SB0460eng 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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1 AN ACT concerning estates.

2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,

3 represented in the General Assembly:

4 Section 5. The Probate Act of 1975 is amended by changing

5 Section 25-1 as follows:

6 (755 ILCS 5/25-1) (from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 25-1)

7 Sec. 25-1. Payment or delivery of small estate of decedent

8 upon affidavit.

9 (a) When any person or corporation (1) indebted to or

10 holding personal estate of a decedent, (2) controlling the

11 right of access to decedent's safe deposit box or (3) acting as

12 registrar or transfer agent of any evidence of interest,

13 indebtedness, property or right is furnished with a small

14 estate affidavit in substantially the form hereinafter set

15 forth, that person or corporation shall pay the indebtedness,

16 grant access to the safe deposit box, deliver the personal

17 estate or transfer or issue the evidence of interest,

18 indebtedness, property or right to persons and in the manner

19 specified in paragraph 11 of the affidavit or to an agent

20 appointed as hereinafter set forth.

21 (b) Small Estate Affidavit

22 I, (name of affiant) , on oath state:

23 1. (a) My post office address is: ;

24 (b) My residence address is: ; and

25 (c) I understand that, if I am an out-of-state

26 resident, I submit myself to the jurisdiction of Illinois

27 courts for all matters related to the preparation and use of

28 this affidavit. My agent for service of process in Illinois is:

NAME..........................

ADDRESS.......................

CITY..........................

TELEPHONE (IF ANY)............

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1 I understand that if no person is named above as my agent for

2 service or, if for any reason, service on the named person

3 cannot be effectuated, the clerk of the circuit court of

4 ......(County) (Judicial Circuit) Illinois is recognized by

5 Illinois law as my agent for service of process.

6 2. The decedent's name is ;

7 3. The date of the decedent's death was , and I

8 have attached a copy of the death certificate hereto.

9 4. The decedent's place of residence immediately before his

10 death was ;

11 5. No letters of office are now outstanding on the

12 decedent's estate and no petition for letters is contemplated

13 or pending in Illinois or in any other jurisdiction, to my

14 knowledge;

15 6. The gross value of the decedent's entire personal

16 estate, including the value of all property passing to any

17 party either by intestacy or under a will, does not exceed

18 $100,000. (Here, list each asset, e.g., cash, stock, and its

19 fair market value.);

20	`7. (a) All of the decedent's funeral expenses have been`
21	`paid, or (b) The amount of the decedent's unpaid funeral`
22	`expenses and the name and post office address of each person`
23	`entitled thereto are as follows:`
24	`Name and post office address`		`Amount`
25	`(Strike either 7(a) or 7(b)).`
26	`8. There is no known unpaid claimant or contested claim`
27	`against the decedent, except as stated in paragraph 7.`
28	`9.` `(a) The names and places of residence of any surviving`
29	`spouse, minor children and adult dependent* children of the`
30	`decedent are as follows:`
31	`Name and`	`Place of`	`Age of`
32	`Relationship`	`Residence`	`minor child`

33
34	`*(Note: An adult dependent child is one who is unable to`
35	`maintain himself and is likely to become a public charge.)`

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1	`(b) The award allowable to the surviving spouse of a`
2	`decedent who was an Illinois resident is $.......... ($10,000,`
3	`plus $5,000 multiplied by the number of minor children and`
4	`adult dependent children who resided with the surviving spouse`
5	`at the time of the decedent's death. If any such child did not`
6	`reside with the surviving spouse at the time of the decedent's`
7	`death, so indicate).`
8	`(c) If there is no surviving spouse, the award allowable to`
9	`the minor children and adult dependent children of a decedent`
10	`who was an Illinois resident is $.......... ($10,000, plus`
11	`$5,000 multiplied by the number of minor children and adult`
12	`dependent children), to be divided among them in equal shares.`
13	`10. (a) The decedent left no will. The names, places of`
14	`residence and relationships of the decedent's heirs, and the`
15	`portion of the estate to which each heir is entitled under the`
16	`law where decedent died intestate are as follows:`
17	`Name, relationship`	`Age of`	`Portion of`
18	`and place of residence`	`minor`	`Estate`
19		`OR`

20
21	`(b) The decedent left a will, which has been filed with the`
22	`clerk of an appropriate court. A certified copy of the will on`
23	`file is attached. To the best of my knowledge and belief the`
24	`will on file is the decedent's last will and was signed by the`
25	`decedent and the attesting witnesses as required by law and`
26	`would be admittable to probate. The names and places of`
27	`residence of the legatees and the portion of the estate, if`
28	`any, to which each legatee is entitled are as follows:`
29	`Name, relationship`	`Age of`	`Portion of`
30	`and place of residence`	`minor`	`Estate`

31
32	`(Strike either 10(a) or 10(b)).`
33	`(c) Affiant is unaware of any dispute or potential conflict`
34	`as to the heirship or will of the decedent.`
35	`11. The property described in paragraph 6 of this affidavit`
36	`should be distributed as follows:`

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1 Name Specific sum or property to be distributed

4 The foregoing statement is made under the penalties of

5 perjury*.

.........................

Signature of Affiant

8 *(Note: A fraudulent statement made under the penalties of

9 perjury is perjury, as defined in Section 32-2 of the Criminal

10 Code of 1961.)

11 (c) Appointment of Agent. If safe deposit access is

12 involved or if sale of any personal property is desirable to

13 facilitate distribution pursuant to the small estate

14 affidavit, all persons named in paragraph 11 of the small

15 estate affidavit (excluding minors and unascertained or

16 disabled persons) may in writing appoint one or more persons as

17 their agent for that purpose. The agent shall have power,

18 without court approval, to gain access to, sell, and distribute

19 the property for the benefit of all persons named in paragraph

20 11 of the affidavit; and the payment, delivery, transfer,

21 access or issuance shall be made or granted to or on the order

22 of the agent.

23 (d) Release. Upon payment, delivery, transfer, access or

24 issuance pursuant to a properly executed affidavit, the person

25 or corporation is released to the same extent as if the

26 payment, delivery, transfer, access or issuance had been made

27 or granted to the representative of the estate. Such person or

28 corporation is not required to see to the application or

29 disposition of the property; but each person to whom a payment,

30 delivery, transfer, access or issuance is made or given is

31 answerable therefor to any person having a prior right and is

32 accountable to any representative of the estate.

33 (e) The affiant signing the small estate affidavit prepared

34 pursuant to subsection (b) of this Section shall indemnify and

35 hold harmless all creditors and heirs of the decedent and other

36 persons relying upon the affidavit who incur loss because of

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1 such reliance. That indemnification shall only be up to the

2 amount lost because of the act or omission of the affiant. Any

3 person recovering under this subsection (e) shall be entitled

4 to reasonable attorney's fees and the expenses of recovery.

5 (f) The affiant of a small estate affidavit who is a

6 non-resident of Illinois submits himself or herself to the

7 jurisdiction of Illinois courts for all matters related to the

8 preparation or use of the affidavit. The affidavit shall

9 provide the name, address, and phone number of a person whom

10 the affiant names as his agent for service of process. If no

11 such person is named or if, for any reason, service on the

12 named person cannot be effectuated, the clerk of the circuit

13 court of the county or judicial circuit of which the decedent

14 was a resident at the time of his death shall be the agent for

15 service of process.

16 (g) Any action properly taken under this Section, as

17 amended by Public Act 93-877, on or after August 6, 2004 (the

18 effective date of Public Act 93-877) is valid regardless of the

19 date of death of the decedent.

20 (Source: P.A. 93-877, eff. 8-6-04.)

21 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon

22 becoming law.