Family Law

• Divorce
• Premarital Agreement
  Prenuptial Agreement. The primary planning tool for those entering into numbered marriages is the Prenuptial or Pre-Marital Agreement. This document should detail the assets and values for each spouse and then state whatever their understanding is as to who is entitled to what in the event of divorce or death.
• Legal Separation
  A Contract agreed to by both spouses after their marriage that defines each spouse's rights to their marital, non-marital, community and jointly-owned property in the event of divorce, legal separation or the death of one of the parties. A postnuptial contract is considered to be valid and enforceable if it complies with the statutory requirements for pre-nuptial agreements. This is a first level asset protection planning technique for anyone with significant assets who remarried without having sought the advice of a legal advisor prior to their remarriage. Although the use of postnuptial agreements is not as common as pre-marital agreements, they do provide some protection if both parties are willing to agree to the terms and waive some of their marital rights after the fact. Pre-nuptial agreements are normally viewed to be a better asset protection solution as the terms are voluntarily agreed to prior to the marriage.

Criminal Law

• Assault

Business and Corporate Law

• Business Disputes
  Instructor/speaker for various banks and trust departments including Bank One (now Chase Bank ), Northern Trust Bank, Harris Bank, Old Second National Bank and Merrill Lynch (now Bank of America ).
• Limited Liability Companies
  Yes! The LLC is the most flexible business entity in existence and the ability to obtain creditor protection and retain management control are two of the reasons why limited liability companies have become so popular. The state in which the LLC is created can make a huge difference in the amount of creditor protection available to the owners or “members” of the LLC and this decision needs to be carefully considered by both the client and the attorney. LLCs usually cost a little more to create and maintain, but this additional cost is not significant when compared to the liability protection which is obtainable. From an income tax perspective, nothing comes close to the four tax treatment options available to the LLC. The LLC may, for income tax purposes, elect to operate as a sole proprietorship and become a “disregarded entity” thereby avoiding the double taxation inherent with some corporations. The LLC can also opt for the favorable “pass through” tax benefits available to partnerships. In the event that it would be desirable to be taxed as a corporation, the LLC can elect to be taxed as either a “C” corporation or as an “S” corporation.

Health Law

• Medical Malpractice
  The past several decades have brought an explosion of litigation from simple tort cases, to complex medical malpractice, product liability and environmental claims. Not too far back, people would never consider suing their family physician; however, today people are always looking for the easy dollar and will file suit against anyone for virtually any reason that they or their attorney can dream up. Who would have thought that a lawsuit for coffee being served too hot would result in a verdict of three million dollars and a settlement around one million dollars? The United States has over 70% of all attorneys worldwide and 94% of all lawsuits. This has created a sense of entitlement where everyone believes that they should be compensated by the court system for anything that goes wrong in their personal or business lives. This entitlement attitude has resulted in a Robin Hood situation where we take from the rich to give to the poor. No one sues poor people because they don't have any money to pay the claim, so the vast majority of lawsuits are directed against successful and affluent individuals who, at best, will lose some of their wealth just trying to defend a lawsuit and, at worst, will have a judgment entered against them which will result in the loss of their accumulated wealth. The problem continues to grow and is fueled in part by contingent legal fees and the fact that in the US each side pays their own legal fees. This provides no deterrent to a claimant with a questionable claim as they don't have to pay their attorney and if they lose they are not held responsible for the other side's legal fees and expenses either.
• Auto Accidents

Trusts and Estates

• Estate Planning
  The Law Offices of Robert D. Gillen is pleased to offer additional resources for those wishing to learn more about issues concerning asset protection, estate planning, and business planning...
• Wills
  A person or entity named in a Last Will and Testament and/or appointed by the Probate Court who is responsible for collecting the decedent's assets, paying the decedent's debts, taxes, and expenses, selling assets of the estate, and distributing the remaining property and money according to the terms of the Will or in accordance with the laws of intestate succession of the state of residence. The personal representative is a court-appointed fiduciary with great responsibilities such as the preservation and protection of the estate assets, accounting to the heirs and estate beneficiaries for all income and expenses, filing of all required personal federal and state estate tax returns for the decedent and the estate.
• Trusts
  A trust that cannot by its terms be amended or revoked by the grantor. Irrevocable trusts can be created during a grantor's lifetime for asset protection purposes, for life insurance or for completed gifting trusts, generation skipping trusts, qualified personal residence trusts (QPRT), grantor retained annuity trusts (GRAT), intentionally defective grantor trusts (IDGT), charitable remainder trusts or charitable lead trusts. Some common types of irrevocable trusts which are created at the death of the grantor as testamentary trusts include applicable exemption or unified credit trusts, charitable remainder or charitable lead trusts created under another trust agreement, or generation skipping trusts which are frequently designed as asset protection trusts for current and future family members.
• Power of Attorney
  Power of Attorney for Healthcare. The appointment of a hierarchy of agents to make medical decisions for you in the event of your disability is essential to every estate plan. The risk of having either the legal community or the medical community make any type of medical decisions is not acceptable. You need to specify exactly who can make these decisions so that the family can “trump” both the medical and legal communities and be assured of having the control to make the decisions in the event the need arises.
• Probate

Finance Law

• Bankruptcy
• Tax Law
  The principal of the firm, Robert D. Gillen, or, more familiarly, Bob, is a highly sought-after national and international speaker, instructor and presenter on asset protection planning and estate and gift tax matters. In addition to maintaining two law offices, Bob still manages to lecture or teach about once a month and to serve on several charitable boards.