DeVore Law Offices handles Illinois probate, trust administration, and contested estate matters — from straightforward estates that simply need to be moved through court, to complex cases involving family businesses, farmland, missing assets, undue influence, or a will contest. Many estates are paperwork. Plenty of them are not. We have done both.
When someone dies, the legal work starts before the family is ready for it. Bills keep coming. A business needs to be run or wound down. Real estate has to be insured and maintained. Heirs need to be notified. Banks want letters of office before they'll release a dime. And if the family disagrees — about the will, about the executor, about who gets what — every one of those decisions becomes harder.
Many estates are not legally complicated. They just need to be moved through court in the right order, with the right notices, by someone who has done it before. Other estates are genuinely complicated — by a closely-held business, by farmland that several siblings have different ideas about, by a second marriage with stepchildren, by an executor who is also a beneficiary and is making decisions that benefit one side of the family.
The work, either way, is the same kind of work. It is done quietly, methodically, and with the family's actual goals at the center of it. When the case can be resolved without a fight, it is. When it can't, the firm is ready for the fight.
— The way the firm has approached estates across downstate Illinois for more than fifteen years.
The firm handles the full range of probate, trust, and estate matters under Illinois law — including the contested cases other lawyers prefer not to take. Below is the work we do day in and day out.
Estates involving closely-held businesses, farmland, multiple real estate parcels, out-of-state property, large debts, or beneficiaries who don't agree. Independent and supervised administration both. The mechanics matter, and we know them.
Challenges to a will based on lack of testamentary capacity, undue influence, fraud, improper execution, or revocation by a later instrument. The six-month clock to contest a will is short — once the clock runs, it is over.
Breach-of-trust actions against trustees, accountings under the Illinois Trust Code, removal of trustees, reformation and construction of trusts, and disputes over distributions. Often parallel to a probate, sometimes instead of one.
When the person in charge of the estate or trust is mismanaging assets, self-dealing, failing to communicate, or simply refusing to act, the court can remove them. Getting there requires a record. We build it.
Section 16-1 citations to bring before the court anyone holding property that belongs to the estate, including a family member who took possession before or after death. One of the most powerful tools the Probate Act provides.
Reviewing executor and trustee accountings, objecting where the numbers don't add up, and pursuing surcharge against a fiduciary who has caused loss to the estate. The accounting background of this firm is not incidental — it is central.
Estates whose largest asset is a closely-held business or a multi-generational farm. Valuation, operation during administration, buy-sell enforcement, and the very real question of who is going to run the business while the case is open.
Estates without a will, including determinations of heirship, half-blood and adopted-heir questions, and disputes between competing branches of the family.
Surviving-spouse and minor-child awards under the Probate Act, renunciation of a will, and election to take a statutory share against the will.
Guardianship of the person and estate for minors and disabled adults, including contested guardianships, temporary guardianships, and ongoing accountings to the court.
For estates that qualify under the personal-property thresholds set by the Probate Act, the small estate affidavit avoids opening a full probate. Where probate is needed, independent administration usually keeps cost and time down.
Wills, revocable living trusts, powers of attorney for property and healthcare, and beneficiary-designation review. Plain-English documents built around what your family actually needs — not a template pulled off a shelf.
Before law school, Tom DeVore worked in accounting and finance. In probate practice, that matters more than most people realize. An estate is a set of numbers as much as it is a set of legal questions, and the numbers are where executors get themselves in trouble, where mistakes go unnoticed, and where dishonest fiduciaries hide. Having a lawyer who can read an inventory and an accounting the way an accountant reads them is part of the work.
Over more than fifteen years of practice, the firm has probated many complicated estates and represented families on every side of estate disputes — the heir who has been cut out, the executor under attack, the beneficiary who suspects the trustee is not telling the truth. Plain English, returned calls, and an honest assessment of what the case is worth. That is the standard.
Inventories, accountings, and surcharge analysis read the way they were meant to be read — by someone trained in both disciplines.
Estate contests, removal actions, and citation proceedings prepared for hearing. Settlement, when it comes, comes from strength.
Tom DeVore handles your matter personally. You are not handed off to an associate the day you sign.
No Latin, no jargon. You will understand what is happening — and what it is costing — at every step.
An initial conversation, in person or by phone, to understand what has happened — who has passed, what the estate looks like, who the players are, and whether there are already disagreements brewing. You will leave knowing whether the firm is the right fit and what your realistic options are.
Before any filing, we look at the picture: assets, debts, beneficiaries, will or no will, trust documents, prior transfers, and likely flashpoints. You get a straight answer about whether a full probate is even necessary, what the case is likely to involve, and what it is likely to cost.
Petition for letters of office, notice to heirs and creditors, bond and oath where required, and — in supervised cases — a published notice that starts the creditors' claim period. In contested matters, the appropriate petition: will contest, citation, removal, accounting.
Identify and value every asset. Confirm every debt. Issue the notices the Probate Act requires. Where there is suspicion of missing or transferred assets, use the citation procedure and ordinary discovery to bring them back into the estate.
Most probate disputes resolve without a trial once the record is built and the numbers are clear. When they do not, the firm is comfortable trying contested estate matters in front of the court. Either way, the preparation is the same.
Final accounting, distribution, deed transfers, retitling of accounts, tax filings coordinated with the estate's accountant, and closing of the estate. A clean handoff, with documentation the heirs can keep.
A straightforward Illinois probate typically takes nine to twelve months — the creditors' claim period alone runs six months from the date of publication. Estates with real estate to sell, a business to wind down, or contested issues can take longer.
We will give you a realistic estimate after the initial call — not a number designed to win your business.
Attorney fees in Illinois probate are subject to a reasonableness standard under the Probate Act and, in supervised estates, court approval. Most of our probate work is billed hourly against a retainer, with the rate disclosed in writing before any work begins.
For estate-planning documents (wills, trusts, POAs), flat fees are often available. You will know what it costs before we start.
Phone calls returned within one business day. Major filings, court dates, and rulings explained in writing — in plain English — when they happen.
You will know what is going on in the estate without having to chase it down.
"When my father died, his estate was a mess — three pieces of farm ground, a closed shop, and a sibling who'd been writing checks on Dad's account for years. Tom walked us through it, ran the citation, and made the executor account for every dollar. The estate closed clean."
"My stepmother had a will drawn up two weeks before my father passed that gave her almost everything. We thought we had no chance. Tom looked at the medical records, talked to the witnesses, filed the contest, and we ended up with a settlement that respected what Dad had always said he wanted."
No. Assets that pass by beneficiary designation (life insurance, retirement accounts), by joint tenancy, by a transfer-on-death instrument, or through a properly funded living trust generally pass outside of probate. For small estates under the personal-property threshold set by the Probate Act, a small-estate affidavit can avoid probate entirely. A short look at the asset picture usually tells us which category your estate falls into.
A straightforward probate typically runs nine to twelve months. The creditors' claim period alone is six months from the date of published notice, and most estates can't be closed until that period runs. Estates with real estate to sell, a business to wind down, tax issues, or contested questions take longer — sometimes meaningfully longer. We will give you an honest estimate after we see the facts.
Independent administration means the executor or administrator can act without checking in with the court at every step — they still answer to the beneficiaries, but the court does not approve each sale, each distribution, or each fee. Supervised administration means the court does approve those things. Most estates that qualify proceed independently because it is faster and cheaper. Cases where there is real disagreement among the heirs often need to be supervised.
Illinois has rules — the laws of intestate succession — that decide who inherits when there is no will. Spouse, children, parents, siblings, and on out from there, in defined shares. We can open an estate, get an administrator appointed, and determine heirship if there is any question about who the heirs are.
Possibly. Illinois recognizes grounds including lack of testamentary capacity, undue influence, fraud, improper execution, and revocation by a later instrument. The deadline is short — generally six months from the admission of the will to probate. If you have any reason to believe a will isn't what it appears to be, call before that clock runs. After it runs, the contest is gone.
Quite a lot. The Probate Act gives beneficiaries the right to demand an accounting, to object to an accounting, to compel action, and — where the case is bad enough — to seek removal of the executor and surcharge for losses caused by mismanagement. Getting there requires building the record. The earlier you raise concerns, the better.
Yes — that is exactly what a citation to discover and recover assets is for. The court can compel anyone in possession of property that belongs to the estate to appear and answer. Where the property was transferred wrongfully, the court can order it returned. We use this tool regularly.
These are usually the hardest pieces of an estate, because someone has to keep them running while the case is open, and because their value is not always clean to calculate. We coordinate with appraisers, accountants, and — where appropriate — buy-sell agreements that already exist. The goal is almost always to keep the operation intact and offset its value among the heirs.
It depends. For most Illinois families, a well-drafted will, along with properly titled assets and updated beneficiary designations, does the job. A revocable living trust makes sense when the goals are avoiding probate, managing real estate in multiple states, or providing for blended families or a disabled beneficiary. We will give you a straight answer based on your facts, not a one-size-fits-all upsell.
Yes. The firm regularly handles probate, trust, and estate matters across central and southern Illinois — from the Metro East counties (Madison, St. Clair, Bond, Clinton, Monroe, Macoupin) up through the I-55 and I-72 corridors (Montgomery, Christian, Sangamon, Macon) and south through Effingham, Marion, Jefferson, Williamson, and the rest of southern Illinois. Initial calls can be by phone or video.
The 15-minute call is no-cost and to the point. It is not a legal advice session — the only question on the table is whether having this firm represent you is likely to be in your interest. If it is, we will talk about what happens next. If you are better served by another lawyer, or by handling the matter without one, we will tell you so.
Everything you share is confidential. Submitting this form does not create an attorney-client relationship.
A probate is an accounting problem wrapped in a family one. Tom DeVore worked in accounting before he became a lawyer, which means estates, inventories, and final accountings are well within his comfort zone — and he can explain them to you in plain English. He'll tell you what the process looks like, what it will cost, and how to keep it moving.
More about how Tom works →If the estate involves a business, a farm, real estate, blended families, or any real disagreement among heirs, the lawyer you choose in the first 60 days will shape what the next year looks like. Call before the small problems become big ones.