Estate Planning, Probate & Elder Law Attorneys

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» If I Ran the Cook County Probate Court

Cook County has a pretty major backup in the probate area -- four judges now handle all decedent's estates cases. That's a lot, considering that they handle new cases as well as ones that are dragging on from prior years. As a result, the timeframe for opening an estate has expanded. If I file a petition right now, I may not be able to get a court date for another 4 (or 5 or 6) weeks. Not to mention the fact that, when you go into court, you typically have to wait for an hour or more to have your case called.

If I ran the Cook County Probate Court, my solution to the above problem would be computer filing of "non-contested" estates. I'd estimate that at least 80% of all probate cases in Cook County are open and shut -- no one is contesting the Will, and everyone just wants the probate process to move along as quickly and easily as possible. In cases like that, I would allow the attorney to file all court papers to open the estate via e-mail (as PDFs). The attorney would have to indicate that the PDFs are true and correct copies of the original papers (which are in the attorney's possession).

Perhaps one additional judge could be hired to handle computer filing (review and issue orders). His or her salary could be paid by a $100 "convenience fee" charged for computer filing. It seems to me that everyone wins:

1. Non-contested estates get processed more quickly and more cheaply (you'd rather pay a $100 convenience fee than pay an attorney to sit around in court for hours at a time at $200 or more per hour).

2. The other judges are freed up to handle the contested estates, which are also processed more quickly and more cheaply.

[added 3/18/08: Another idea, based on my observation of court this morning -- a LOT of court activity involves attorneys asking for routine continuances, which are of course routinely granted. Again, if the parties agree and a judge agrees, why do the attorneys need to sit around in court -- wasting their time and their clients' money -- waiting to be heard? Can't the additional judge mentioned above handle these situations too?]

» A Peterson Update

Sorry I've been so bad at updating here lately! Last week our three-person family racked up three flus, bronchitis, and a double ear infection.

So, to get back to "news," there's some movement in the Drew Peterson case. (You'll remember that Mr. Peterson is the Bolingbrook, Illinois police officer whose fourth wife Stacy disappeared under mysterious circumstances.) You will recall that wife #3, Kathleen Savio, died from drowning. In her bathtub. Right before her divorce from Mr. Peterson was finalized.

I previously blogged (here) about how Ms. Savio's family was seeking to re-open her estate. The goal appears to be to file a wrongful death action against Mr. Peterson. The most recent step, taken recently, was a ruling by the Will County State's Attorney's office that Ms. Savio's death was indeed a homicide (here is the article). Now, of course, Ms. Savio's estate would still have to prove that Mr. Peterson did indeed kill Ms. Savio. This doesn't appear to be a case involving Illinois's so-called "slayer statute" (which prevents a person responsible for an individual's death from inheriting from the individual) -- my understanding is that Mr. Peterson didn't inherit much, if anything, at Ms. Savio's death.

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