Tidbits From The Law

The following are some items that may be of interest to you:

…A measure that would have extended COBRA benefits to a terminated employee has been cut from the Senate version of the jobs bill. The original version of the bill would have extended the benefit for three additional months. This measure will probably be advanced as a separate bill.

…Ford could be held to be liable for negligently designing a fuel tank in an automobile that had a fuel tank that burst into flames when struck from behind. This was an Illinois Appellate court case that will probably be appealed by Ford.

…A recent Supreme Court case dealt with the issue of who would receive the benefits of an employee benefit plan upon the death of the insured, the former spouse who was named in the plan documents or other family members of the deceased as a result of the marital settlement agreement effective on the date the divorce becomes final. Not only should the marital settlement agreement be specific in have the soon-to-be ex-spouse waive his or her rights to those specific benefits, the insured should also change the beneficiary designation with the plan administrator to someone other than the former spouse. This case only covered employee benefit plans covered by ERISA. If the spouse does not take similar action to change the beneficiary designation of life insurance at the time of the divorce, there will still be competing claims for the life insurance benefits.

…A new law passed the Illinois General Assembly, making it a misdemeanor to intentionally give a police officer a false name, place of residence or birth date. This applies when the person is arrested, detained or when the officer has asked for the information because the officer has good cause to believe that the person is a witness to a criminal offense.

…There is a bill in the Illinois house which expands the tenancy by the entirety property for residential real estate to include any interest in real property held in a revocable inter vivos trust created for estate planning purposes, provided that the husband and wife are the primary beneficiaries of the trust and that the trust specifically states that the interests of the beneficiaries to the homestead property are held as tenants by the entirety. This will extend the protection for a person’s residence, where a judgment creditor may want to attach and sell the residence of the debtor spouse after a judgment has been entered.