Each year, the number of cases in the estate and trust litigation area grows. As the population ages, the number of contested guardianships rises. And a growing portion of the caseload in practices handling these cases comes from representing charitable organizations involved in trust and estate disputes. This handbook is an up-to-date reference guide for practitioners in these areas. It covers the Illinois Trust Code; will contests; oral contracts to make wills, joint wills, and mutual wills; trust contests; accounts in estates and trusts; contested claims against decedents’ estates, trusts, and other nonprobate assets; construing and modifying wills and revocable trusts; representing fiduciaries in trust and estate litigation; admission of wills to probate; heirship, adoption, and paternity; statutory rights of a surviving spouse; citations to discover/recover assets; an overview of the probate process; guardianship litigation; charitable litigation; apportionment and statutory rights of recovery; tax aspects of fiduciary litigation; family settlement agreements; and attorneys’ fees. The authors provide practical advice as well as explain the law and help fill the gap between theory and practice. They also provide numerous forms for use in your own practice.
Chapter 1 — Illinois Trust Code
Rebecca Wallenfelsz, Chapman and Cutler LLP, Chicago
Chapter 2 — Will Contests
Elizabeth A. McKillip, Levin Schreder & Carey, Ltd.,Chicago
Chapter 3 — Oral Contracts To Make Wills; Joint Wills and Mutual Wills
Robin Drey Maher and Peter B. Allport, Levin Schreder & Carey, Ltd., Chicago
Chapter 4 — Trust Contests
Samantha E. Weissbluth and Madeleine J. Minton, Harrison LLP, Chicago
Chapter 5 — Accounts in Estates and Trusts
James W. Hitzeman and Ryan T. Court, Loeb & Loeb LLP, Chicago
Chapter 6 — Contested Claims Against Decedents’ Estates, Trusts, and Other Nonprobate Assets
Mary C. Downie, The Northern Trust Company, and Samantha E. Weissbluth, Harrison LLP, Chicago
Chapter 7 — Construing and Modifying Wills and Irrevocable Trusts
Daivd E. Lieberman, Elizabeth A. McKillip, and Peter B. Allport, Levin Schreder & Carey, Ltd.,Chicago
Chapter 8 — Representing Fiduciaries in Trust and Estate Litigation
James W. Hitzeman and Evan J. Shaheen, Loeb & Loeb LLP, Chicago
Chapter 9 — Admission of Wills to Probate
Samantha E. Weissbluth, Elizabeth A. Garlovsky, and Sarah M. Barnes, Harrison LLP, Chicago
Chapter 10 — Heirship, Adoption, and Paternity
Robin Drey Maher, Levin Schreder & Carey, Ltd., Chicago, and Heather E. Ross and Nora E. Zuckerman, Ross & Zuckerman, LLP, Northbrook
Chapter 11 — Statutory Rights of a Surviving Spouse
Jeanette Suarez Hunter and Agnieszka Kawecki, McDermott Will & Emery LLC, Chicago
Chapter 12 — Citations To Discover/Recover Assets
James R. Pranger, Peter J. Latz & Associates LLC, Oak Park
Chapter 13 — Overview of the Probate Process
Michael R. Conway, Jr., JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, Chicago
Chapter 14 — Guardianship Litigation
Kerry R. Peck and Jesse A. Footlik, Peck Ritchey, LLC, and Ray J. Koenig III, Clark Hill PLC,Chicago
Chapter 15 — Charitable Litigation
Floyd D. Perkins, Nixon Peabody LLP, Chicago
Chapter 16 — Apportionment and Statutory Rights of Recovery
Brett N. Cagan and Rick Y. Gelboim, Levin Schreder & Carey, Ltd., Chicago
Chapter 17 — Tax Aspects of Fiduciary Litigation
David C. Blickenstaff, ArentFox Schiff LLP, Joseph N. Blumberg, The Northern Trust Company, and Julie J. Olenn, BMO Financial Group, Chicago, and Cameron N. Custard, ArentFox Schiff LLP, Lake Forest
Chapter 18 — Family Settlement Agreements
James W. Hitzeman and Steven Laduzinsky II, Loeb & Loeb LLP, Chicago
Chapter 19 — Attorneys’ Fees: An Assessment of the Current Standards for Fee Awards
Emily J. Kuo and Louis S. Harrison, Harrison LLP, Chicago
