(760 ILCS 15/6) (from Ch. 30, par. 506)

Sec. 6. Administration of a decedent's estate.

(a) Subject to subsection (b), all expenses incurred in connection with the settlement of a decedent's estate, including debts, funeral expenses, estate taxes, family allowances, fees of attorneys and representatives, and court costs shall be charged against the principal of the estate.

(b) After the death of a decedent and before distribution, income from and expenses incurred in connection with the assets of the decedent's estate, including assets used to discharge liabilities, shall, subject to subsection (a) with respect to the charging of expenses incurred in connection with the settlement of the decedent's estate, be determined in accordance with the rules applicable to a trustee under this Act and shall be allocated as follows:

(1) to specific legatees, the income from the property bequeathed to them, respectively, less property taxes, ordinary repairs, interest and other expenses of management and protection of the property, and an appropriate portion of taxes imposed on all estate income, excluding taxes on capital gains, which accrues during the period of administration, and expenses in excess of income to be charged against the property;

(2) to all other legatees, except as provided in subsection (d), the balance of the income, less the balance of property taxes, ordinary repairs, interest and other expenses of management and protection of all property from which the estate is entitled to income, and taxes imposed on income, excluding taxes on capital gains, which accrue during the period of administration, in proportion to their respective interests from time to time unpaid or undistributed in the principal of the estate, computed on the basis of values as of the decedent's death unless the estate is required to file a Federal estate tax return and then on the basis of values as finally determined for Federal estate tax purposes.

(c) Income received by a trustee under subsection (b) shall be treated as income of the trust.

(d) A legatee (other than the testator's surviving spouse) of a pecuniary legacy not in trust shall not be paid interest on the legacy or be entitled to receive any part of the income received by the representative during the period of administration as income on the legacy. A legacy to the testator's surviving spouse of a pecuniary amount shall carry with it a proportionate part of the income of the estate from the testator's death to the date of satisfaction determined in accordance with paragraph (2) of subsection (b).

(e) Except to the extent otherwise provided in paragraph (7) of subsection (c) of Section 14, interest and penalties on any tax shall be charged in the same manner as the tax.

(f) This Section governs the administration of a decedent's estate whether settled by an executor or administrator or by a trustee under a trust instrument and, if by a trustee, whether the decedent is the person establishing the trust or a beneficiary thereof; and the references to representatives and to legacies shall be read as applying to trustees and to distributions under a trust instrument.

(Source: P.A. 83-1362; 87-714.)