An IRELA CLE Webinar

A Walk on the Wild Side of Estate and Probate

Richard Bales

 Proper Title

MCLE approved for 1-hour General CLE credit

Registration is Free for IRELA Members
Non-Members ~ $50*

All real estate attorneys know the rules of estates and probate. That is, when the homeowner dies and the family of the deceased homeowner wants to sell the homeowner’s home, and the family hires an attorney to handle the sale, the attorney knows that he or she has two basic options: the attorney can either probate the estate or the attorney can obtain deeds from all the heirs and legatees of the decedent.

But what if things don’t work out according to plan? What if there is an unforeseen problem, such as a missing heir? What if the attorney has to fall back on “Plan B?”

This presentation is Plan “B.”

Richard F. Bales

Dick Bales is underwriting counsel for Proper Title, working in its Naperville office. He has worked in the title insurance industry since 1977. He graduated from Illinois College in Jacksonville in 1973. He received his juris doctorate degree from Northern Illinois University in 1983.

Bales describes himself as a lawyer by profession but a writer by avocation. He used title company records to research and write his book, The Great Chicago Fire and the Myth of Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow, which was published by McFarland in 2002. His book, The Short Writings of Nelson Algren: A Study of His Stories, Essays, Articles, Reviews, Poems, and other Literature, was published by McFarland in 2022. He has just finished his second book on Nelson Algren, The Life, Work, and Colleagues of Nelson Algren, which will be published by McFarland, probably in early 2025. He is the co-author (with Mike Filipski) of Residential and Commercial Surveys in Illinois, published by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education in 2004. He is currently working on the story of George Wellington “Cap” Streeter and the creation and history of the Chicago neighborhood called “Streeterville.” Bales has been a member of IRELA for many years. In 2023 IRELA gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award.

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