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Accounting of Fees

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chrisjac

Guest
Illinois...Is the executor/attorney responsible to provide a current accounting of fees when asked to do so by an heir?



The executor of my grandfather's estate will not provide a current accounting of his fees however he said they is not enough liquid monies in the estate to cover "fees" and he may have to sell the property willed directly to our family. When asked what fees? he stated that he does not have to provide the heirs anything and that the court will determine his fees. (We have asked via telephone and letter)

Half of the heirs have not received anything from him in the past 7 months when he initially filed for probate.

I cannot find anything in the Illinois Probate Code or the Internal Revenue Code relating to this.

Thank You
 


dmode101

Member
Yes, beneficiaries are entitled to an inventory and accounting upon request. In Illinois, the executor is entitled to "reasonable fees" for his services. The court does not *determine* thie fee amount, though it does approve or disapprove the fees. Unless the proposed fees are challenged by a beneficiary, in my experience the court is unlikely to disapprove.
 
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chrisjac

Guest
Fees

Any idea how I would go about getting an accounting since the executor/attorney will not give it to us? Does this take some kind of ruling from a court?

Thank you for your help.:)
 
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advisor10

Guest
AUG. 30, 2001

DEAR CHRISJAC:

Are you more concerned about finding out how much this executor is charging for executor fees, or are you more concerned about a financial accounting of how the entire estate was handled and how monies were distributed to heirs?

Are you an heir to a portion of this estate?

If the estate is still open, then you may be somewhat premature in trying to ask the executor for an accounting, since he is still in the process of claiming all assets and paying all bills, etc. When the estate is near closing, that is the time that a probate hearing will be conducted and he will present the financial documentation at that time for review by the court.

If you are implying that there are some heirs who have already received monies from this estate and there are still some heirs who have not been paid, then this seems highly improper (unless there is some sort of reasonable explanation), since the distribution to heirs is usually made to all heirs at the same time.

You should ask this executor why you have not received your share of the estate yet, and if he stalls or the explanation seems insufficient, you will need to retain your own attorney to file a petition with the court to protect your own interests to insure that you get paid. Try to find out from the court clerk (or from an attorney) whether it is required that in Illinois an executor must be bonded (pay premiums to a bond insurance company so that if any heirs monies are stolen or misappropriated, the heirs can file a claim with the bonding insurance company to get paid).

If he wasn't smart enough to leave enough estate funds so that he could get paid for his executor services, then it seems somewhat unlikely that any other heirs would receive anything unless the property he wants to sell is worth a substantial amount of money. A reference book I consulted states that in Illinois, executors are entitled to "reasonable compensation" which sounds to me like an excuse to charge a little bit higher than normal (most states allow fees of anywhere from 2% to 6%).

You should also post your question on the www.lawguru.com website where it is more likely that an Illinois probate attorney would see it and respond with a more accurate answer.

What is this estate worth, and what is your share of it?

SINCERELY,

[email protected]
 
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advisor10

Guest
AUG. 30, 2001

DEAR CHRISJAC:

About the property that was willed to you, you should be sending this executor a certified letter that states that he should be in the process of getting the deed/title to this property transferred to the names of the legal heirs during the probate process. That way he will be put on official notice that he can't sell it (since that seems to be what he wants to do--maybe he was just joking or maybe he just said that to annoy you). I don't know how much the title transfer costs (maybe a real estate agent could tell you), but I think this is an expense that the estate is allowed to pay for.


SINCERELY,

[email protected]
 

dmode101

Member
The procedure will depend on whether the estate administration is "independent" or supervised". In either case, you can always petition the court for a hearing regarding issues that you feel need attention. You can also ask the court to terminate independent administration for good cause which would then require the executor to file with the court an inventory and accounting with certain periods.
 

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