Champaign County Probate and Estate Administration Attorneys

In this article, we explain Illinois Probate and Estate Law 2020 as well as recent changes to Illinois Estate and Probate Law. Probate is a court case that oversees the process of collecting and disbursing the assets of an individual’s estate once he or she has passed away. Not all estates need to go through probate.  Generally, probate is required if the decedent:

• Owned assets outside of a trust or “payable on death” account in excess of $100,000; or
• Owned any real estate that was not held jointly with another person with a right of survivorship.

The probate process varies slightly depending on whether or not the decedent had a will in place at the time of death.  If there is a will in place, the estate is referred to as a testate estate.  If the decedent did not have a will in place, the term intestate estate is applied. The most notable change to probate law is the addition of the Illinois Trust Code (ITC).  The ITC is based off of a unified standard called the Uniform Trust Code (UTC), which has been implemented in 33 states.  Most of the changes outlined in the ITC are optional and can be waived by the creator (known as the settlor) of the trust, but other statutes, such as the information an executor must provide to each beneficiary, must be followed under any circumstances.

Our Champaign County probate and estate attorneys provide a description of how An estate​ accounting​ is a document​ made by an executor​ or administrator of an estate which contains all of a decedent​’s assets​ and instructions for how those assets have been or will be distributed. An executor is typically named in the decedent’s will and approved by the court, as long as the representative is fit to serve as executor. In the absence of a will or nomination of an unfit candidate, the court will assign a representative to act as administrator for the case.

In this video, our Champaign County estate tax attorneys takes the time to explain when to pay estate taxes on: inheritance taxes, state and federal estate taxes, and inherited retirement accounts. An inheritance tax is an amount of money due from a beneficiary who receives money or property from the estate of a deceased person. Inheritance taxes are due prior to receiving the inheritance check, so the amount received will already be reduced by the taxes owed. Federal tax exemption for a decedent’s estate depends on the exemption amount for the year of death. When it comes to state tax exemption, only a few states collect them, including Illinois. Similar to federal tax exemption, state tax exemption also depends on the exemption amount for the year of death. If an individual inherits a traditional IRA or 401k, he or she will have to include all distributions taken out in his or her ordinary federal income, and possibly state income, of that year. Inherited retirement assets are not taxable until they are distributed.