Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois

In 2002, my grandmother passed away leaving a rather significant amount of money to my family. She did not have a will, but instead simply had some bank-accounts set up one in her son's name and the other in her daughter's name (My mother and Uncle).

My mother was executor and left in charge of overseeing these affairs after my grandmother's passing. After she died, I was handed a check for around $11K by my mother who said, "This is what your grandmother left you." It was a bond of some sort if I can remember correctly (it wasn't handwritten from one of the accounts, but rather separate to the larger total sum which I estimate to be closer to $300K at least.

Before she died my grandmother had said several things to me (which years later in light of some new evidence) leads me to believe that my mother deceived us. After she died and my mother received her portion, my parents purchased a house. My grandmother had told me, "When I die, your parents are going to buy a new house and both you and your brother are going to have your own rooms?" So this is what transpired.

The alarms went off when just recently, I'd mentioned to my mother what would happen if she were incapacitated or should she die, who is on the bank accounts, able to pay bills temporarily, etc. She has always kept money shrouded in secrecy, is very controlling and bossy (and now I'm also realizing after 35 years -- a liar). I've caught her in multiple lies thinking back over the years. Her reply to my question is that "Your name is already on one of the accounts." When my grandmother died, she just had some accounts set up -- but my mother never invited me to the meeting she had with my Uncle to show him what my grandmother's intentions were. I never actually read the letter that my grandmother noted with the instructions. I just trusted my mother when she handed me a check for $11K, and assumed that was my end of it. The devil, as they say, is in the details. I have a two-part question: As executor of that estate and me being a recipient was my mother legally obligated to show me a copy of that letter (do I have a legal right to know EXACTLY what my grandmother wrote? And second, am I correct to note that anything she put in that letter is a legal binding document, just like a will? Because I think that many of the things my grandmother said we were "going to do", were actually things my mother "legally had to do" and there was a big difference. Having recently found out that my name is on "the big bank account" leads me to belief that this money left behind to my mother, was not "exclusively for my mother", but instead for all of us. It's disappointing to say you don't trust your own mom, but given recent history, I have every right to ask the questions. I'm not greedy, but I just want what's lawfully mine and my mother has a real sense of entitlement. While I can't "prove" this, do I have a legal ground to request to see a copy of my grandmother's wishes? I guess that's my question. My Uncle passed before I could talk to him about it, but I think that he must have presumed that my mother informed my brother and I about it -- she has kind of kept a lot of things secret from us. I hope that's clear. Thanks for your help.

1 Answer from Attorneys

Related Questions & Answers

More Probate, Trusts, Wills & Estates questions and answers in Illinois

Looking for something else?