What Happens When You Die - Prologue

As a follow-up to the recent blog series about the estate administration process (read PART 1), I felt it was worth mentioning that there is a summary type administration process available in Illinois.

If the assets of a decedent are less than $100,000, there is a process that may be utilized called a "small estate affidavit" process. There are many times where a deceased may pass away and only own a vehicle or a nominal bank account in their own name. If that person has no creditors, the law recognizes that administering the decedent's estate may be cost prohibitive.

The Small Estate Affidavit can be presented to a financial institution or the Secretary of State and dictate where the assets of the deceased should be transferred. In some situations, this process is a very cost-efficient way to finalize the affairs of the estate. As with any legal proceeding, a competent attorney can give the best advice about whether or not the scenario lends itself to utilizing this process.

If I can make any broad generalizations about administering a Decedent's estate, it would be that it is always easier if the Deceased had written a Will. This single document usually makes things go much smoother for everyone.

If there is ever a legal topic that you would be interested in hearing about, I always welcome input. Thanks for reading. 

What Happens When You Die Part 6

Previously, in PART 5, we discussed claims against the estate. After the claim period in the estate has run, the Personal Representative is then in a position to pay any outstanding debts and distribute any remaining assets. 

If sufficient assets exist in the estate to pay all the claimants, those claims will be paid first. Once a claimant is paid, they will file a Release of their claim with the Personal Representative or the Court, depending upon how the claim was filed.  

Thereafter, the remaining assets will be distributed to the beneficiaries/heirs. The Personal Representative has an obligation to account to the beneficiaries/heirs of the estate. This can be accomplished in one of two ways.  

The Personal Representative can send an Accounting and Proposed Distribution to all of the beneficiaries/heirs and ask that they sign off on that proposal. The Accounting will outline what assets have come into the control of the Personal Representative, what claims and expenses were paid, and how he or she is proposing to distribute what is left. If the beneficiaries/heirs all sign off, the Personal Representative can make the distributions and ask the Court to close the estate.

The Personal Representative may also file the Accounting and Proposed Distribution with the Court and ask for Court approval of that proposal. The Personal Representative, with the assistance of his or her attorney, would set a hearing before the Court to ask for that approval. All the beneficiaries/heirs would receive notice of the time and place of that hearing. They would be entitled, at that time, to raise any objections to the proposal. The Court would then make orders about how the estate should be distributed. 

At this point, our foray into the estate administration process has come to a close. Hopefully, this series has helped to somewhat demystify the process. Thanks for reading.