When someone dies in Illinois, what to do breaks into a clear sequence: get an official pronouncement of death and a death certificate, notify Social Security and other key agencies, locate the will and inventory what the person owned, and then either use a small estate affidavit (if personal property totals $150,000 or less and no real estate is held solely in the deceased’s name) or open formal probate. Debts and taxes get paid out of the estate in a specific order before anything is distributed to heirs. The full timeline runs from a few weeks for a small estate to a year or more for a probate case.
The First Few Days
A medical professional has to officially pronounce the death before anything else can happen. In a hospital or nursing facility, staff takes care of it. For a death at home, call the person’s physician or hospice nurse. If the death was unexpected or no doctor was involved, the county coroner or medical examiner steps in.
A licensed funeral director then files the death certificate. Illinois requires a report of death to the local registrar within 24 hours of the funeral home taking possession of the body. If the body will be cremated or transported out of state, the registrar must sign a permit first. Otherwise the completed death certificate is filed within seven days of death.1Illinois General Assembly. 77 Ill. Adm. Code 500, Appendix G – Death Records
Order 10 to 15 certified copies. Banks, insurers, the DMV, retirement plan administrators, and title companies will each want their own original. The first certified copy costs $19, and each additional copy ordered at the same time is $4.2Illinois Department of Public Health. Required Fees – Death Certificate Ordering extras up front is cheaper and faster than coming back for more later.
Who to Notify Right Away
Funeral homes usually report the death to the Social Security Administration, but confirm it happened. If not, call the SSA at 1-800-772-1213 with the deceased’s Social Security number, date of birth, and date of death. A surviving spouse may qualify for a one-time lump-sum death payment of $255.3Social Security Administration. What to Do When Someone Dies
If the deceased was a veteran, the family may be eligible for VA burial benefits. For a service-connected death, the maximum burial allowance is $2,000. For a non-service-connected death of a veteran who died on or after October 1, 2025, the VA pays up to $1,002 for burial and $1,002 for a plot, plus up to $441 for a headstone or marker.4Veterans Affairs. Veterans Burial Allowance and Transportation Benefits
Identity theft against the deceased is more common than people expect. Contact each of the three major credit bureaus to place a deceased alert on the credit report (you’ll need a certified death certificate), and notify the deceased’s banks and credit card companies promptly so accounts can be frozen or closed.5USAGov. Agencies to Notify When Someone Dies The sooner you do this, the harder it is for anyone to open fraudulent accounts in the deceased’s name.
Finding the Will and Taking Stock of What They Owned
Before any legal process starts, build a full picture of what the deceased owned and owed. Look for a will, trust documents, deeds, vehicle titles, bank and brokerage statements, life insurance policies, retirement account records, and recent tax returns. Check safe deposit boxes, home safes, and email for digital statements.
Digital assets count too: email, social media, online banking, cryptocurrency wallets, and cloud-stored files. Illinois has adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which gives executors a path to manage these assets, though an executor generally cannot access the content of private messages or emails unless the deceased specifically authorized that access.
Your inventory decides the next step. If the deceased’s personal property totals $150,000 or less and they did not own real estate solely in their name, you may be able to skip probate entirely. Otherwise, you’re headed to probate court.
When You Can Skip Probate: The Small Estate Affidavit
If the deceased’s personal property (excluding motor vehicles registered with the Secretary of State) totals $150,000 or less, Illinois lets you use a small estate affidavit instead of opening a probate case.6Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/25-1 – Small Estates A few things to know:
- Motor vehicles don’t count toward the $150,000 and can be transferred separately.
- Real estate cannot be transferred by small estate affidavit. If the deceased owned a house or land solely in their name, you’ll need probate or another transfer method for that property.
- There’s generally no court filing fee.
You present the affidavit directly to whoever holds the asset — a bank, an employer with a final paycheck, a brokerage firm — along with a certified death certificate. It is substantially faster and cheaper than probate.
Separately, many assets bypass probate regardless of estate size. Life insurance, 401(k)s, and IRAs pass to named beneficiaries. Property held in joint tenancy automatically belongs to the surviving owner. Revocable living trusts are distributed by the successor trustee. Illinois also allows transfer-on-death deeds for real estate7Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 755 ILCS 27 – Real Property Transfer on Death Instrument Act and payable-on-death designations on bank accounts. One important catch: beneficiary designations override the will. If the will leaves everything to the children but the retirement account still names an ex-spouse, the ex-spouse gets the retirement account.
When Probate Is Required
Probate is the court-supervised process for settling an estate, governed by the Illinois Probate Act of 1975.8Justia. Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5 – Probate Act of 1975 You’ll generally need it if the deceased owned real estate solely in their name or if probate-eligible personal property exceeds $150,000.
Opening the Estate
File the original will, if there is one, with the circuit clerk in the county where the deceased lived. Then file a petition asking the court to open the estate and appoint a personal representative. If the will names an executor, the court typically appoints that person. With no will, the court appoints an administrator, usually a close family member. Once appointed, the representative receives “Letters of Office,” the document that gives them legal authority to act on the estate’s behalf: accessing bank accounts, selling property, paying debts, and dealing with creditors.9Justia. Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5 – Article VI, Probate of Wills and Issuance of Letters of Office
Independent vs. Supervised Administration
Most Illinois estates use independent administration. The executor or administrator handles estate business without court approval for each individual action, unless an interested person objects and asks the court to step in.10Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/28-1 – Independent Administration Supervised administration requires court permission for most significant actions and is typically reserved for disputed estates or cases where the will requires it.
The Creditor Claim Period
The representative notifies known creditors directly and publishes a notice in a local newspaper for unknown creditors. Creditors then have at least six months from the first publication date, or three months from the date of mailing, whichever is later, to file claims.11Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/18-3 – Claims Against Estates This waiting period is the main reason probate takes as long as it does.
Costs
Costs include court filing fees, publication fees, and attorney fees. Filing fees vary by county; in Cook County, opening a probate estate costs $379.12Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court. Probate Division Fee Schedule Attorney fees are usually the largest expense and typically run 2% to 5% of the estate’s value, depending on complexity. Executors and administrators are entitled to reasonable compensation; Illinois sets no fixed formula and courts decide case by case.
If There’s No Will
When someone dies without a will, Illinois law decides who inherits. The order, under the Probate Act’s descent and distribution rules:13Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/2-1 – Rules of Descent and Distribution
- Spouse and descendants: the spouse takes half; the descendants split the other half equally, with grandchildren stepping into a deceased child’s share.
- Spouse but no descendants: the spouse inherits everything.
- Descendants but no spouse: the descendants inherit everything, equally.
- No spouse or descendants: the estate passes to parents, siblings, and their descendants in equal shares, with a surviving parent getting a double share if the other parent has died.
- No close relatives: the estate moves outward to grandparents and their descendants, then further.
These rules apply only to probate assets. Property with a beneficiary designation, joint ownership, or trust ownership passes outside this process. The state only takes an estate if no living relative can be found at any level, which is rare.
Paying Debts in the Right Order
The estate, not surviving family members personally, is responsible for the deceased’s debts. Family members generally don’t inherit debt unless they co-signed. When the estate can’t cover everything, the Probate Act sets a priority:14Justia. Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5 – Article XVIII, Claims Against Estates
- First: funeral expenses and costs of administering the estate.
- Second: the surviving spouse’s award and children’s awards.
- Third: debts owed to the United States.
- After that: other debts, including medical bills, credit cards, and personal loans, in statutory order.
The spouse’s and children’s awards are protected from creditors. A surviving spouse is entitled to at least $20,000, plus at least $10,000 for each minor child of the deceased who was living with the spouse at the time of death. These are minimums; courts can award more based on the family’s standard of living and the estate’s resources. The awards are meant to cover nine months of support.15Justia. Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5 – Article XV, Spouse and Child Awards
Don’t distribute to heirs until the creditor period has expired and all valid claims are resolved. Representatives who distribute early can be personally liable.
Taxes You Can’t Forget
Someone needs to file the deceased’s final federal income tax return (Form 1040) for the period from January 1 through the date of death. It’s prepared the same way as if the person were alive and is due on the normal April deadline the following year.16Internal Revenue Service. Filing a Final Federal Tax Return for Someone Who Has Died A surviving spouse can file a joint return for that year.
If the estate itself earns more than $600 in gross income during administration (bank interest, rental income, gains on asset sales), the representative files a federal fiduciary income tax return on Form 1041.17Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1041
Illinois imposes its own estate tax with a $4 million threshold. If the gross estate exceeds $4 million after adjusted taxable gifts, an Illinois estate tax return (Form 700) must be filed with the Illinois Attorney General within nine months of the date of death. Extensions are available by filing Form 700-EXT or a written explanation within that nine-month window, and the Attorney General also recognizes federal extensions.18Illinois Attorney General. Estate Tax Instruction Fact Sheet
The federal estate tax exemption for 2026 is $15 million per individual, following the increase enacted by the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act signed in July 2025.19Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax Most Illinois estates fall well under this. Even so, a surviving spouse should consider filing for portability, which lets them claim the deceased spouse’s unused federal exemption. To elect it, the executor files a Form 706 even though no tax is due. For non-taxable estates, the IRS allows the election up to five years after the date of death.20Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2022-32 The potential to shield up to $30 million in combined assets for a married couple makes it worth doing even for estates that look modest now.
Closing the Estate
Once all debts, taxes, and administrative expenses are paid and the creditor period has expired, the representative distributes what remains according to the will or intestacy rules and prepares a final accounting showing every asset collected, every expense paid, and every distribution made.
In independent administration, the representative can often close by obtaining written approval from all beneficiaries and filing a final report. In supervised administration, they petition the court for a formal discharge order. Either way, closing the estate releases the representative from personal liability for estate decisions, which is why thoroughness matters at the end. Skipping the formal close or distributing before debts and taxes are settled is where representatives get into trouble.