Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois
Handling Probate Wwithout a Will or Trust
My aunt recently passed away. She did not have a will and she has no children. I have been acting as here care provider and had been added to all bank accounts. She also had real estate property in South Dakaota in which she was the sole owner as the result of the deaths of all of her siblings. My questions are, since she had no will or children, what is my responsibility in regards to the property and accounts? Who will become the right-full owner? Finally, does all property have to be equally distrubuted among remaining neices and nephews?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Handling Probate Wwithout a Will or Trust
If she put your name on all the bank accounts as an owner [and not just as a signer with a power of attorney] the the accounts are yours. As to the property in south dakota if only her name is on the title then it that must be distributed to her heirs ... who ever they are. And if you are not on the accounts as an owner the bank accounts must be distributed in the same manner. You are not responsible to act in any manner. Only act if you want to. If the neices and nephews are here only "heirs" that still does not mean the property is distirubted equally. You will need to determine the parents of all the nieces and nephews are to determine the distribution.
Re: Handling Probate Wwithout a Will or Trust
We have to fly with some assumptions here.
I'm assuming the only assets are the bank accounts with your name on them and the South Dakota property.
If your name is on accounts as power of attorney then power ceases at her death and you need to open a probate estate (if under $50,000 can be dealt with by small estate affidavit.
If your name is on it as joint tenant with right of survivorship, then theoretically upon her death it belongs to you. I say theoretically because Illinois recognizes that many people do this not intending a gift but as agency, and it can be brought into estate.
If you recognize that that was her intent then you can carry out her wishes by actually distribuing the property to the beneficiaries of her estate without goint through probate.
So who are the beneficiaries? Assuming her parents are dead, it goes in equal shares *to her siblings*. If a sibling is dead without descendants, they don't go into the division. If a sibling is dead *with* descendants, they get a share which is divided among their descandants -- i.e. the division is at the sibling level, not niece/nephew level.
As for the real estate in South Dakota, you'd probably have to open a probate estate there. Check on the list here for a South Dakota attorney
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