Brad Henshaw
SALINE CO. – The late Saline County State’s Attorney Mike Henshaw’s death revealed that he apparently had no will drawn up, and now, a contentious probate is brewing in Saline County Circuit Court.
At odds in this unfortunate situation are Henshaw’s three kids by his first marriage – Brad, Jarrod and Sara – and his widow, Lavon.
The probate case was opened March 30, the day after a memorial service took place in Harrisburg for the beloved former judge and then-state’s attorney at the time of his death, which occurred at his home on West Poplar in the late evening of Wednesday, March 22, 2017.
Henshaw fell down the stairs at the front part of the home, landing in such a way that his neck broke, which killed him instantly. He had been suffering the aftereffects of pneumonia but had gone back to work despite being weak and worn out from the illness, which may have contributed in some way to the fall.
Lavon Henshaw, who was out with friends at an area restaurant at the time, was the one who found the body, about an hour and a half after it was estimated the accident occurred, this adjudged by the home surveillance cameras installed in the house.
Wasting no time after the formalities of burying their father, the three adult children filed a Petition for Letters of Co-Administration of his estate, lawyering up with first a starter attorney, Harrisburg’s Douglas Hines, but within a matter of a couple of days, Brad Henshaw retaining the man who in the past couple of years had become Mike Henshaw’s arch-nemesis, Robert Wilson.
The filing forced Lavon Henshaw to have to hire the services of Granite City attorney Morgan Scroggins.
In the March 30 filing, the contention is readily observed within the first couple of paragraphs: In a probate, an approximate value of any estate must be listed at the outset, and includes personal property and real property (real estate). Under “personal property,” the listing is “unknown at this time,” which provides an issue with anyone seeking to equitably distribute a deceased person’s property, as there has to be a determination as to what’s going to go where.
Illinois law requires a probate, morbid as it is, in order to determine settlement of debts (such as a mortgage) as well as ensuring heirs are considered, especially when there’s no will.
The law is clear, however, that a spouse is the primary heir, with everyone else falling in line after that, and herein is where the problem begins: The surviving children are next in line, but under this circumstance, they are the first to make a probate case and claim.
Co-administrators nominated
On March 30, the three nominated co-administrators for the estate, people who are supposed to be objective in the distribution of property, without the input of the surviving spouse, who was still in the process of grieving when the paperwork was filed.
The three kids nominated David Dennison and Mike Sumner. Their nomination is ostensibly so that the estate will be administered without court supervision, “unless an interested person asks the court to become involved.” The “interested person” can then issue a check and deliver a petition to terminate the independent co-administrators, in order to protect that petitioner’s interest in the estate.
However, that person will then be questioned about the estate; and under the circumstances, since the three kids don’t know anything about the estate, that provides them with the opportunity to question and discover aspects of it. They would then have a right to object to whatever they discover, and insist on a full court accounting of all receipts and disbursements…which can drag on for years, and in some cases, decades.
Judges recuse; ‘preference’ explained
The filing initially created an issue of which judge in the First Circuit would hear it.
Henshaw worked with many judges in the First over nearly 40 years’ time, in particular those who regularly sit in Saline County. So judges Todd Lambert, Walden Morris and Joe Leberman had to recuse themselves.
The case has been assigned to Judge Cary C. Gill.
Mrs. Henshaw was issued the filings within a couple of days, and Scroggins, on April 4, filed an Objection to Heirs’ Nomination of Co-Administrators.
Noting that pursuant to Illinois law, the preference order in obtaining the issuance of letters of administration was, first, the surviving spouse or any person nominated by the surviving spouse, followed by the legatees or any person nominated by them, with preference to legatees who are children, and then the children or any person nominated by them. The ‘preference’ then goes down the line to other decedents, including grandchildren, parents, siblings, nearest kindred, representative of the estate of a deceased ward, public administrator and then creditor of the estate.
Bottom line: Scroggins noted in his filing that not only was Lavon Henshaw a mentally fit and able-bodied surviving spouse, but in accordance with statute, has priority over all other parties requesting letters of administration.
Her petition, therefore, asked the court to deny the nomination of co-administrators as filed by the Henshaw children.
Lavon Henshaw’s petition for letters of administration also listed as “unknown” the value of personal and real property, as an accounting hasn’t been done yet.
However, a final paragraph in her petition stated that the gross value as of the date of death, which is subject to administration in Illinois, does not exceed $150,000.
Claims caselaw
On April 12, an Objection to Lavon Henshaw’s Petition for Letters of Administration was filed by the three Henshaw children.
In their petition, the state Mrs. Henshaw is unsuitable to administer the estate “because of her adverse interest, her conflict of interest to and her hostility towards those immediately interested in the estate…namely Brad Henshaw, Jarrod Henshaw and Sara Powell.”
And, fighting the law in the state, they cite an Illinois Supreme Court ruling from a 1946 case In re Abell’s Estate, Hoover v. Hott, as well as a 1978 case, In the Matter of the Estate of Delbert R. Harman, caselaw which literally redefines preference as to survivors, and has created the mess most probated courts are in these days. These two cases set precedence for “conflicts of interest and hostility among the heirs which would render (an individual) unsuitable to be administrator.”
Another case heavily cited which knocks out the “preferred class of decedents” is Dennis v. Dennis V. Dennis from 1944, and underscores “adverse interest of some kind, or hostility to those immediately interested in the estate.”
Under the existing caselaw, the three offspring have to show that there is a level of “hostility” on the part of Mrs. Henshaw toward the kids.
They set forth the following anecdotal instances that they claim proves such a thing.
Anecdotal reasons
On the night of Henshaw’s death, court documents show, “Lavon Henshaw threw Brad Henshaw out of the house and told Brad Henshaw to ‘get out of my house, I don’t need you here or want you here.’”
The paragraph doesn’t show anything that lead up to such a statement being made, but it sets the tone for the rest of the anecdotal situations cited.
“Brad Henshaw and Verlinda Henshaw, his wife, contacted Lavon Henshaw via text message on Saturday, March 25, 2017,” the documents state, “to inquire about funeral arrangements. Lavon replied that Todd, Lavon’s son, or I will let you know when they are. No text message or phone call was ever returned concerning the status of the services. Brad Henshaw learned of the services when he saw a Facebook event post on Mike Henshaw’s Facebook page with details of the services. Brad Henshaw had to call mutual acquaintance to confirm the details of the services.”
The allegations got a little thinner from that point.
“Sara Henshaw Powell, Mike Henshaw’s daughter who lives in California, attempted to contact Lavon Henshaw via text messages following the death of her dad to obtain information concerning the services for Mike Henshaw and did not receive a response even after multiple attempts,” the next anecdotal statement reads.
More anecdotal material
“Jarrod Henshaw, Mike Henshaw’s son who lives in Florida, had to rely upon Brad Henshaw following the death of his dad in order to obtain information concerning the services for Mike Henshaw.
“Brad Henshaw, Jarrod Henshaw and Sara Powell had no say and were not consulted in regard to the services for Mike Henshaw. The three children had to reach out to the minister of the church to find out if they would even be welcome at the services and had to ask permission to participate in the services via a eulogy.
“Brad Henshaw learned that his dad, Mike Henshaw, had been cremated from the Coroner’s office. Mike Henshaw was cremated without discussion or prior knowledge of his three children.
“Mike Henshaw and Lavon Henshaw came into Farmer’s State Bank on March 6, 2017, where Brad Henshaw works for a loan closing. Mike Henshaw asked that Brad help with the refinance and closing of the mortgage on their house in Harrisburg. During the closing, Lavon Henshaw made no attempt to speak to Brad Henshaw or even acknowledge him during the closing.
“Christmas dinner was planned at Mike and Lavon Henshaw’s house for all three children, their spouses and the grandchildren. When everyone arrived Lavon Henshaw was not there and dinner had not been cooked. After a search of the Henshaw house, it was determined that the Christmas presents for the grandchildren were not in the house. Lavon Henshaw did not return home so Mike Henshaw and the family went to Morellos for dinner.
“For the last four or five years that Mike Henshaw’s parents were alive, Lavon Henshaw would not attend family Christmas Eve celebrations or other family get-togethers with the family at Mike Henshaw’s parents’ house.”
Reaching back
Then the anecdotal information really reached back.
“In November 2006, at Mike Henshaw’s retirement party as Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of the First Judicial Circuit, Mike asked Brad to speak at the party. When Brad Henshaw, Verlinda Henshaw and Morean Henshaw (Mike’s mother) arrived at the party, Mike Henshaw confirmed to Brad that he was going to speak but Lavon Henshaw stated that Brad Henshaw could not speak because she already had enough speakers. Brad Henshaw agreed not to speak; however, Lavon Henshaw’s son, Todd Stevens, was allowed to speak.
“In 2005, while on a trip in Florida with friends of both Mike Henshaw, Lavon Henshaw, Brad Henshaw and Verlinda Henshaw, Lavon Henshaw came down to the beach from the bar where Brad was laying asleep in a lounge chair and began yelling at Brad over the fact that Brad had been trying a few hours earlier to take one of their friends to the airport. In front of friends, Lavon Henshaw called Brad a ‘f^*king red-headed son-of-a-b!tch.’ In addition to this, Lavon Henshaw berated Brad Henshaw’s mother as well as had words with some of the other friends that were there. This event created significant turmoil and hostility for Brad Henshaw, Jarrod Henshaw and Sara Powell with Lavon Henshaw that has continued and has escalated from that day to the present.
“In 2008, Mike Henshaw went to visit Sara Powell at her home in California. Lavon Henshaw called many times throughout the day questioning Mike Henshaw about what he was doing and where they were. At one point, Lavon Henshaw became very upset; and, because of all the phone calls Mike Henshaw became fed up with all of the phone calls. Lavon Henshaw wanted Mike to return home 3 days early. Mike Henshaw stayed for two more days before returning home one day earlier than he was scheduled.
“The next trip Mike Henshaw made to California to visit Sara Powell and his grandchildren was in 2013. Lavon Henshaw accompanied Mike Henshaw on that trip. The first few days were fine. The grandchildren were more than thrilled to have Mike and Lavon here. On one occasion everyone was in La Jolla shopping and Mike Henshaw gave both of his grandchildren a $100 bill and told them to buy what they wanted. Lavon Henshaw told Mike Henshaw that he was not allowed to spend any more money on the grandchildren for the rest of the trip. Later that evening Lavon Henshaw said that they were going to take the grandchildren school shopping but the Mike Henshaw had blown it because he already gave them money earlier that day. Lavon Henshaw stated the grandchildren had enough and Papa Mike overstepped her, Lavon Henshaw’s, plan.”
Do ‘hostile’ feelings really exist?
On the basis of these anecdotal pieces of information, the Henshaw heirs are asking the court to deny Lavon Henshaw’s petition for letters of administration, citing the multiple cases wherein “very, very bitter and hostile feelings” prevail, and stating that the same circumstances of hostility exist.
They also state that Lavon Henshaw is the one “in possession of the assets belonging to the estate” and, “because other than the records located in Mike Henshaw’s office at the Saline County State’s Attorney’s Office, Brad Henshaw, Jarrod Henshaw and Sara Powell have been unable to obtain any information concerning any financial records.”
On April 13, an Order Declaring Heirship established only that Mrs. Henshaw and the three Henshaw offspring were the only heirs at law, which only clarified that small fact.
The rest of the matters will likely have to be determined in a court of law, possibly with testimony as to how any of these instances impact the situation between Mrs. Henshaw and the other heirs, and as to whether there is actual “hostility,” or whether there was some kind of understandable lag time following Henshaw’s death that the widow – who was traumatized upon finding the body of her husband of over 21 years – that caused behavior being mischaracterized by the three other heirs.
A petition hearing has been scheduled for May 17, with a backup date of June 1. These hearings will not be held in Saline County, but instead will be conducted at the Williamson County Courthouse in Marion.