Gorrell v. Chappell (In re Estate of Chappell), 2014 Ill. App. Unpub. LEXIS 216 (Ill. Ct. App. Feb. 7, 2014)

(petitioner and respondent were the two children of the decedent; respondent was the executor of the decedent’s estate; both respondent and petitioner were granted a life estate in the decedent’s property, with the remainder to their children; at the time of decedent’s death, petitioner had three children, and respondent had none; the decedent owned a 78-acre farm at her death, but she owned few non-real estate resources to maintain the farming operation; pursuant to a clause in the will granting him permission to sell the decedent’s property without a court order, the respondent sold the farm for $561,600; the petitioner asked the court to remove the respondent as executor, arguing that he sold the farm “to get cash” and that he lacked such authority; in affirming the lower court’s order denying relief to the petitioner, the court found that the trial court did not commit manifest error; the debts and the farm expenses of the estate exceeded the value of the non-real estate property; the will granted the executor the power to sell property without a court order; the executor had received the advice of counsel that he did not need to obtain the consent of the legatees; there was no allegation that the respondent misappropriated funds for personal use).