I was appointed guardian of an estate of a deceased minor. What does this mean?
Full Question:
Answer:
Even if a deceased minor child has one or both parents alive, a guardianship may be required to manage their affairs after his/her death. The guardian determines what the minor’s estate consists of, and is responsible for seeing that the debts of the minor’s estate are paid before distributing any remaining assets to the heirs. I’m unable to say whether the parents would inherit any remaining assets, as their right to inherit may be affected by overdue child support payments, termination of parental rights, or other reasons.
Generally, the guardian must collect all the assets of the deceased minor, such as inheritances or child support payments due, and pay all the claims against their estate, such as bills for tuition and other expenses. The guardian may represent the minor in any pending legal proceedings. After the court appoints a guardian, an inventory and appraisal must be filed, and accountings must also be filed with the court within a certain time period. A bond may be required to be posted. I suggest calling the clerk of courts, as procedures vary by court.
The following are Illinois statutes:
(755 ILCS 5/11?13) (from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 11?13) Sec. 11?13. Duties of guardian of a minor.
Before a guardian of a minor may act, the guardian shall be appointed by the court of the proper county and, in the case of a guardian of the minor's estate, the guardian shall give the bond prescribed in Section 12?2. Except as provided in Section 11?13.1 and Section 11?13.2 with respect to the standby or short?term guardian of the person of a minor, the court shall have control over the person and estate of the ward. Under the direction of the court:
(a) The guardian of the person shall have the custody, nurture and tuition and shall provide education of the ward and of his children, but the ward's spouse may not be deprived of the custody and education of the spouse's children, without consent of the spouse, unless the court finds that the spouse is not a fit and competent person to have such custody and education. If the ward's estate is insufficient to provide for the ward's education and the guardian of his person fails to provide education, the court may award the custody of the ward to some other person for the purpose of providing education. If a person makes a settlement upon or provision for the support or education of a ward and if either parent of the ward is dead, the court may make such order for the visitation of the ward by the person making the settlement or provision as the court deems proper.
(b) The guardian or other representative of the ward's estate shall have the care, management and investment of the estate, shall manage the estate frugally and shall apply the income and principal of the estate so far as necessary for the comfort and suitable support and education of the ward, his children, and persons related by blood or marriage who are dependent upon or entitled to support from him, or for any other purpose which the court deems to be for the best interests of the ward, and the court may approve the making on behalf of the ward of such agreements as the court determines to be for the ward's best interests. The representative may make disbursement of his ward's funds and estate directly to the ward or other distributee or in such other manner and in such amounts as the court directs. If the estate of a ward is derived in whole or in part from payments of compensation, adjusted compensation, pension, insurance or other similar benefits made directly to the estate by the Veterans Administration, notice of the application for leave to invest or expend the ward's funds or estate, together with a copy of the petition and proposed order, shall be given to the Veterans' Administration Regional Office in this State at least 7 days before the hearing on the application. The court, upon petition of a guardian of the estate of a minor, may permit the guardian to make a will or create a revocable or irrevocable trust for the minor that the court considers appropriate in light of changes in applicable tax laws that allow for minimization of State or federal income, estate, or inheritance taxes; however, the will or trust must make distributions only to the persons who would be entitled to distributions if the minor were to die intestate and the will or trust must make distributions to those persons in the same amounts to which they would be entitled if the minor were to die intestate.
(c) Upon the direction of the court which issued his letters a representative may perform the contracts of his ward which were legally subsisting at the time of the commencement of the guardianship. The court may authorize the guardian to execute and deliver any bill of sale, deed or other instrument.
(d) The representative of the estate of a ward shall appear for and represent the ward in all legal proceedings unless another person is appointed for that purpose as representative or next friend. This does not impair the power of any court to appoint a representative or next friend to defend the interests of the ward in that court, or to appoint or allow any person as the next friend of a ward to commence, prosecute or defend any proceeding in his behalf. Any proceeding on behalf of a minor may be commenced and prosecuted by his next friend, without any previous authority or appointment by the court if the next friend enters bond for costs and files it in the court where the proceeding is pending. Without impairing the power of the court in any respect, if the representative of the estate of a minor and another person as next friend shall appear for and represent the minor in a legal proceeding in which the compensation of the attorney or attorneys representing the guardian and next friend is solely determined under a contingent fee arrangement, the guardian of the estate of the minor shall not participate in or have any duty to review the prosecution of the action, to participate in or review the appropriateness of any settlement of the action, or to participate in or review any determination of the appropriateness of any fees awarded to the attorney or attorneys employed in the prosecution of the action.
(e) Upon petition by any interested person (including the standby or short?term guardian), with such notice to interested persons as the court directs and a finding by the court that it is in the best interest of the minor, the court may terminate or limit the authority of a standby or short?term guardian or may enter such other orders as the court deems necessary to provide for the best interest of the minor. The petition for termination or limitation of the authority of a standby or short?term guardian may, but need not, be combined with a petition to have a guardian appointed for the minor. (Source: P.A. 90?345, eff. 8?8?97; 91?149, eff. 1?1?00.)
(755 ILCS 5/14?1) (from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 14?1) Sec. 14?1. Inventory.)
(a) Within 60 days after the issuance of his letters the representative of the estate of a decedent or ward shall file in the court a verified inventory of the real and personal estate which has come to his knowledge and of any cause of action on which he has a right to sue. If any real or personal estate comes to the knowledge of the representative after he has filed an inventory he shall file a supplemental inventory thereof within 60 days after it comes to his knowledge.
(b) The inventory must describe the real estate and the improvements and encumbrances thereon, state the amount of money on hand and list all personal estate. (Source: P.A. 81?213.)
(755 ILCS 5/14?2) (from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 14?2) Sec. 14?2. Appraisal.)
If the representative believes that it is necessary for the proper administration of the estate to determine the value of any goods and chattels, the representative may appraise them or may employ one or more competent, disinterested appraisers for that purpose and pay each of them reasonable compensation for his services. (Source: P.A. 81?213.)
(755 ILCS 5/14?3) (from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 14?3) Sec. 14?3. Inventories and appraisals as evidence.)
Inventories and appraisals and authenticated copies thereof may be given in evidence in any suit by or against the representative but are not conclusive for or against him if other evidence is given that the estate was worth or was sold in good faith for more or less than its appraised value. (Source: P.A. 79?328.)
