Jefferson, IL asked in Estate Planning for Illinois

Q: I don't think my grandmothers estate was handled right. can it be r opened after 35 yrs

My grandmother passed away 1983 in illinois my dads gone and I found some things just don't add up .on my grandmother estate . Can this estate be reopend after 35 yrs

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1 Lawyer Answer
Andrew John Hawes
Andrew John Hawes
Answered
  • Estate Planning Lawyer
  • Niles, IL
  • Licensed in Illinois

A: No. First, under § 755 ILCS 5/28-11(f), "In the absence of fraud, accident or mistake, an order discharging the independent representative and declaring the estate closed is binding on each person whose receipt or approval was filed with the report and on each person to whom notice thereof was given in compliance with subsection (e) except a ward for whom no personal fiduciary is acting."

Second, the probate court oversees all of the probate proceedings, and if there was anything fishy, the court would not have closed the estate. Convincing a new court now, 35 years later, that the court failed to properly oversee an estate is not going to be possible.

Third, you won't be able to prove anything. How are you going to get documents that are 35 years old from banks/institutions? Odds are, most records do not exist.

Finally, you just won't be able to recover assets even if these was something warranting recovery. By now, the money is probably long gone, and proving who got it and how will be next to impossible.

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