Unjust enrichment

[Emilar]

Jurisdiction

Illinois

My ex died in June 2017. His sisters immediately took over, acting like they were executors when they were not. They ransacked his apartment and took a safe with my daughters birth certificate and who knows what else.I think they were looking for a will telling them to pay his bills and then split the proceeds between the girls. Of course they kept his life insurance and the death benefits of his retirement plan. This plan, SERS, allowed him to make them beneficiaries. Now I know for sure he gave that to them to hurt me, but the estate is in probate here in Illinois, which my daughter is the executor.What I would like to do is file for unjust enrichment. I have to try something I have a divorce decree granting me marital property rights to the retirement portion. But he refused to sign Qildro . How do I get this in front of the probate judge? Thanks for any answers.

 

[ElleMD]

I can't tell what you are trying to accomplish. Are you saying your ex-husband named his sister(s) as the beneficiaries of his retirement plan, even though as part of your divorce settlement, you were entitled to some portion of his benefit? Did you have a QDRO? It would have had to be filed with the plan prior to his death. Typically these are done at or around the same time as the divorce, but they can be done at a later date. If you don't have a QDRO, you are out of luck. The pension plan is not a party to your divorce settlement and can only pay out to you if the have a QDRO on record.

 

[adjusterjack]

What I would like to do is file for unjust enrichment.

Not gonna happen. They were beneficiaries. They were entitled to the money.

I have a divorce decree granting me marital property rights to the retirement portion. But he refused to sign Qildro .

That's on you. You could have petitioned the court to compel him to sign under pain of contempt. That ship has sailed.

How do I get this in front of the probate judge?

You might have a remote chance of enforcing the decree against his estate, but that's it, and you will need a probate attorney working for you (not the one that works for the estate).

If you can't or won't hire a probate attorney of your own, then you can forget about it.

 

[zddoodah]

the estate is in probate here in Illinois, which my daughter is the executor.

That's fine as far as it goes, but life insurance policies and retirement plans with designated beneficiaries are not part of the probate estate.

I have to try something I have a divorce decree granting me marital property rights to the retirement portion. But he refused to sign Qildro .

How long ago were you divorced, and how long ago did he refuse to sign the QILDRO? When he refused to sign, did you go back to the divorce court to address the issue? If not, why not? If so, what was the outcome? By the way, as the name implies, a QILDRO is an order; it generally gets signed by the court, not by the parties, so I'm a little perplexed by your claim that your ex failed to sign.

How do I get this in front of the probate judge?

You don't. This isn't a probate issue. If no QILDRO was ever submitted to the administrator of the retirement plan, then the administrator had no reason not to pay out the benefits as per the beneficiary designation. I suggest you confer with a local attorney ASAP about whether you have a viable claim against the sisters to obtain the retirement plan benefits. Since you apparently failed to take appropriate action to secure your rights under your divorce decree, it might be that it's too late now, but only a local attorney will be able to advise you about that.

 

[Emilar]

OK guys, Thanks for your answers. First off, if I can enforce support obligations and other judgments against his estate as a creditor why wouldn't I be able to enforce this one? I guess I would be going after the wrong people as I wasn't married to his sisters. But the Illinois pension code does say that pension plans must wait 180 days and any reasonable time thereafter, for an alternate payee to submit Qildro and that alternate payees are wives. former wives or minor or disabled children. I just am not sure which rules apply the plans rules or the Illinois pension code. I also believe that per the Illnois Probate Act, I can enforce my other judgments including divorce judgments against his estate. I have already submitted a claim there, I just know my daughter and his daughter are going to get very little as there are a few vehicles and personal property left. The court could not make him sign Qildro by contempt because there is a law about state government plans that have a consent clause. Every other state plan except SERS requires signing of Qildro as a contingency to employment. As for not persuing earlier, he went on disability and started moving all over the U.S. to avoid me. I only just found out he was back in Illinois, a few months before his death. But, thanks so much for answering, I kind of knew I was grasping at straws, but had to ask.

 

[Emilar]

Also. there were a lot of things going on in this case, domestic violence, non support, weapons he had, my children and I lost our home, he stalked us and hid the only vehicle we had for weeks until he was made to return it. He was put in jail twice for not paying support and on and on. There are not enough pages here to list every nuance in this case, so to jump on me like I am some kind of gold digger just isn't the right.