Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois

My sibling's estate has been in probate for almost 2 years, and it was thought that with a lawyer it would proceed more quickly, but the lawyer just continues and continues the case with each court appearance, offering no reason why. Now that we are at the point of closing, one of the heirs (as we predicted) chose to file a petition to terminate Independent Administration due to the length of time this is taking. It is now Supervised. Is there an IL law (I searched the IL Probate Act of 1975) that states -when- the Independent Administrator should be notified by the lawyer of the new Supervised status? The former Admin. was not notified of the court date or that the Ind. Admin. has been terminated and it's been a month. Is there a time-frame for the notification of the status being changed to Supervised? I assume there would need to be new instructions moving forward.

Also, did the Ind. Admin. have any legal right in IL to answer to the claims of the petitioner in court before a decision was made to terminate? Please advise, as this would be a violation of rights if so.

Additionally, the sibling died intestate, and the lawyers "assumed" the decedent owned the home so, of course, this went to probate, but the sibling did not own the home. The decedent's parent is the legal property owner of record. This should have been a "small estate" from the start. Of course, not only did this cause delays, but also unnecessary legal expenses. Shouldn't the lawyer have determined this prior to opening up a probate case?

This is quite the mess and we are meeting with another lawyer next week that we've used in the past, hopefully to sort this out. I apologize for the length as well as the number of questions presented.


Asked on 6/12/14, 7:42 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Steve Raminiak Law Offices of Steve Raminiak, P.C.

You asked, "Is there an IL law (I searched the IL Probate Act of 1975) that states -when- the Independent Administrator should be notified by the lawyer of the new Supervised status?" The Independent Administrator should be provided with notice of any hearing to change an Estate from independent to supervised. That notice is provided to the Administrator's attorney.

You said, "The former Admin. was not notified of the court date or that the Ind. Admin. has been terminated and it's been a month." The Administrator's attorney may have waived notice if a Petition to Terminate was brought without notice.

You asked, "Also, did the Ind. Admin. have any legal right in IL to answer to the claims of the petitioner in court before a decision was made to terminate?" Generally, no. Since you've reviewed the Probate Act, take a closer look at 755 ILCS 5/28-4.

You asked, "Shouldn't the lawyer have determined this prior to opening up a probate case?" Not necessarily. Very often, relevant facts about administration cannot be uncovered until an Administrator is appointed to investigate.

I hope this helps. If you like, I'd be happy to discuss this matter a bit further with you at no charge. Feel free to call me.

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Answered on 6/13/14, 3:51 pm


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