In re Estate of Vock, No. 3-12-0997, 2014 Ill. App. Unpub. LEXIS 181 (Ill. Ct. App. Feb. 4, 2014)

(plaintiff, the husband of the decedent, sought to renounce the will of his deceased spouse; defendant, the decedent’s son and the executor of her estate, filed a petition to disallow the renunciation on the grounds that it was untimely;  the circuit court ruled in favor of the defendant; on appeal, the plaintiff argued that the circuit court should have applied equitable estoppel and equitable tolling to excuse the late filing; in affirming the circuit court’s judgment, the court found that no facts warranted the application of equitable estoppel or equitable tolling; the plaintiff and decedent had agreed that their assets would pass to their respective children; the plaintiff knew in advance that he was not a beneficiary of his wife’s estate or family trust; there was no evidence that the defendant had misled the plaintiff or that he had prevented the plaintiff from filing his petition in a timely manner; one judge dissented, arguing that the estate’s lawyer, who had lulled the plaintiff into inaction, was working under an undisclosed conflict of interest).