(755 ILCS 5/20-2) (from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 20-2)

Sec. 20-2. Leasing real estate.

(a) A representative may lease the real estate of a decedent or ward upon such terms and for such length of time not inconsistent with the provisions of the decedent's will, if any, as the court may authorize. Real estate specifically bequeathed may not be leased without the written assent of the legatee filed with the court.

(b) Before leasing real estate, a representative must file in the court which issued his letters a petition setting forth a description of the real estate sought to be leased, its improvements, and the facts and circumstances upon which the petition is founded. A copy of the proposed lease must be attached to the petition. Upon the filing of the petition the court shall set it for hearing not less than 10 days thereafter. It is the duty of the petitioner to mail a notice of the hearing and a copy of the petition to the heirs or legatees of the decedent or to the ward, as the case may be, not less than 5 days prior to the hearing, but where the duration of a lease of a ward's real estate does not exceed 5 years or extend beyond the minority of the ward, the court in its discretion may hear the petition without notice.

(c) A representative who has a lease of farm property owned by a decedent or ward in existence on or before the date he or she assumed the duty of representative may continue according to the terms of the lease until (1) the estate of the decedent is closed, (2) the wardship is terminated, or (3) a court order is entered finding that the terms of the lease are unfair or that service as a representative, under the facts before the court, is incompatible with the representative's operation of the decedent's or ward's farm property. The fact that the representative receives profits from the lease is not a violation of the representative's fiduciary duty imposed by this Act.

(Source: P.A. 89-540, eff. 1-1-97.)