Illinois Intestate Succession Chart: Heirs, Shares, and Exceptions

When an Illinois resident dies without a will, the Illinois Probate Act of 1975 decides who inherits. The rules of Illinois intestate succession follow a strict order that starts with the surviving spouse and children and moves outward through parents, siblings, grandparents, and more distant relatives only if no closer heir survives. The estate is distributed after debts, taxes, and a statutory spouse’s award are paid.

Who Inherits Under Illinois Law

Section 2-1 of the Probate Act sets the distribution order. Each category applies only if no one in a higher category survives.¹

Spouse and Descendants

If the deceased leaves both a surviving spouse and at least one descendant (children, grandchildren, or further down the line), the estate splits in half. The spouse takes 50%. The descendants share the other 50%, divided per stirpes, meaning each branch of the family gets an equal share. If a child died before the parent but left two grandchildren, those grandchildren split what their parent would have received.¹

Spouse but No Descendants

The surviving spouse inherits everything.¹

Descendants but No Spouse

The descendants take the whole estate, again per stirpes.¹

Parents and Siblings

With no spouse and no descendants, the estate goes to the deceased’s parents and siblings in equal shares at the same level, not in sequence. Two parents and one sibling each take one-third. If one parent has already died, the surviving parent receives a double portion: with one parent and two siblings surviving, the estate divides into four shares, giving the parent half and each sibling a quarter. If a sibling died before the deceased, that sibling’s children inherit their parent’s share per stirpes.¹

Grandparents and More Distant Relatives

If no parents or siblings survive, the estate splits 50/50 between the maternal and paternal sides. Each side goes first to grandparents, then to descendants of grandparents (aunts, uncles, cousins). If one side has no surviving members, the entire estate goes to the other side. The statute repeats the same maternal/paternal split at the great-grandparent level if needed.¹

No Heirs at All

When no heir can be found, the estate escheats to the government. Real estate goes to the county where it sits. Personal property goes to the county where the deceased lived, or where the property is located for non-residents. Anything left over goes to the State Treasurer. The probate court makes extensive efforts to locate heirs before this happens.¹

Special Family Situations

Adopted Children

An adopted child inherits from the adoptive parent and the adoptive parent’s relatives the same way a biological child would. One exception: if the child was adopted after turning 18 and never lived with the adoptive parent before that age, the child can still inherit directly from that parent but not from the parent’s other relatives.²

An adopted child generally loses the right to inherit from biological parents. Two exceptions preserve that right: if the child was adopted by a relative (a descendant or spouse of a descendant of the child’s great-grandparent), and if a biological parent died before the adoption took place. In that second case, the child still inherits from the deceased biological parent and their relatives.²

Posthumous and Posthumously Conceived Children

A child in the womb when the parent died inherits the same share as any child born during the parent’s lifetime. Illinois also allows children conceived after death through assisted reproduction to inherit, but only if the deceased left written consent to be a parent of any posthumously conceived child, the child is born within 36 months of the death, and the estate administrator receives written notice of the intended use of the genetic material within six months of the death certificate being issued.³

Half-Blood Relatives

Illinois draws no distinction between half-blood and full-blood relatives. A half-sibling inherits the same share as a full sibling, and the same rule applies throughout the succession hierarchy.¹

The Slayer Rule

Anyone who intentionally and unjustifiably causes another person’s death forfeits all rights to inherit from that person, whether the property would have passed by intestate succession, will, joint tenancy, beneficiary designation, or any other mechanism. A first-degree or second-degree murder conviction creates a conclusive presumption that the killing was intentional, and a civil court can also make that finding independently of any criminal case.⁴

Which Assets Actually Follow the Intestate Rules

The succession rules only govern assets that pass through probate. A large share of most people’s wealth transfers outside probate to named beneficiaries or co-owners, and those transfers happen regardless of whether a will exists.

Real estate or bank accounts held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship pass automatically to the surviving owner.
IRAs, 401(k) plans, and life insurance policies go to whoever is named as beneficiary on the account.
Payable-on-death bank accounts and transfer-on-death brokerage accounts go directly to the named person.
Illinois allows a recorded transfer-on-death instrument that moves real estate to a named beneficiary at death without probate.
Property placed in a living trust is distributed by the trustee under the trust terms, entirely outside probate.

Someone with a house held in joint tenancy, retirement savings with a named beneficiary, and a life insurance policy may leave very little for the intestate rules to distribute. Heirs counting on a statutory share should look at how each asset is titled before assuming it will reach them.

The Surviving Spouse’s Award

A surviving spouse is entitled to a separate award on top of the intestate share. The probate court must grant it before the estate is divided among heirs or used to pay most debts, and it is exempt from creditor claims. The minimum is $20,000 for the spouse, plus at least $10,000 for each minor child of the deceased who was living with the spouse at the time of death. The court can set the award higher based on the spouse’s standard of living and the size of the estate. Dependent adult children of the deceased who are likely to become a public charge may qualify for an award of at least $5,000 each.⁵

The award ranks second in the claim priority order, behind only funeral expenses and administrative costs, so it gets paid before general creditors, government debts, and medical bills.

Debts Get Paid Before Heirs Do

The estate must pay its debts in a specific statutory order before any heir receives a distribution. If assets run out, lower-priority creditors get reduced payments or nothing. Illinois classifies claims in this order:

First: funeral and burial expenses, costs of administering the estate, and any outstanding guardianship fees.
Second: the surviving spouse’s and children’s award.
Third: debts owed to the federal government.
Fourth: medical, hospital, and nursing home bills from the deceased’s final year of life, plus wages owed to employees (up to $800 per employee for the last four months).
Fifth: money or property held in trust by the deceased that cannot be traced back to its owner.
Sixth: debts owed to Illinois state and local governments.
Seventh: all other claims.

An estate with significant final-illness medical debt, unpaid taxes, and funeral costs can be substantially depleted before seventh-class creditors and heirs see anything.⁶ If debts exceed assets, heirs receive nothing, but they are not personally liable for those debts either.

Creditors have six months from the first publication of the notice to creditors to file claims. Claims filed after that are generally barred, and no final distribution can happen until the window closes and valid claims are resolved.

Illinois Estate Tax

Illinois imposes its own estate tax on estates with a gross value above $4 million. That threshold is not a credit against tax; it is the point at which a filing obligation kicks in. Any estate above $4 million must file an Illinois Form 700, even if no federal return is required. Because the $4 million amount functions as an exclusion rather than an exemption, estates just above the line can face a meaningful tax bill, and the administrator will withhold funds to cover it before final distribution to heirs.⁷

1
Justia Law. Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/2-1 – Rules of Descent and Distribution
2
Justia Law. Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/2-4 – Adopted Child
3
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/2-3 – Posthumous Child
4
FindLaw. Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/2-6
5
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/15-1 – Award to Surviving Spouse
6
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/18-10 – Classification of Claims Against Decedents Estate
7
Illinois Attorney General. Estate Tax Instruction Fact Sheet