Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Another Probate Requirement

Before he can be appointed to serve as executor of his mother’s Will, Jack must make a formal promise to the probate court.  He makes that promise by signing an executor’s Oath and individual bond.  In the Oath, Jack must swear that he will faithfully discharge the duties of being the estate’s representative. 

The Bond is essentially “putting his money where his mouth is” and pledging to the People of Illinois double the value of his mother’s personal estate to ensure that he will properly carry out the estate representative’s responsibilities. 

That is better than the alternative, which would require him to buy a bond from an insurance company for 1½ times that value.  Once the bond is in place, if Jack were to run off with the money, the insurance company would be on the hook to Illinois or instead successfully track him down to answer for his misdeeds. 

When he applies for coverage, the bond company would have to be convinced that he would have too much to lose to run off and keep the estate’s money, instead of doing things right.  If his mother hadn’t waived “surety bond” for him in her Will, he would have had to buy that insurance and swear to do the probate faithfully.

Estate planning can help eliminate unnecessary costs in probate and sometimes even avoid probate altogether.  To learn how your estate planning can help your heirs, call our office at (815) 436-1996 for an appointment.  © 2012 Gruber Law Office, Ltd.


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