title to property

[curiouscat]

My husband and I live in Illinois. We're in the process of jointly refinancing a property located in Illinois which my husband owned prior to our marriage. My husband has about $50,000 equity in the property. The mortgage will be for $145,000. The property is currently held in trust with two of his children as trustees. This was made as an irrevocable trust. The children will cooperate in giving up claim to the property, but we don't know what is involved in having them do so. Could you please advise on this.

My husband owns a small business which is organized as a Subchapter S corp. We want to protect the property from creditors to the fullest extent possible. What is the best method to hold title to the property--a trust, tenants by the entirety, a trust with the beneficial interest held by tenants by the entirety, or some other method?

Finally, we entered into a postnuptial agreement shortly after out marriage last year. We would like to have the equity my husband currently has in the property remain his and that any increase in the property value from its current value of $195,000 will be shared equally between us in the event of sale, etc. Is this permissible under Illinois law? Will the agreement need to be amended to provide for this since the property was premarital property at the time the agreement was entered into? If so, does Illinois law require that the amendment be prepared by an attorney?

 

[ALawyer]

I do not know about Illinois law, but take a look at http://family-law.freeadvice.com/pre_marital_agreement/ for some information on Pre-Maritals.

As for modifying the agreement -- see a local lawyer to make sure it is done right from a tax and legal perspective.

In terms of asset protection, take a look in https://law.freeadvice.com/estate_planning/asset_protection/ but I caution against going overboard. AVOID some of the horrible scam artists out there that frighten people silly and convince them to pay huge bucks to set up elaborate protection schemes that would allegedly protect against really remote events, and as a result wind up making lif far more complicated than it need be (and sometimes inadvertantly putting assets in the hands of crooks).

Keeping good corporate records and books and not personally guaranteeing corporate obligations is often the best proection and all someone needs.