Chicago Probate Litigation Attorneys

In this article, our Chicago probate litigation attorneys examine family settlement agreements in Chicago probate litigation and trust disputes. Family settlement agreements can be used to avoid costly litigation and ease tensions between family members.

The parties in a dispute can agree to a broad range of terms and will be e upheld as long as it meets the requirements to be a valid contract.  The agreements however must not only be agreeable to the interested parties, but must also meet the wishes of the creator of the trust or the will

‍

In this article, our Chicago contested estate attorneys discuss the probate process in Chicago. Probate claims are filed by entities or individuals that believed they are owed money from the estate that's in probate. This could be debt, agreements, or contracts from the deceased individual. The statute of limitations for probate claims in Illinois provides that creditors have two years from the date of the decedent’s death to file a claim against the estate.  However, this period can be shortened by the representative providing notice to known and unknown creditors. Probate claimants are not required to follow formal rules of pleading as in typical civil litigation.  The only requirements for probate claims is that they contain sufficient information to apprise the representative of the nature, type and amount of the claim.  If there is documentary evidence, such as an invoice, associated with the claim, the document should be attached to the claim.  Many Illinois counties have claim forms available online.P

In this article, our Chicago probate litigation attorneys examine the probate process as and look at potential alternatives to the probate process. Probate is a court case that is sometimes necessary to give the administrator of a deceased person’s (known as the “decedent”) estate the power to handle the decedent’s assets, pay the decedent’s debts and distribute the balance of the estate to the decedent’s heirs and beneficiaries.This process includes Small Estate Affidavits, summary administration of Illinois estates, or using a Bond in Lieu of Probate to administer an estate. We discuss how these can potentially avoid , negate or speed up the probate process.