Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois
jewelry in will
my sister passed 2 years ago. she was this guys 3rd wife and they had no children together. he has many of our family heirloms that he won't give back and i understand there is nothing we can do about that because he says she did not have a will.
my question is, my sister's husband has 2 peices of jewelery that were willed to my half sister by my grandmother and should be hers. do we have any recourse to get items back that were willed to individuals thru my grandmothers will. or does he get to keep everything because
he was her husband even though my sister never should have taken the jewelery. he is being so mean about it it hurting everyone terribly.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: jewelry in will
You have two separate issues here.
What happens to what she owned -- if she had no children it all goes to her spouse. If she had descendants it goes half to descendants and half to spouse. So descendants have a right to open an estate to recover assets.
But your real issue is you say she had possession of things that didn't belong to her. Inheritance doesn't apply to those -- he can't inherit what wasn't hers.
Theoretically your half sister can bring replevin to recover her assets (which may mean opening an estate for grandmother).
Unfortunately there's the ultimate problem(s) -- proof of the facts, and the cost. Either of these can easily cost several thousand dollars.
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