4. As I said previously, the key to dealing with claims is to go on the offensive. That means following up on the claims in court.
Many times a claimant either won't have an attorney, or will have an attorney who isn't familiar with court procedures (a dead giveaway: the attorney who filed the claim is out of state). The latter is especially true for Cook County probate court, which has its own system for dealing with claims. Basically, once a claim is filed with the court, the claim is assigned to "claims call." Claims call is held on the fourth Monday of every month - here's November's claims call, if you want to see a sample. (New claims calls will be posted at the Cook County Probate Division's web page, under the Online Case Info tab. If you visit this page, be sure to check out the picture of RuPaul!)
Section 12.10 of the Cook County Court Rules states that:
(e) It is the duty of the attorney for the representative to appear in court on the call of a claim listed on the claim calendar. Subject to the discretion of the court, failure of the attorney to appear shall be deemed to be a consent to the allowance of the claim unless a responsive pleading has been filed.
So the estate's attorney should be present at all court hearings. But this goes the other way as well. Section 18-7 of the Illinois Probate Act states that "[o]n the call of a claim it may be allowed, set for trial, continued or dismissed." My experience is that a probate judge will dismiss a claim (if asked to do so) if the claimant's attorney doesn't show up for two court hearings in a row.
