Q: If the offender dies, does his lawyer release him from restitution? If so, what forms need to be filed?
A: It would not be the job of the lawyer who represented the Defendant to do anything. It would be up to the recipient of the restitution to file a claim for the unpaid amount against the Defendant's estate.
Tim Akpinar agrees with this answer
A: Restitution is collected by the Department of Corrections and then paid to the person or party to whom the trial judge awarded a restitution payment. If a defendant dies and there is an unpaid restitution amount the attorney should file a Suggestion of Death with the Court. Once the judge makes a finding that a defendant has died the DOC should handle the outstanding unpaid restitution as either a claim on the deceased's estate or it may be converted into a civil claim.
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