We know that coping with the death of a loved one is difficult enough without having to face the legal issues associated with administering an Illinois estate – and we’re here to help you through the entire process.

Understanding Illinois Estate Administration.

Estate administration in Illinois is the act of gathering assets of the decedent’s estate, paying the decedent’s debts, and distributing the assets to designated beneficiaries. The estate administration process in Illinois can be overwhelming, especially for a family still grieving the loss of a loved one. An experienced estate administration attorney, like the team at Strohschein Law Group, can help you and your loved ones navigate the complex estate administration process.

Forms

Estate Administration Questionnaire

Initial Meeting Preparation

Middle Age Couple Meeting With Attorney

Understanding Illinois Trust Administration.

If you have implemented a trust-based plan, Strohschein Law Group can provide various levels of trust administration services. We can help navigate your loved one through the trust administration process while adhering to your instructions outlined in the estate plan. Our law firm can assist your trusted appointees, such as successor trustees and executors, in understanding their duties and guide them in their fiduciary decisions.

How an Attorney Can Help You During Estate or Trust Administration.

If you need an estate administered in Illinois, our estate and trust administration attorneys can help. We can safeguard the process to ensure that the instructions are followed correctly and that all court procedures and files are completed.

The process of Illinois estate administration often includes:

Collecting the decedent’s assets.
Filing all appropriate tax returns.
Determining and paying their debts and expenses.
Issuing a distribution to beneficiaries.

What is a Decedents Estate in Illinois?

A decedent’s estate includes all of the personal assets and financial accounts owned at the time of death. After appointment as Executor or Administrator, the appointed individual collects the decedent assets and then makes arrangements to pay any outstanding debts and taxes. The remaining assets are distributed to the individuals or charities entitled to the property. At Strohschein Law Group, we can work with you and your loved ones to draft the proper legal documents ahead of time and help you navigate the steps needed for administering assets on your behalf.

Our Illinois estate administration attorneys can help you ensure the security of the decedent’s home or other assets. We can help you navigate the handling of the decedent’s Will and Trust. We can work with the decedent’s accountant, financial advisor, insurance, or real estate agent towards a speedy resolution of estate issues.

Navigate Estate and Trust Administration with an Experienced Illinois Attorney.

Strohschein Law Group’s experienced team is here to guide you during the process of estate and trust administration. Our experienced team can help you and your loved one understand estate planning, long-term planning, care coordination, guardianship, estate administration, trust administration, and probate litigation in Chicago and surrounding collar counties in Illinois. Our St Charles law firm welcomes you to contact us and learn how we can help meet your estate and trust administration needs.

Estate and Trust Administration Case Studies

Adult Children Need Help After Parent’s Automobile Collided with a Semi Truck

We were asked to assist two young adult children after their parents, Mike and Courtney had been through a tragic automobile accident. During the accident, Mike died on impact and Courtney was severely injured leaving her in a coma for 45 days. In the ensuing weeks, we assisted the adult children in setting up a probate estate for Mike to begin collecting the assets so that the family finances remained as stable as possible. Since Courtney was unable to make her own medical decisions, an emergency guardianship was set up so that the adult children were granted the authority to make decisions for her.

The litigation attorneys advised the family that a significant financial recovery was possible. If Courtney did not spend the entire amount of the settlement, her estate would be subject to significant estate taxes upon her passing. Even prior to receiving the recovery, steps were taken to protect Courtney’s estate through extensive estate planning and asset protection. Furthermore, after approximately 18 months, Courtney recovered sufficiently to make her own decisions and the guardianship was terminated. A revocable trust was implemented so that the adult daughter could help Courtney with financial decisions throughout the rest of her lifetime as needed since Courtney would need additional therapies and surgeries to continue her recovery process.

Sibling Administered Her Brother’s Estate After Other Family Members Looted the Estate

Strohschein Law Group was asked to assist Lisa with the administration of her brother’s estate. Unfortunately, Lisa only learned that she was the Executor one year after her brother’s death. In the intervening months, Lisa learned that other family members had already looted the estate, including the deceased brother’s condo, and took many personal items of value.

After her appointment, Strohschein Law Group assisted Lisa with locating services to clear out the deceased brother’s belongings so that the real estate could be sold. Additional steps were taken to collect the financial accounts that remained in the decedent’s name and court proceedings were initiated to go after the looters. Eventually, Lisa was able to make a distribution to the beneficiaries, including numerous charities that were very important to the decedent.