Are you looking for a probate lawyer in Kenilworth, IL?
At Kravets Law Group, we are trusted probate lawyers serving clients across Kenilworth and the surrounding area.
If you have been named executor and the will now has to be filed with the court, a Kenilworth, IL probate lawyer can open the estate and take over the filings that follow. Petitions, notices to heirs, creditor publication, and inventories all move on the Cook County Probate Division’s schedule rather than yours.
Kravets Law Group has represented executors, administrators, heirs, and beneficiaries since the firm opened in 2020. Founder Daniel Kravets has practiced law since 2016 and personally handles every probate matter at the firm. Reach out to schedule a free consultation.
Probate Lawyer Kenilworth, IL
A probate lawyer represents the people responsible for closing out someone’s financial life after a death. That work includes preparing the petition that opens the estate, obtaining letters of office from the court, notifying heirs and creditors, inventorying property, and distributing what remains after debts and taxes are settled. Some estates need very little court involvement. Others require hearings, accountings, and formal approval at nearly every stage.
Not everything a person owned lands in probate court. Jointly titled property, accounts with named beneficiaries, and assets already transferred into a living trust generally pass outside the process, which is one reason creating a trust appeals to families who own real estate in more than one state.
Types of Probate Cases We Handle in Kenilworth
Probate work involves considerably more than filing a will with the clerk. Some estates move through administration without a single objection, while others involve disagreements among heirs or claims from outside parties. Our Kenilworth probate attorneys handle the following matters.
- Independent administration. Most Illinois estates qualify for independent administration, which allows the representative to act without returning to court for routine approvals. We prepare the petition, obtain letters of office, and manage the notices that follow. This is usually the faster path when the heirs are in agreement.
- Supervised administration. When an heir requests supervision or the will calls for it, the court reviews each significant step. We prepare accountings, petitions for distribution, and the supporting documentation judges expect to see. Estates with existing friction often begin here.
- Will contests. An heir may challenge a will based on capacity, undue influence, or the way the document was signed and witnessed. We represent estates defending a will and heirs raising objections to one. Evidence in these cases gets harder to gather as time passes.
- Heirship disputes. Determining who inherits is not always obvious, particularly in blended families or where a relative died without a will. We assemble the family history, present it to the court, and respond to competing claims from other branches of the family.
- Estate inventories and accountings. Representatives have to identify and value estate property, then report what they collect and spend. We prepare inventories and accountings that hold up to review by beneficiaries and by the court.
- Creditor claims. Hospitals, lenders, and card issuers file claims against estates. We evaluate each one, contest claims that lack support, and pay valid claims in the priority order the court applies.
- Estates holding real property. A Kenilworth home is often the single largest asset in an estate. We handle deeds, court approval for a sale when approval is required, and the title questions that surface during administration.
- Estates with business interests. Ownership in a closely held company complicates administration considerably. We value the interest, review the governing documents, and work through transfer restrictions with the surviving owners.
Why Choose Kravets Law Group as my Probate Lawyer in Kenilworth, IL?
Choosing a Kenilworth probate attorney usually comes down to who will actually be doing the work on the estate.
Probate Practice Rooted in Cook County
Estates for Kenilworth residents are administered through the Probate Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County at the Richard J. Daley Center. Daniel Kravets has handled probate administrations in Cook County and the surrounding counties, including contested estates where heirs disputed distributions. Several of those matters were resolved without extended litigation, which preserved estate assets that would otherwise have been spent on fighting. He earned his law degree from Drexel University’s Kline School of Law and is admitted to practice in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
One Attorney on Every Estate
Daniel Kravets personally handles all probate matters at Kravets Law Group, so the attorney reviewing the inventory is the same attorney who filed the opening petition. He has practiced law since 2016 and started the firm in 2020. He belongs to the Chicago Bar Association, speaks regularly at community and professional events, and has an estate planning book forthcoming. Consultations are free.
What Is Important To Understand About Probate Cases?
Estate Assets, Creditor Claims, and Distribution in Illinois
Probate exists to move title from a person who has died to the people entitled to receive it, with a judge overseeing the transfer. A handful of concepts come up in nearly every estate.
- Probate assets. Property titled in the decedent’s name alone, with no surviving joint owner and no beneficiary designation, is what actually passes through the estate.
- Non-probate transfers. Joint accounts, life insurance, retirement accounts with named beneficiaries, and funded trusts pass directly to the recipient. The benefits of trusts in keeping property out of court drive a great deal of planning.
- Letters of office. This is the court document giving the representative authority to act for the estate. Banks, brokerages, and title companies ask for it constantly.
- Creditor claims. Illinois allows creditors a defined window to come forward once notice has been published and mailed, and claims brought after that window closes are generally barred.
- Will contests. Illinois law identifies who has standing to contest a will and the grounds a challenge has to rest on.
- Distribution. After debts, administration expenses, and taxes are handled, the remaining property goes to the beneficiaries named in the will or, when there is no will, to the heirs Illinois identifies.
What Are Important Aspects of a Probate Case?
How long an estate stays open depends on what the decedent owned and whether anyone objects. A Kenilworth probate lawyer can usually tell at the first meeting which category an estate falls into. A few circumstances reliably add complexity.
Estates here frequently involve more than a house and a bank account. When a decedent owned part of a closely held company, that interest has to be valued and transferred, and the terms often sit inside operating agreements and business contracts signed years earlier. Disagreements between surviving owners and the estate can escalate into business litigation that runs alongside the probate case. Claims brought by vendors or lenders against the company raise commercial litigation questions the representative cannot set aside.
Real estate carries its own timeline. Selling a home during administration may require court approval first, and the contract negotiation still has to protect what the beneficiaries ultimately receive.
Trusts create a different problem when they were never finished. Assets the decedent intended to move into a trust but never retitled still pass through probate, which is why trust funding deserves attention long before anyone needs it.
What Is The Probate Case Timeline?
Estates follow a fairly predictable sequence, even though the pace varies widely. A Kenilworth, IL probate attorney manages the stages below on the representative’s behalf, and an ordinary administration moves through them in this order.
- Filing the petition, admitting the will, and obtaining letters of office.
- Publishing notice to creditors and mailing notice to heirs and legatees.
- Identifying, securing, and valuing the estate’s property.
- Paying valid claims, administration expenses, and any taxes owed.
- Distributing the remainder and closing the estate with a final accounting.
An uncontested estate with ordinary assets moves through those steps steadily. A contested estate can stall at any one of them, sometimes for a long stretch.
What Should You Bring to Your Probate Consultation?
Bringing a few documents to the first meeting lets us give you real answers rather than general ones.
- A certified copy of the death certificate.
- The original will and any codicils, if you have them.
- Recent statements for bank, brokerage, and retirement accounts.
- Deeds, mortgage statements, and property tax bills.
- Any correspondence already received from creditors or other heirs.
We will review what you bring, tell you whether court administration is required at all, and lay out what the opening weeks involve. Most people leave that meeting with a much shorter list of worries than they walked in with.
What Are Important Illinois Legal Resources for Probate Cases?
Illinois publishes most of what governs estate administration, and Cook County maintains its own filing requirements on top of that. These sources are the right places to look first.
- The Illinois General Assembly hosts the state’s compiled statutes, including the Probate Act of 1975.
- The Probate Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County posts judge assignments, standing orders, and courtroom information.
- The Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County explains probate filing procedures, including how to deposit a will after a death.
- The Office of the Illinois Courts publishes statewide standardized forms that every Illinois court accepts.
- The Illinois Attorney General administers the state estate tax and posts returns and instructions on its estate tax page.
- The Cook County Clerk issues certified death certificates for deaths occurring in Chicago and suburban Cook County.
Reach Out to Kravets Law Group to Schedule a Consultation
The first filings in an estate shape much of what comes after them. Contact us to schedule a free consultation with a Kenilworth, IL probate attorney. We will look at the will, the assets, and your responsibilities as representative, then explain what has to be filed and in what order. Consultations cost nothing, and we respond to new inquiries promptly.