Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois

My brother died and his estate lawyer knew of some changes that still had to be made to execute his will wishes which was to distribute his 401 to his siblings. He died too quickly without getting the documents changed. He made attempts to get to the lawyer but was to ill with cancer. (his lawyer, step sons, knew and a sister knew of the changes he was to make and knew of his attempts to do so) He did write in the will to give each sibling an amount of money. ( that could only come from that source because he had no other) But he designated the benificiary his step son. The step sons where designated to get his house and any proceeds. Now they decided to keep the 401 money also,( 7hundred thousand) Is there any court cases in the past that could support our case? Do we have a case? thanks m


Asked on 7/30/09, 12:14 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Steve Raminiak Law Offices of Steve Raminiak, P.C.

Usually, a beneficiary designation on an asset trumps any gift of that asset by Will or Trust. If your brother did not specifically direct his financial institution to change his beneficiary designation before his death, I doubt that you will have an easy time convincing a Court to do so after his death.... regardless of the fact that he had voiced his desire to do so.

Offhand, I know of no case that supports your position regarding the 401K -- though one may exist. To get a solid answer on this, you will have to retain an attorney to specifically research this issue. However, I predict that you will probably be unhappy with the results of such research.

I need to know more facts before I can give you an answer as to whether the bequests in your brother's Will can be fulfilled. Also, you may have a malpractice case against the attorney who assisted your father with his estate planning. Feel free to call me to discuss this further. I won't charge for the phone call.

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Answered on 8/04/09, 1:08 pm


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