Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois

Intestacy laws in Illinois provide for half to the spouse and half to the children. Keep in mind, however, that between spouses many things are held jointly and pass to the survivor. So, a joint bank account would become the property of the surviving joint owner of the account. Likewise, a vehicle jointly titled, a home held in joint tenancy or tenancy by the entirety, etc. Similarly, some assets may pass by designation of a beneficiary (life insurance, 401(k), ...). So, the question is what assets would have been in the probate estate that would have been divided 50/50. Also, yes, at this time it may be more difficult to pursue the matter, but that is not to say it is not worth it (depending on the above analysis).

To evaluate your options, you should start with a list of what your father owned on the date of his death. Then, you need to try to figure out how title to those assets was held. There is no law in this country that obligates a parent to leave anything to a child--if your father owned everything in joint tenancy with his spouse, and had beneficiary designations on his retirement plans, bank or investment accounts, and life insurance policies you probably would have heard by now if you were a named beneficiary. To file a lawsuit, you'd have to have some evidence that you were wrongfully prevented from gaining access to an asset that you were entitled to inherit, and that's a hard thing to do. Unless you were a minor on the date of your father's death, I believe the passage of time makes your case even harder.