Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois
My sister-in-law is the administrator of my father-in-law's estate. There is over $60,000 missing from the account. It should have been closed out two months ago. Are there any penalties for her for bleeding the account dry? Her response to my husband was I stopped caring months ago. She knowingly took the money from the account for her own personal use. I know that there was an assurance bond opened with the probate.
2 Answers from Attorneys
If your sister will not voluntarily put the funds back in the estate, this should be brought to the attention of the probate judge ASAP. If she remains unable to put the funds back into the estate, then if there is a surety they can be brought in to make the estate whole.
Penalties? Most likely the court would assess her ability to refund the estate and take proper action. If the surety has to pay, then the surety will have a judgment against sister-in-law. In theory, there could be further penalties, but that seems unlikely.
Bottom line is the court should be informed sooner rather than later.
In addition to Mr. Gottlieb's fine comments, I'd only add the following. (1) Make sure that it is a "surety" bond has been entered (which would require payment of an annual premium to that company). (2) Be prepared to ask the Judge for the Court to Order your sister-in-law to produce an "Accounting" of all receipts, disbursements and distributions from your father's Estate.
Feel free to call me if you'd like to discuss this further. I won't charge for the phone call.
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