Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois
Mother left no will
My mother in law passed without a will. Her husband is still living but has alzhiemers, and cannot respond to questions, or sign his name. Right now he is in the icu at a local hospital. She had only a very small checking account ( 1600.00 ) that both of their names are on. My wife has a half brother on her fathers side. We want to be able to pay some of her drs. bills from that account. Also we discovered she gets 7000.00 from a work related life insurance policy. We are afraid her half brother will attempt to take half of this small amount if his father should die. We have paid for all of his expenses for the past 19 years. they lived with us before he went into a home. My father in law is on public aid now. We dont want to start guardianship, because he will probably pass before it could even get started. Is there an easier way for my wife to get some kind of control over their affairs? We have also paid up front for all of the final expenses for both parents.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Mother left no will
If the checking account was in joint tenancy, it would have passed to your father-in-law when your mother-in-law passed away.
On the issue of the life insurance policy, you will need to first find out who the named beneficiary is. This determines who is entitled to the proceeds (whether it goes to your father-in-law, your mother-in-law's estate, or to someone else).
Your wife can use a "small estate affidavit" to distribute or to learn more about any assets that were in her mother's name when she died (e.g., finding out more about the insurance policy, and bank accounts).
Unfortunately, it appears your father-in-law is not capable of executing a power of attorney, but there may be some other options available.
Send me an e-mail if you would like to talk further about this situation.
Please be aware that this response is in answer only to the facts set forth in your posting. The answer may change if additional facts or omitted information is considered.
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