Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois

Hi. First, under Illinois law, "Immediately upon the death of the testator any person who has the testator's will in his possession shall file it with the clerk of the court of the proper county and upon failure or refusal to do so, the court on its motion or on the petition of any interested person may issue an attachment and compel the production of the will, subject to the provisions of Section 5.15 of the Secretary of State Act." Thus, if they don't immediately file the will, you can petition the court to compel them to file it.

With regard to your probate question, the answer is: it depends. If the assets were held jointly, in a trust, or in some other contractual form where a beneficiary was designated (i.e., life insurance, retirement account, etc.), there may not be a need for probate. However, if the estate contains assets owned in her individual name without beneficiary designations, the estate may need to be probated to transfer the assets to the persons named in the will.

The Florida attorney's response for the will filing would also apply to Illinois.

In Illinois, the probate limit is $100,000. This means that if there is an estate valued at over that amount, whether there is a will or not, the estate must be probated. Some exceptions to this, however, would be if the assets were held in a trust of some kind prior to death, if they were held in a joint tenancy account, or if there was a designated beneficiary (Payable on Death "POD") account.

Please let me know if I can assist you in this matter.

Cyndi Trostin