems. If the bank account was not owned by the trust, but the amount in the account...
