Recent content by dmode101

The question is whether your father has the ability to know the nature and objects of his bounty. If you can prove that he had advanced Alzheimer's at the time of signing a Will then I'd say you would stand a very good chance of having the will invalidated. Not to mention if the aunt is...

Without knowing the actual terms of the trust it's impossible for us to tell you waht you're entitled to. You or your attorney should request a copy of the portions of the trust that relate to you. The handwritten note could theoretically be considered a "trust" document but if the CD's are...

His assets will pass according to Illinois intestacy law priority. If the assets in the person's sole name exceeds $100,000 then someone needs to file to be named administrator and open a probate estate. Certain relatives are given priority in terms of who can apply to be administrator.

It sounds like you are on the right track. You do not need to file the small estate affidavit with the court. Assuming your mom has no outstanding debts or other assets, you should be able to transfer this with the small estate affidavit and not go through probate at all. When the estate is...

Only way you could still contest the will is if you are an "interested person" (an heir or beneficiary named in the will) and you were not given the proper timely notice. Otherwise, these deadlines are statutory and firm.

That's a very good question. What you are talking about is a "disclaimer". There are very specific and important rules governing disclaimers, both for state law and federal tax purposes. If you are considering this, I would strongly recommend that you contact an attorney ASAP. There are time...

There is a provision in the code that mitigates this apparent double taxation. An IRA like this is what is termed "income in respect of a decedent" (IRD). When the beneficiary of the IRA receves distribution and pays tax he or she can take a deduction for estate taxes paid on IRD. It is a...

I've been an Illinois estate planning attorney and I've never seen a joint will. They are royally bad ideas. You should have a new will done for yourself which revokes all prior wills. Then anything that is in your sole name at your death will pass under your new will so it will not matter...

Sounds like you have a quite a mess on your hands. To really adress all the issues you probably need legal representation to protect your interests. I'll try to answer your questions generally: 1-3. If it was the fault of the investment company, I believe it can be reversed without taxes due...

What you can do is give the heir the proper notice and petition the court to have his share distributed to the country treasurer. If the heir does nothing, the court should enter the order. The heir can then go ahead and collect it when he sees fit.

To transfer title to the house, you will probably need to open a probate estate. In determining distribution, whether your brother is your father's biological son will be a key question that would need to be resolved. The business assets that were liquidated also properly belong to the estate...

Durable powers of attorney are void after death, so they will not help to avoid probate.

Never actually seen a judge rule on this. I assume you know who has possession of the original will. I'm sure you can at least get a court order ordering filing of the will within a short period of time. Technically, if the person does not file it they can be charged with a felony.

As I opined in a previous post, you can try to petition the court to have the 19 year old removed as trustee, but you will need to show some cause for removal. Have you seen the trust document and do you know what the terms are? You may have a right to a copy of the document. As far as the...

If the document validly designates the 19 year old as trustee and he is not willing to resign as trustee, then the only possibility is to petition the court to have him replaced. The Illinois trust act requires that a trustee be only 18 years old. You would need to show some degree of cause...