Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois

time limit estate

I was wondering is there a time limit in Illinois to settle an estate? My wifes aunts lawyer has been dragging his feet and it has been a year and five months since she died and all her and her father want to do is get in the lock box and get Jewlery out and clear her checking account out. Her father is to get this stuff. His estate lawyer has called and no response. Should we get another lawyer to get this matter settled? My wife is poa for her dad and has called her aunts lawyer lots and get no response either. Want to get this matter settled . We are talking about and large dollar amount of jewlery and money in checking.


Asked on 4/05/00, 9:43 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jeffrey R. Gottlieb Law Offices of Jeffrey R. Gottlieb, LLC

Re: time limit estate

I am an attorney that practices in trusts and estates in Palatine, Illinois. There is not set time limit for settling an estate or opening a probate estate, however, it generally begins within a couple months. It sounds like a probate estate was never opened. A probate estate should be opened if the total amount of property in the decedent's sole name exceeds $50,000.

If it is less than $50,000, the estate can usually be settled by using a "small estate affadavit", and the distributions will depend on whther the decedent had a valid will.

If you are still interested in possibly retaining another attorney for this matter, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] or call me at (847) 991-2250. Good luck.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey R. Gottlieb, Esq.

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Answered on 5/23/00, 10:32 am


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