ERD50
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DW is executor and primary successor trustee of her mother's (my MIL) estate. MIL passed peacefully last week, and I'm trying to help DW wrap things up.
Things are in good shape, as we had reviewed everything several years ago when my FIL passed, trusts were in place and updated as needed at that time, IRA beneficiaries set, etc. The will is a "pour over" into my MIL's trust (the only named beneficiary in the will).
Major assets are all titled in the trusts name, so the only "personal tangible assets" would be very minor; furnishings, clothes, kitchen stuff, TVs, etc - all well under the $100,000 probate limit in IL and most will just be donated to charity to clear her assisted living apartment. One checking account for everyday bills and SS/pension deposits, and DW is joint on that (we will call Monday to verify it is WROS, but still all well under $100K).
My question is about the specific "small estate" probate process, and I'm pretty sure I'm just over-thinking this, but I can't seem to find the specific answer in all my searches. I will also try calling the county probate court Monday, not sure they will be helpful or not.
I'm just not clear on what (if anything) we need to do to document that this is a "small estate". There is a "small estate" affidavit form on the IL website, but in all the instructions I find, this is not filed with the county/state. It appears to only be used to present to a bank (for example) as documentation to release funds in the deceased's account to the executor or beneficiary. In the case of a larger estate under probate, I guess the bank would get this sort of documentation from the probate court. Since we don't need to go to anyone to release anything, it seems we have no probate forms to fill out (other than filing her will with the county).
It just seemed to me we would need to document this somehow. But OTOH, I guess if there are no funds to collect from any accounts, there just is no issue, so no need for documentation? I suppose the only "cheating" that the government would be concerned with is, assets could be 'hidden', like cash or gold or collectables. But I guess that's the case whether you claim to have a small estate or a large one. It's not like anyone from the government is going to walk in and inventory everything on the day she passed. I suppose cheaters would be caught through other means, like unreported income (Al Capone style)? I've told DW to take pictures of everything, that should at least document that everything in the apartment was of modest value.
Bottom line if that got too long to follow - Do we seem to be OK without any formal documentation that this is a "small estate" that does not require probate?
TIA - ERD50
Things are in good shape, as we had reviewed everything several years ago when my FIL passed, trusts were in place and updated as needed at that time, IRA beneficiaries set, etc. The will is a "pour over" into my MIL's trust (the only named beneficiary in the will).
Major assets are all titled in the trusts name, so the only "personal tangible assets" would be very minor; furnishings, clothes, kitchen stuff, TVs, etc - all well under the $100,000 probate limit in IL and most will just be donated to charity to clear her assisted living apartment. One checking account for everyday bills and SS/pension deposits, and DW is joint on that (we will call Monday to verify it is WROS, but still all well under $100K).
My question is about the specific "small estate" probate process, and I'm pretty sure I'm just over-thinking this, but I can't seem to find the specific answer in all my searches. I will also try calling the county probate court Monday, not sure they will be helpful or not.
I'm just not clear on what (if anything) we need to do to document that this is a "small estate". There is a "small estate" affidavit form on the IL website, but in all the instructions I find, this is not filed with the county/state. It appears to only be used to present to a bank (for example) as documentation to release funds in the deceased's account to the executor or beneficiary. In the case of a larger estate under probate, I guess the bank would get this sort of documentation from the probate court. Since we don't need to go to anyone to release anything, it seems we have no probate forms to fill out (other than filing her will with the county).
It just seemed to me we would need to document this somehow. But OTOH, I guess if there are no funds to collect from any accounts, there just is no issue, so no need for documentation? I suppose the only "cheating" that the government would be concerned with is, assets could be 'hidden', like cash or gold or collectables. But I guess that's the case whether you claim to have a small estate or a large one. It's not like anyone from the government is going to walk in and inventory everything on the day she passed. I suppose cheaters would be caught through other means, like unreported income (Al Capone style)? I've told DW to take pictures of everything, that should at least document that everything in the apartment was of modest value.
Bottom line if that got too long to follow - Do we seem to be OK without any formal documentation that this is a "small estate" that does not require probate?
TIA - ERD50