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ILLINOIS LEGAL INFORMATION
Last Will and Testament Statutes
Link to the Illinois Statutes online which contain the portion of the Probate Code dealing with last wills, see 755 ILCS 5/4-1, et al.
Estate Planning Information from the Illinois Bar.
American Bar Association Guide to Wills and Estates
American Bar Association, Estate Planning
Selected Illinois Statutes
- Capacity of Testator. Every person who has attained the age of 18 years and is of sound mind and memory has power to bequeath by will the real and personal estate which he has at the time of his death.
Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/4-1.
- Signing and attestation.
(a) Every will shall be in writing, signed by the testator or by some person in his presence and by his direction and attested in the presence of the testator by 2 or more credible witnesses.
(b) A will that qualifies as an international will under the Uniform International Wills Act is considered to meet all the requirements of subsection (a).
Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/4-3.
- Beneficiary or creditor as witness.
(a) If any beneficial legacy or interest is given in a will to a person attesting its execution or to his spouse, the legacy or interest is void as to that beneficiary and all persons claiming under him, unless the will is otherwise duly attested by a sufficient number of witnesses as provided by this Article exclusive of that person and he may be compelled to
testify as if the legacy or interest had not been given, but the beneficiary is entitled to receive so much of the legacy or interest given to him by the will as does not exceed the value of the share of the testator's estate to which he would be entitled were the will not
established.
(b) No individual or corporation is disqualified to act or to receive compensation for acting in any fiduciary capacity with respect to a will of a decedent by reason of the fact that any employee or partner of such individual or any employee or shareholder of such
corporation attests the execution of the will or testifies thereto. No attorney or partnership of attorneys is disqualified to act or to receive compensation for acting as attorney for any fiduciary by reason of the fact that the attorney or any employee or partner of the attorney
or partnership attests the execution of the will or testifies thereto.
(c) If real or personal estate is charged with any debt by a will and the creditor whose debt is so secured attests the execution of the will, the creditor may testify to its execution.
Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/4-6.
- Revocation - revival.
(a) A will may be revoked only (1) by burning, cancelling, tearing or obliterating it by the testator himself or by some person in his presence and by his direction and consent, (2) by the execution of a later will declaring the revocation, (3) by a later will to the extent that it is inconsistent with the prior will or (4) by the execution of an instrument declaring the revocation and signed and attested in the manner prescribed by this Article for the signing and attestation of a will.
(b) No will or any part thereof is revoked by any change in the circumstances, condition or marital status of the testator, except that dissolution of marriage or declaration of invalidity of the marriage of the testator revokes every legacy or interest or power of appointment
given to or nomination to fiduciary office of the testator's former spouse in a will executed before the entry of the judgment of dissolution of marriage or declaration of invalidity of marriage and the will takes effect in the same manner as if the former spouse had died before the testator.
(c) A will which is totally revoked in any manner is not revived other than by its re-execution or by an instrument declaring the revival and signed and attested in the manner prescribed by this Article for the signing and attestation of a will. If a will is partially revoked by an instrument which is itself revoked, the revoked part of the will is revived and takes effect as if there had been no revocation.
Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/4-7.
- Effect of alteration. An addition to a will or an alteration, substitution, interlineation or deletion of any part of a will which does not constitute a revocation of a will is of no effect, unless made by the testator or by some person in his presence and by his
direction and consent and unless the will is thereafter signed and attested in the manner prescribed by this Article for the execution of a will.
Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/4-9.
- Effect of child born after will. Unless provision is made in the will for a child of the testator born after the will is executed or unless it appears by the will that it was the intention of the testator to disinherit the child, the child is entitled to receive the portion of the estate to which he would be entitled if the testator died intestate and all legacies shall abate proportionately therefor.
Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/4-10.
- Legacy to a deceased legatee. Unless the testator expressly provides otherwise in his will, (a) if a legacy of a present or future interest is to a descendant of the testator who dies before or after the testator, the descendants of the legatee living when the legacy is to take effect in possession or enjoyment, take per stirpes the estate so bequeathed; (b) if a legacy of a present or future interest is to a class and any member of the class dies before or after the testator, the members of the class living when the legacy is to take effect in possession or enjoyment take the share or shares which the deceased member would have taken if he were then living, except that if the deceased member of the class is a descendant of the testator, the descendants of the deceased member then living shall take per stirpes the share or shares which the deceased member would have taken if he were then living; and (c) except as above provided in (a) and (b), if a legacy lapses by reason of the death of the legatee before the testator, the estate so bequeathed shall be included in and pass as part of the residue under the will, and if the legacy is or becomes part of the residue, the estate so bequeathed shall pass to and be taken by the legatees or those remaining, if any, of the residue in proportions and upon estates corresponding to their respective interests in the residue. The provisions of (a) and (b) do not apply to a future interest which is or becomes indefeasibly vested at the testator's death or at any time thereafter before it takes effect in possession or enjoyment.
Illinois Code 755 ILCS 5/4-11.
Library of Informational Legal Articles
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