Hinch Law

Ok, after a brief interlude, I'm back to complete the third and final part of my answer to the latest question in the "Ask a Lawyer" series.  The question is, "Why should I hire a lawyer to incorporate my business?"  We have broken this question down into three parts, as follows: How do I know what form of business entity is right for me?  Should every business incorporate? What's the difference between a corporation and a limited liability company?  Which is right for me? Why should I hire a lawyer to help form my corporation/LLC?  Why not do it myself?   Having addressed 1 and 2 in previous posts, this post will answer 3 and complete our response to the overall question.   Allow me to call out the elephant in the room implied in question 3 -- lawyers cost money, perhaps a lot of money. That's money that could be spent investing in the business.  On the other hand, forming a corporation is "easy."  To satisfy the State of Il...

I am honored to have had an article I wrote published in the October 2011 issue of the newsletter for the Illinois State Bar Association 's Construction Law Section, entitled "Must a homeowner establish the contractor's state of mind to state a claim for a violation of the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act?"  I have written extensively about the HRRA on this blog (I believe this will be my 20th post carrying the "home repair and remodeling" tag), both because it is directly related to one of my core practice areas, construction law, and also because it is an area of the law that has been a veritable hornet's nest in recent years, and therefore fascinating.   The statute was amended last summer and the Illinois Supreme Court released an important case opinion at essentially the same time.   Further amendments were enacted this summer and will take effect in January 2012. Before last summer, the controversial question was essentially this - ...

In our last post, we provided the first in a three part response to the question, "Why Should I Hire a Lawyer to Help Incorporate My Business?"  The first part of our answer was to first consider whether every business ought to "incorporate," and what are the options available for small business owners to consider. This post provides part two of our answer - once a business owner makes the decision to form a limited liability entity, which form of entity should she choose?  For the majority of business owners, this comes down to a choice between a corporation, often an "S-corporation", and a limited liability company.  What's the difference? First, note that State law is essential to understanding how corporations and LLCs are formed, operated, dissolved, etc.  Each State is different, and some States are considered to have business statutes and supporting court opinions that are more favorable to business owners than other States.  Delawar...

Having just finished a three-part answer to the last question in the "Ask a Lawyer" series, about why to consider hiring a lawyer to help with your will and estate plan , the next question in line also requires a multi-part answer.  The question is "why should I hire a lawyer to help incorporate my business?"  To help provide a thorough answer, we will break the question down as follows: How do I know what type of entity is appropriate for me and my business?  Should every business incorporate? What's the difference between a corporation and a limited liability company?  Which should I choose? Why should I hire a lawyer to help form my corporation/limited liability company?  Why not do it myself? I will address question 1. above in this post.  To decide which type of entity is best for you, it's important to understand what are your options.  I will list the most common choices here with a very brief description of each. Sole Proprietorshi...

This is the third and final part of the "Ask a Lawyer" series of posts responding to the initial question, "Why should I hire a lawyer to help with my will or trust."  In the first post , we explained why it is important to have an "estate plan," and what that entails.  In the second edition , we discussed why everyone should have a will.  The third component of the initial question says, assuming that I've convinced you that you need to do some estate planning, why hire a lawyer to help?  Why not use one of the many website offering will forms for cheap and simply do it yourself? First, if you've made it this far and recognize that you need to do some estate planning, I commend you .  You have already made a decision to take action to provide for your loved ones and to consider what will happen to your estate when you are gone.  You have overcome the first, significant hurdle-- you are doing something and not procrastinating! Having decide...

This is the second in a long-winded three part answer to the question, "Why Should I Hire a Lawyer to Help with My Estate Planning?"  In Part 1 , we talked about estate planning generally and why it is important.  This post will address the issue of why it is important to have a will, and the tangential question "what happens if I die without a will?"  Finally, the last part of this series will answer the question implied in these questions - "Even if I need a Will, why shouldn't I just do it myself, or order one off a website?" Hopefully most people know that a Will is a legal document that allows one to state their wishes for what happens to their assets when they die (excluding certain non-probate assets, such as life insurance) and who manages their estate.  A Will can also designate who will serve as guardian for one's children.  Wills are often drafted in conjunction with trusts to provide additional safeguards for management of assets...

This is a common question and has multiple layers to it.  To give a complete answer, I will break it out into three questions, and answer the latter two parts in future posts: 1.  What is "estate planning" and why should I have an estate plan (a/k/a, isn't that just for the "rich")? 2.  Why do I need a Will, and what happens if I die without a Will? 3.  Even if I need a Will, why shouldn't I just do it myself, or order one off a website? Appropriately answering number 1 first, an estate plan is really the process of considering what will happen when you die or are incapacitated.  This involves financial considerations, such as how your assets will be distributed, via wills, trusts, probate, and other non-probate assets such as life insurance; who will inherit family heirlooms; how taxes, debts, and expenses will be handled; and who will direct your affairs.  It also involves personal, family considerations, such as who will take care of your kids...