In Elmwood Park, Illinois, probate is the process through which a Court determines if a will is valid or not.

As part of this procedure, the court in Elmwood Park, Illinois has many important responsibilities. Most vitally, it has to decide if the will is valid, and consider evidence that it is not (if any such evidence exists). The probate court then has to ensure that the property is distributed in an orderly manner, as close to the terms of the will (assuming it is valid) as possible.

Wills normally name the person who is to serve as executor of the estate. If no executor is named, the Elmwood Park, Illinois court will appoint an executor. This is normally the person who stands to gain the most if the will is found to be valid.

The basic duty of the executor is to serve as the living incarnation of the estate. Their job is to begin probate proceedings, and see them to completion. If an executor has to be appointed by the court, it will normally be the person who stands to inherit the most from the will, as he or she has an incentive to make every effort to avoid delay.

Duties of the Executor in Elmwood Park, Illinois

Executors of estates have a many distinct responsibilities. First, the executor must start the probate proceedings. Probate almost always needs to be finished before the property in an estate can be released according to the terms of the will.

Additionally, the executor has to make sure that the decedent's relatives and other people named in the will have notice of the testator's death, normally through the filing of a copy of the official death certificate.

Because people who stand to inherit from the testator may be scattered around the country, or even the world, contacting them is sometimes difficult. One of the responsibilities of the executor is to gather a list of everyone who is entitled to inherit from the decedent, so attempts to contact them can be made. They further have to account for all the testator's debts and assets.

Because the executor serves as the living symbol of the decedent's estate, they are solely responsible for proving the validity of the will. This is a lot of work, but because executors are normally chosen based on how much they stand to inherit from a will once its validity is confirmed, they have a good incentive to see the process to completion.

How Can A Elmwood Park, Illinois Lawyer Help?

Because of the intricacies involved in probate, it would be smart to hire a brilliant Elmwood Park, Illinois probate lawyer, especially if you are the executor of an estate and unsure how to proceed.