Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois

You didn't say if you had a copy of the will. If you don't then one strategy would be to open a probate estate and go through "discovery" in an effort to find it. But first see if the will was already filed in the county where your father died. If there is no will and he died single then you are an "heir" and can claim his estate even without a will. There are so many possible answers depending on your situation it is best to have a consultation with a lawyer. To contact me go to my website at www.legacylaws.com. Good luck to you.

I'm assuming you're also saying that you can't find the Will, or a copy of the Will. Understand that the drafting attorney typically does not retain the original Will. Some ideas:

1. Go through all files in the residence where he might have kept the file.

2. Contact all banks he used to ascertain whether there is a safe deposit box that might hold the Will.

3. If you know when the Will was created, review his bank records to see if there is a payment to an attorney.

4. Talk to family, friends, neighbors and associates to see if they have any information.