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Illinois Executor Duties
Pillar GuideIllinois16 min read

Illinois Executor Duties

Illinois executor duties in order: get Letters of Office, file the 60-day inventory, publish notice to creditors, pay claims by class, then close the estate.

By Settled Editorial

Illinois executor duties begin the moment the Circuit Court issues your Letters of Office. That one-page order is your proof of authority, and banks, transfer agents, and title companies want a certified copy before they release anything. From there you inventory the estate, notify creditors, pay valid claims in the statutory order, and account before you distribute a dollar.

Most Illinois estates run as independent administration, so you act without prior court approval for nearly every step (755 ILCS 5/28-1). This guide walks the duties in deadline order. It is general information, not legal advice. Confirm each step with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the person lived, or with a licensed Illinois attorney.

Use this guide with the Illinois probate guide for the full process, the Illinois creditor claims guide for the notice-and-claims window, the Illinois debt payment priority guide for the order of paying claims, and the Illinois probate accounting guide for closing the estate. To find the right court, see the Illinois Circuit Court directory.

Get Your Letters of Office First

Your authority comes from the court's appointment, not from the will naming you. Illinois has no separate probate court. Probate happens in the Circuit Court of the county where the decedent had a known place of residence (755 ILCS 5/5-1). You file with the Clerk of the Circuit Court, and Cook County runs a dedicated Probate Division while smaller circuits hear probate on the general civil docket.

With a valid will, the court admits the will and issues letters testamentary to the executor named in it (755 ILCS 5/6-8). With no will, the court issues letters of administration to a qualified person: 18 or older, a United States resident, of sound mind, not an adjudged person with a disability as defined in the Act, and not a convicted felon (755 ILCS 5/9-1). Both documents are called Letters of Office, and the duties below apply the same way. Before the court releases them, you take an oath and file a bond the court approves (755 ILCS 5/12-2(a)). On a decedent's estate the waiver comes from the will rather than from the judge: where the will excuses bond or security, the bond stays in force without writing unless the court calls for a written one (755 ILCS 5/12-2(b)). The court can still require security despite a will waiver when it has cause to suspect fraud or incompetence, or believes the estate will not cover the claims against it (755 ILCS 5/12-4(a)). A named executor can find the original will, secure the home, and gather records first, but you cannot collect accounts, sign for the estate, or transfer title until the court appoints you.

Independent Administration Is the Illinois Default

Illinois grants independent administration unless the will forbids it or an interested person requires supervision (755 ILCS 5/28-2). As an independent representative you act without a court order for nearly every task, from selling property to paying claims (755 ILCS 5/28-8). You mail the inventory to interested persons instead of filing it with the court (755 ILCS 5/28-6), and you close by sending a final account to those persons and filing a verified report, not a court accounting (755 ILCS 5/28-11).

Supervised administration is the exception. It requires the court to approve major acts and to review a filed account (755 ILCS 5/24-1), and any interested person can ask for it. Knowing which track you are on tells you whether a step needs the judge or just your signature.

What an Illinois Personal Representative Does

Once you hold Letters of Office, you are a fiduciary. You protect estate property, keep estate funds in a separate estate account, follow the will or the intestacy statute, and pay creditors before heirs. The duties run in this order:

  1. Take the oath, file any required bond, and secure estate assets
  2. Inventory the estate within 60 days of your Letters of Office
  3. Publish notice to creditors and mail it to the ones you know
  4. Pay valid claims by statutory class and set aside the spouse's award
  5. Account for your administration, distribute, and close the estate

Not every estate needs full administration. Assets with a named beneficiary, a payable-on-death term, or joint ownership with right of survivorship pass outside probate. A small estate affidavit can transfer personal property instead of court administration, and the limit is keyed to the date of death (755 ILCS 5/25-1(a-5), 25-1(j)). For a death on or after August 15, 2025, the personal estate must not exceed $150,000 excluding motor vehicles registered with the Secretary of State, and those registered vehicles transfer in addition to that amount. For a death before August 15, 2025, the prior $100,000 gross personal estate limit applies, with registered vehicles counted inside it. Check whether formal administration is even needed before you run the whole sequence.

Duty 1: Take the Oath, File Any Bond, and Secure the Estate

Your first job is to accept the role and lock down what the estate owns. You take the oath, file any bond the court requires, and get certified copies of your Letters of Office to show banks and title companies. When a bond is required, it needs at least two sureties or one qualified surety company (755 ILCS 5/12-3), though many wills waive it and independent administration often lowers the need. Then secure the assets: open an estate account and move estate money into it, protect the home and any vehicles, redirect the mail, and start a file of date-of-death values. See the Illinois executor bond requirements guide for when a bond is required versus waived.

Duty 2: Inventory the Estate Within 60 Days

Within 60 days after the court issues your Letters of Office, you prepare a verified inventory of the real and personal estate that has come to your knowledge, plus any claim the estate can sue on (755 ILCS 5/14-1). List each asset with its owner name, the account or title number, the date-of-death value, and any lien. If an asset turns up later, you add it on a supplemental inventory. Online accounts belong on that list too, and the Illinois digital assets guide covers the authority you need before a provider will release them.

A supervised representative files the inventory with the court. An independent representative does not file it. You mail or deliver a copy to each interested person no less than 30 days before you file the verified report that closes the estate, and any interested person who asks in writing gets a copy sooner (755 ILCS 5/28-6(a)). An independent administrator, meaning one appointed where there is no will, carries a further duty: send the surety on the bond a copy of the inventory by certified mail within 90 days after letters issue (755 ILCS 5/28-6(b)). That subsection runs against an independent administrator, not against an independent executor.

Duty 3: Publish Notice to Creditors

Illinois makes you flush out creditors on a clock. You publish a notice of the death and your appointment once each week for three straight weeks in a newspaper in the county, and you mail or deliver the same notice to each creditor you can reasonably identify (755 ILCS 5/18-3). A creditor then has until the later of six months after the first publication or three months after you mailed its notice to file a claim. Skip the publication step and the six-month clock never starts.

Behind that window sits a hard outer limit. No claim survives more than two years after the death, whether or not letters ever issue (755 ILCS 5/18-12). For the full claims process, see the Illinois creditor claims guide and the Illinois probate timeline.

Duty 4: Pay Claims by Class, Then Set Aside the Spouse's Award

You do not pay claims first come, first served. Illinois sorts every claim into seven statutory classes and pays them in order (755 ILCS 5/18-10):

  1. Funeral and burial expenses, expenses of administration, and statutory custodial claims
  2. The surviving spouse's or child's award
  3. Debts due the United States
  4. Reasonable and necessary medical, hospital, and nursing home expenses for the decedent's care during the year immediately before death, plus money due employees of up to $800 each for services in the 4 months before death
  5. Money and property the decedent received or held in trust that cannot be identified or traced
  6. Debts due Illinois and any county, township, city, town, village, or school district in the state
  7. All other claims

Two of those classes get skipped in national summaries. Last-illness medical and nursing home bills sit in the fourth class, ahead of debts owed to Illinois and local government, rather than down among general claims. If the estate cannot cover a class, everyone in it shares pro rata and lower classes get nothing.

Family protections come off the top as a second-class claim. The surviving spouse is entitled to a spouse's award for nine months of support, never less than $20,000, plus at least $10,000 for each minor child of the decedent who resided with the surviving spouse at the death (755 ILCS 5/15-1(a)). An adult child of the decedent who was financially dependent, is likely to become a public charge, and resided with the surviving spouse draws at least $5,000 under 755 ILCS 5/15-1(a-5).

The child's award under 755 ILCS 5/15-2 is separate, and it is not limited to estates where no spouse survives. A minor child who did not reside with the surviving spouse at the death is allowed at least $10,000 under 15-2(a), and a qualifying adult dependent child who did not reside with the surviving spouse is allowed at least $5,000 under 15-2(b-5). Where the decedent leaves no surviving spouse, each minor child is allowed at least $10,000 plus a share of an additional sum of not less than $20,000 under 15-2(b). For the order of payment when the estate is short, see the Illinois debt payment priority guide and the Illinois spouse's award guide.

Duty 5: Account, Distribute, and Close

Distribution comes last, and only after the estate can support it. Before you hand anything to an heir, confirm that notice to creditors has run, the claim window has closed or the claims are resolved, taxes are handled, and the spouse's and child's awards are set aside.

A supervised representative presents a verified account to the court within 60 days after the expiration of 12 months from the issuance of letters, and whenever the court asks after that, until administration is complete (755 ILCS 5/24-1). An independent representative closes without a court accounting: you mail a final account to interested persons and file a verified report with the court showing what you received, paid, and distributed (755 ILCS 5/28-11). Distributing before the claim window closes puts the distribution at risk: an unbarred claim can be asserted against the estate to the extent assets remain and against the distributees themselves (755 ILCS 5/18-12(d)). That subsection shields a representative who acted in good faith to identify creditors and give notice under 18-3, but it does not shield one who leaves a known claim unpaid and unbarred, so close the claim window first. See the Illinois probate accounting guide for the closing report.

Illinois Real Estate Is Part of What You Administer

Solely owned Illinois real estate is part of the estate, and it stays exposed to creditor claims during administration. If the estate is short on cash, the track you are on decides whether the sale needs a judge. A supervised representative sells or mortgages estate real estate by leave of court, and only where the sale is necessary for the proper administration of the estate (755 ILCS 5/20-4(a)). An independent representative holds that power without a court order under 755 ILCS 5/28-8(i), subject to the terms of the will, and real estate the will bequeaths to a named legatee cannot be sold or mortgaged without that legatee's written consent. Real estate held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, in a living trust, or under a recorded transfer on death instrument passes outside probate and is not yours to administer. For that non-probate path, see the Illinois transfer on death instrument guide.

How an Illinois Executor Gets Paid

Illinois does not set a fixed percentage for executor pay. The statute says only that a representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for services (755 ILCS 5/27-1). It carries no percentage schedule and no list of factors. Illinois courts supply the factors, weighing matters such as the size of the estate, the work involved, the time it took, and the result obtained. The estate's attorney earns reasonable compensation on the same standard (755 ILCS 5/27-2). This differs from states that pay a set percentage of the estate, so do not assume a flat rate.

To put a planning figure on the work before you decide whether to take or waive the fee, use the Illinois executor compensation calculator. Track your hours and expenses from day one, because the court and the interested persons can review the fee. In a supervised estate the court approves it. In an independent estate you report it in your final account, where an interested person can object.

Common Questions

Does Illinois have a separate probate court?

No. Illinois handles probate in the Circuit Court of the county where the person lived (755 ILCS 5/5-1). Cook County runs a dedicated Probate Division, and other counties hear probate on the general civil docket. The court issues Letters of Office as your proof of authority.

What is the first deadline after I get my Letters of Office?

Inventory the estate within 60 days (755 ILCS 5/14-1), and publish notice to creditors soon after so the six-month claim clock starts (755 ILCS 5/18-3). An independent representative mails the inventory to interested persons rather than filing it with the court.

How long do Illinois creditors have to file claims?

The later of six months after the first published notice or three months after you mailed the creditor its notice (755 ILCS 5/18-3). No claim survives more than two years after the death, whether or not letters issue (755 ILCS 5/18-12).

How much does an Illinois executor get paid?

Reasonable compensation set by the court, not a fixed percentage of the estate (755 ILCS 5/27-1). The statute sets no schedule and names no factors. Illinois courts weigh matters such as the estate size, the work, the time, and the result. The estate attorney earns reasonable compensation on the same standard (755 ILCS 5/27-2).

Can I distribute as soon as I am appointed?

No. Wait until notice to creditors has run, the claim window has closed, valid claims are paid by class, and the spouse's and child's awards are set aside (755 ILCS 5/18-10, 15-1, 15-2). An unbarred claim that surfaces after distribution can be asserted against the estate and against the people who received distributions (755 ILCS 5/18-12(d)).

This guide is general information about Illinois estates. It is not legal advice. Confirm anything that affects your situation with the Clerk of the Circuit Court or a licensed Illinois attorney.

Sources:

It is not legal advice.

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Information current as of July 18, 2026

Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in Illinois can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

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