Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois

Re: Probate will

Under Illinois law, you must notify the heirs at law that you are probating a will. If there are living grandchildren or other descendants, siblings or others that are not related by blood or adoption (i.e., stepchildren) are not required to receive notice, and are not "interested parties" under the Illinois statutes.

The cost and time of probating a will depends on the nature and extent of the property involved, the number of heirs, the degree of cooperation in marshalling assets, and a host of other factors that can be present in an estate. Having said that, our typical uncontested estate to a surviving spouse is $2,500 to $3,000, plus out-of-pocket expenses for filing fees, etc, if there is one piece of real estate and a few bank or brokerage accounts. This fee includes the various court visits (usually two, plus calendaring the proceeding and filing the will), correspondence with heirs and the executor or administrator, and preparation of the court documents, including the final accounting and receipts necessary to discharge the executor/administrator from personal liability.

We have handled several small estates with out-of-state heirs and no contest in this range in the last 12 months.

Our comments are based on treating your question as a hypothetical. Accordingly, our comments could be substantially and materially different were we advised of all of the relevant facts and circumstances. Our comments are by necessity general in nature, and should not be relied upon in taking or forgoing action in your circumstances without retaining an attorney. In order to fully explore your legal matter, you should meet with us or another attorney and bring to any such meeting all relevant documents and correspondence, and any other relevant facts.

We are not hired to be your attorney, and no attorney-client relationship exists between us, unless and until you enter into a written retainer agreement with us, tender the agreed amount for a retainer and it is accepted by us. We reserve the right to decline representation should circumstances change.

As you are aware, in Illinois there are various deadlines for filing a complaint, filing an answer to a complaint, or taking other action in order to preserve your legal rights, and avoid a complete loss of those rights. You should retain counsel immediately in order to be fully advised of your rights, and to be fully informed of the applicable time period within which those rights must be asserted. If you were to delay in doing so, it might result in your potential cause of action being forever barred.