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Can I close my MIL's small estate without the help of my lawyer?
Emington, IL
Viewed 54 times.
Posted about 1 month ago in Probate
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My husband is the administrator of his moms small estate. He has one brother, the only other beneficiary who is satisfied with everything we've done ourselves thus far.
Creditors are paid, no debts. Claim notice is not due until February, but there are no outstanding debts. We had one check made out to "The estate of..." and I asked our lawyer for a small estates affidavid. He said we needed to open an Estate account instead and he needed to be at the bank with us to do it. In the mean time, our small town bank cashed this check for us anyways with a letter of office. We have this check and couple other small amounts of money received. Do we have to transfer this into an Estate Account in order to close my mother in laws estate? Would like to avoid our lawyer for personal reasons.
Additional information
I should add the reason we even hired a lawyer was because my mother in law died in a car accident and we have a lawsuit for wrongful death open. During this I had our lawyer help me file a couple papers for the small estate. While we signed a contract for the lawsuit, we never made any agreements about her estate. I'm not sure if it's normal practice to sign an agreement when you hire a lawyer for an estate or is that's only for lawsuits. Answers (2)
Henry Repay
This attorney is licensed in Illinois.
Posted about 1 month ago.
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There are substantial details in your question that need to be covered in a face to face appointment with an attorney experienced in probate. For one thing, you mention letters of office, suggesting that probate has already been established. Your consultation does not have to be with the attorney handling the wrongful death claim. If there was an agreement to handle the estate aspects, that should have been covered in either an agreement or a written confirmation from the attorney.
Laura Mcfarland-Taylor
This attorney is licensed in Illinois.
Posted about 1 month ago.
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Mr. Repay has given you good advice, I only want to add that there normally representation agreements are signed in all areas of the law, not just lawsuits.
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