Can the court records be sealed or at least the contents of the estate kept out of the newspaper, if an estate is valued at potentially 9 million dollars?
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Can the court records be sealed or at least the contents of the estate kept out of the newspaper, if an estate is valued at potentially 9 million dollars?
If so, how could I go about in doing that? At first I was told yes but then because of the (potential) estate value I was told the entire contents had to be published (revealed) to the public. We don’t want that. Is there an option to pay on the estate or court to prevent this from happening?
Asked on September 21, 2012 under Estate Planning, Illinois
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If the estate that you are writing about is in probate or an intestate succession then the proceeding under the law is a public proceeding and as such, the contents of the estate can legally be published to the public at large.
You cannot prevent the public publication of the estate if in probate. This is why many people have trusts as an estate planning mechanism. Trust are private and are not subject to public review.
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