SB0536 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB095 04882 AJO 24946 b

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
SB0536

Introduced 2/8/2007, by Sen. Kwame Raoul

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

765 ILCS 1025/8.3 new

Amends the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act. Provides that an attorney (or an attorney's representative or guardian) who certifies that he or she has been unable to locate a testator after a diligent search may deposit the testator's will with the State Treasurer. Requires the State Treasurer to: index, store, and perform other duties with respect to deposited wills; deliver the will to the testator or a designee or to a person specified in a court order; deliver the will to a court upon being notified of the death of the testator; and respond to inquiries regarding the will under specified circumstances. Contains provisions regarding fees, destruction of wills, immunity, and other matters.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning civil law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act is amended by adding Section 8.3 as follows:

(765 ILCS 1025/8.3 new)

Sec. 8.3. Deposit of wills.

(a) Deposit of Wills. A depositor, as defined in subsection (d), may deposit a will with the State Treasurer if the depositor certifies in writing to the State Treasurer that he or she is unable to locate the testator after a diligent search. This Section applies whether it is known or unknown whether the testator is living.

(b) Assumptions. The State Treasurer may assume, without inquiring into the facts, that the depositor has first made a diligent search for the testator.

(c) Fee. The State Treasurer shall collect a fee of $25 for each deposit of a will. The State Treasurer shall not collect a separate fee for additional documents concurrently deposited in relation to a single testator or for a single joint will prepared for a husband and wife.

(d) Definitions. As used in this Section:

"Depositor" means an attorney licensed or formerly licensed to practice in the State of Illinois, the attorney's representative, the guardian for the attorney, or the personal representative of the attorney's decedent's estate;

"Testator" means a person who executed a will, other than as a witness or official to whom acknowledgment of signing was given;

"Will" refers to an original:

(1) will;

(2) codicil;

(3) will and one or more codicils;

(4) trust; or

(5) trust and one or more trust amendments.

(e) Duty of State Treasurer upon receipt. Upon receipt of a will under this Section, the State Treasurer shall:

(1) provide the depositor with a receipt for the will, which receipt shall contain the information designated on the envelope per paragraph (3) of this subsection;

(2) place the will or wills deposited concurrently in relation to a single testator in one envelope and seal the envelope securely in the presence of the depositor or depositor's agent;

(3) designate on the envelope:

(A) the date of deposit;

(B) the name, address, and telephone number of the depositor;

(C) the name and last known address of the testator;

(D) at the depositor's option, any and all of the following information:

(i) alternate names by which the testator may have been known;

(ii) the testator's birth date, and

(iii) the last 4 digits of the testator's Social Security number;

(E) with respect to each document enclosed:

(i) a short description of the document, including, if shown, its date of execution; and

(ii) the number of pages in the document; and

(4) index the will alphabetically by the name of the testator, and by the alternate names set forth by which the testator may have been known.

(f) Status as a public record. An envelope and will deposited under this Section is not a public record.

(g) Duty of State Treasurer during testator's lifetime. During the testator's lifetime, the State Treasurer shall:

(1) keep the envelope containing the will sealed; and

(2) deliver the envelope to:

(i) the testator;

(ii) a person authorized, in a writing signed by the testator and notarized, to receive the envelope; or

(iii) a person, entity, court, or government agency authorized to receive the envelope pursuant to an order entered by a court of competent jurisdiction;

(h) Duty of State Treasurer upon notification of death of testator. If the State Treasurer has custody of the will after the death of the testator and is notified of the death of the testator by means of a certified copy of the medical or coroner's certificate of death or by a certified copy of an order of court determining the testator to be deceased, upon receipt of payment of a retrieval fee in the amount of $10, the State Treasurer shall deliver the sealed will envelope to the court that has jurisdiction of the administration of the decedent's estate within 30 days of receiving notification of the testator's death. If there is any doubt as to whom a will should be delivered, the State Treasurer, or any other person, may apply to the circuit court having jurisdiction over the testator's estate for directions as to whom the State Treasurer should deliver the will.

(i) Duties of State Treasurer upon inquiry. Upon inquiry by a person identified in paragraph (2) of subsection (g), or upon inquiry of any person presenting a certified copy of a medical or coroner's certificate of death of the testator or a certified copy of an order of a court determining the testator to be deceased, the State Treasurer shall inform the person whether the name of the relevant testator appears in the State Treasurer's index of wills. For the purposes of this subsection, the State Treasurer need not be certain that the testator is the one being inquired about, but may release that information if it is possible that the testator is that one.

(j) Destruction of will. The State Treasurer may destroy a will deposited under this Section if:

(1) the State Treasurer has not received notice of the death of the testator; and

(2) at least 100 years have passed since the date the will was deposited.

(k) Immunity. A depositor who complies with this Section is immune from civil liability for depositing the will unless the depositor does so with willful and wanton conduct.