Illinois living trusts & estate documents

Living trust law in Illinois

A revocable living trust holds your home, accounts, and other property during your life — you stay in full control as trustee and can change or revoke it any time — then passes it to your beneficiaries without probate when you're gone. In Illinois, trusts are governed by the Illinois Trust Code, 760 ILCS 3.

Avoiding probate in Illinois

Probate in Illinois is governed by the Illinois Probate Act of 1975, 755 ILCS 5 and handled by the Circuit Court's Probate Division. Illinois allows independent administration, which avoids most court supervision.

Illinois allows a small estate affidavit when the personal estate, excluding motor vehicles registered with the Secretary of State, is $150,000 or less for deaths on or after August 15, 2025 — $100,000 for earlier deaths (755 ILCS 5/25-1). That simplified procedure is set out in Small estate affidavit, 755 ILCS 5/25-1. A funded living trust passes outside probate entirely, whatever the size of the estate — which is why Illinois homeowners in particular set one up. Illinois also authorizes a transfer-on-death instrument (755 ILCS 27/1 et seq.) to pass real estate outside probate — a living trust does the same for every asset, not just real estate.

In Illinois, creditors generally have at least 6 months from the first published notice, with a 2-year absolute bar from death to file claims against the estate (755 ILCS 5/18-12) — one reason court probate takes time that a funded trust avoids.

Estate and inheritance tax in Illinois

Illinois levies its own estate tax on top of the federal one, and at a much lower exemption: Illinois has a state estate tax with a $4 million exclusion (not portable between spouses). The separate federal estate tax reaches only estates above $15 million per person (2026, adjusted yearly), so most families never owe it.

Protecting a surviving spouse in Illinois

A surviving spouse in Illinois who is left out of the will can instead claim an elective share of one-third of the estate where the decedent left descendants, one-half where none under 755 ILCS 5/2-8 — a protection the will itself cannot override.

Illinois also sets aside a spouse's award of at least $20,000, plus at least $10,000 for each dependent child for a surviving spouse and minor children (755 ILCS 5/15-1), protected ahead of most creditors.

Signing your Illinois documents

1. Sign the living trust. Executed and acknowledged before a notary (State of Illinois certificate).
2. Sign the will. Two witnesses; notarized self-proving affidavit included (standalone and pour-over wills).
3. Sign the power of attorney. Sign your Durable Power of Attorney before a Notary Public.
4. Sign the health care documents. Sign your Advance Health Care Directive before one adult witness, and your Living Will Declaration before two adult witnesses, as the forms provide.
5. Follow your package instructions. Your package includes page-by-page signing instructions written for Illinois — follow those as the authoritative guide.

Serving all of Illinois

Answer the questionnaire from anywhere in Illinois and download your completed documents in minutes: Chicago, Aurora, Joliet, Naperville, Rockford, Springfield, Elgin, Peoria, Waukegan, Champaign, Cicero, Bloomington, and every community in between.