First Steps After a Death in Illinois

A medical professional must pronounce the death. If the death was expected under hospice care, the hospice nurse can pronounce it; if it was unexpected, call 911. Then choose a licensed Illinois funeral director or cremation provider to transport and care for your loved one and to file the death certificate with the local registrar.

Lock the residence, keep homeowner and auto insurance and the utilities active, and do not give away or sell anything yet. Illinois real estate stays subject to estate administration until debts are settled, and a small estate affidavit cannot transfer real estate at all.

Whoever holds the decedent's will must file the original with the Clerk of the Circuit Court of the proper county immediately upon the death (755 ILCS 5/6-1). Filing the will is mandatory and free in most counties, and it does not by itself open a probate case. Wilfully altering or destroying a will, or secreting it for 30 days after learning of the death, is punished on conviction as theft classified as a Class 3 felony.

Look for codicils, trust agreements, deeds and any recorded transfer on death instrument, vehicle titles, bank and brokerage statements, retirement and life insurance beneficiary forms, and recent tax returns. These decide whether an estate needs to be opened at all.

Certified copies come from the Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Records, or from the county clerk of the county where the death occurred. IDPH charges $19 for the first certified copy and $4 for each additional copy of the same record ordered at the same time. The funeral director usually orders the first batch. Order more than you expect to need, because banks, insurers, the Secretary of State, and the court each want one.

An Illinois estate is opened in the Circuit Court of the county where the decedent resided (755 ILCS 5/5-1). Illinois has no separate probate court. Cook County and other large circuits run a dedicated Probate Division; smaller counties hear probate cases on the general civil docket. Filings go to the Clerk of the Circuit Court for that county.

Separate probate assets, meaning property titled in the decedent's name alone with no beneficiary, from nonprobate assets such as joint tenancy property, payable on death and transfer on death accounts, life insurance and retirement accounts with named beneficiaries, trust property, and real estate covered by a recorded transfer on death instrument. This list drives the choice between an affidavit and a court case.

A person named as executor in the will must either petition to admit the will to probate or file a declination within 30 days after learning of the nomination (755 ILCS 5/6-3). Missing that window without good cause lets the court treat the nominee as disqualified and appoint someone else.

Illinois has three paths. The small estate affidavit under 755 ILCS 5/25-1 collects personal property with no court case: for deaths on or after August 15, 2025 the personal estate other than motor vehicles registered with the Secretary of State must not exceed $150,000, and for earlier deaths the prior $100,000 gross personal estate limit applies. There is no waiting period, the affidavit must be notarized, and no letters of office may be outstanding or contemplated. Summary administration under 755 ILCS 5/9-8 is a court shortcut for a real and personal estate of $100,000 or less with written consent from every heir and legatee. Everything else needs full administration.

File a petition for letters testamentary if there is a will (755 ILCS 5/6-2) or letters of administration if there is not (755 ILCS 5/9-4). Most Illinois estates request independent administration under Article XXVIII, which lets the representative act without court approval for most steps and close with a verified report; the court grants it unless the will forbids it or an interested person successfully objects (755 ILCS 5/28-2). Illinois publishes no statewide probate forms, so use the petition and letters forms published by the circuit clerk for your county.

Not more than 14 days after the order admitting the will or appointing a representative, the petitioner or representative must mail each heir and legatee a copy of the petition and the order, with an explanation of the right to demand formal proof of the will and to contest it (755 ILCS 5/6-10; 755 ILCS 5/9-5). Proof of that mailing is filed with the clerk.

Apply for a free estate EIN from the IRS, then open an account in the estate's name, such as 'Estate of Jane Doe.' Keep estate money completely separate from your own and keep a receipt for every payment and distribution. Banks generally want recently certified letters of office, so plan on buying several certified copies from the clerk.

Within 60 days after letters of office issue, the representative must prepare a verified inventory of the real and personal estate and any right of action (755 ILCS 5/14-1). Property discovered later goes in a supplemental inventory within 60 days of discovery. A supervised representative files the inventory with the court; an independent representative instead delivers it to interested persons (755 ILCS 5/28-6).

The representative publishes a claim notice once a week for 3 successive weeks in a newspaper of the county and mails or delivers notice to each known or reasonably ascertainable creditor. The claim date stated in the notice must be at least 6 months after first publication, or 3 months after mailed notice to a known creditor, whichever is later (755 ILCS 5/18-3; 755 ILCS 5/18-12(a)). Separately, every claim that could be barred is cut off 2 years after the death whether or not letters ever issue (755 ILCS 5/18-12(b)).

Report the death to the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213, notify each bank and brokerage, file life insurance claims, and contact pension and retirement plan administrators. Transfer or retitle vehicles through the Illinois Secretary of State, which has its own paths for a named transfer on death beneficiary, a surviving joint owner, a surviving spouse, and a small estate affidavit.

A surviving spouse who renounces the will takes 1/3 of the estate after claims if the decedent left a descendant, or 1/2 if not, and must file the signed renunciation within 7 months after the will is admitted to probate (755 ILCS 5/2-8). A will contest must be filed within 6 months after admission (755 ILCS 5/8-1). The spouse's award is at least $20,000, plus $10,000 for each minor child and $5,000 for each adult dependent child (755 ILCS 5/15-1(a), 5/15-1(a-5)), and it is paid ahead of general creditors.

Handle the decedent's final federal Form 1040 and Illinois Form IL-1040, plus federal Form 1041 and Illinois Form IL-1041 if the estate earns income. Illinois has its own estate tax with a $4,000,000 exclusion for deaths on or after January 1, 2013; the return goes to the Illinois Attorney General and payment goes to the Illinois State Treasurer, due 9 months after death with any federal extension (35 ILCS 405/6). An independent representative closes by mailing a final accounting to interested persons and filing a verified closing report (755 ILCS 5/28-11).