Intestate succession in Lombard, while lawful, is not something many people may wish to have their estate go through after moving on. This is simply because what the court dictates legally could come into conflict with what your desires are. To avoid this, people often draft wills and make clear plans as to what should happen to their estate after their passing. However, doing this could be tricky as there are many laws and legal procedures that need to be adhered to.
If you need help drafting a will or help planning your estate, contact an experienced attorney today.
If a person dies without an existing will, then there are a few things that happen. The main one, and the one that most people worry about, is that their property basically passes pursuant to what is called the intestate statute in Illinois. The intestate statute is essentially the Illinois legislature’s best guess as to who the decedent would want to have to inherit their property. It is all based on family relationships and the closeness of those relationships by blood, not closeness by emotional or any other type of value system, but just purely by blood.
It starts with the surviving spouse and children, and it goes to parents if they are alive and siblings, and then it continues onward from there. If a person dies without an existing will, then essentially, there is a snapshot of their family situation at the date of their death, and that is who winds up receiving the property in various proportions that may or may not be in accordance with the testator’s wishes.
Another important aspect of intestate succession in Lombard is that is decendents are unable to choose who they want to serve as the person to carry out their wishes. In Illinois, there is a similar priority system, based on the blood relationship and how close that is, as to who could serve or nominate somebody to serve as their estate’s representative.
The steps that a person could take right now to avoid dying without a will would be to immediately set up a consultation with a lawyer. Even a simple will could be drafted fairly quickly and is relatively inexpensive, and it could protect their estate from some of the more obvious issues of dying without a will, such as they have children and they want their children to inherit their properties. It is something that should be taken care of right away.
One of the issues, though, is that a will needs to be signed, so people cannot just go talk to an attorney and have the attorney draft it up. If that will is not signed, then there is a presumption that it should not be admitted to probate in Illinois and will be left to intestate succession in Lombard.
An estate attorney, once they have been contacted by someone looking for help, could give that person a clear kind of timeline of the process, and basically draft the estate planning documents in a timely fashion in accordance with those expectations. The main thing attorneys and people need to do is set aside a time to come in, review the will, and sign it. Otherwise, the will would be inadmissible and intestate succession in Lombard would follow.
Another aspect of that process is that people could go through the process, they could draft a will, they could sign a will, but difficulties come in when the testator dies, and then their loved ones cannot find the will. The lawyer has to make sure to advise people on proper storage of the will, which is generally in a safe deposit box or a firebox at home. It is recommended that a person not throw it in a drawer or put it in a pile of papers or a filing cabinet because it is the type of document that unless they are thinking about it, they would generally forget about it, and it is important to make sure their loved ones are able to find it. Another aspect of that is if they have named an executor or trustee, it is important to advise that person that they are named as the executor or trustee, and to tell them where the will is located.
If you need help drafting or reviewing a will, contact an attorney today.
