Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois
Will & Trust
My brother recently passed away. He had a partner who is trustee of his his trust. My brother has 3 siblings and gifted us specified amount with the balance to his partner and upon his partners death, his heirs at law. What does ''heirs at law'' mean? What we have a problem with is that the cause of my brother's death is questionable at this time. He has been under heavy medication for a couple of years and we tried to intervene with his doctors six monthy ago but were't given much information. My father passed away a few months ago and I had many conversations with my brother regarding his partner. My brother told me he was not happy with him and was no longer with him. They were not living in the same residence but still had contact. Right not I do not want to pursue anything but I am troubled by the whole situation. Do we have a legal leg to stand on or shoud we just let it go. Also, my brother's estate is worth a lot of money.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Will & Trust
"Heirs at law" means those who would take from your brother's estate if he had no Trust or Will, under Illinois intestacy statute. If he was not married and had no children, then his heirs at law are his parents, siblings and descendants of deceased siblings.
As for questionable death, it would just depend on the evidence.
It sounds as if the balance to partner is in a trust for which you and your siblings are remainder beneficiaries. You want to make sure that trust is run appropriately so that you and your children will get benefit eventually.
Best bet is to go over the whole situation with a trusts and estates attorney and determine your rights and an appropriate strategy.
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