Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois

My sympathies on the loss of your sister. When you say "her estate has never been seen" it's not clear what you mean. If your sister left anything of financial value, that is her estate. If she left a will, that should have been filed with the probate court clerk's office in the county in which your sister lived until the time of her death. Then, if your sister had set some trusts up during her lifetime, it's pretty hard to discover the contents of the trust: the trust is not a matter of public record. Furthermore, unless you know for a certainty that you or your daughter were beneficiaries of any trust, you don't have a mechanism to compel release of the trust to you. If I were you, I'd start with obtaining a copy of your sister's will, and engage in discussion with the individual your sister named as executor. Assuming your sister was mentally competent, she didn't have a duty to leave anything to her family or to make it possible for her family to discover the contents of any trust she created. Assets placed in trust are not normally considered part of a probate estate potentially subject to court administration or supervision.