Full Text of SB0536 95th General Assembly
SB0536sam001 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Sen. Kwame Raoul
Filed: 3/27/2007
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| AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 536
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 536 by replacing | 3 |
| everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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| "Section 5. The Secretary of State Act is amended by adding | 5 |
| Section 5.15 as follows: | 6 |
| (15 ILCS 305/5.15 new) | 7 |
| Sec. 5.15. Deposit of wills. | 8 |
| (a) Deposit of Wills. A depositor, as defined in subsection | 9 |
| (d), may deposit a will with the Secretary of State if the | 10 |
| depositor certifies in writing to the Secretary of State that | 11 |
| he or she is unable to locate the testator after a diligent | 12 |
| search. This Section applies whether it is known or unknown | 13 |
| whether the testator is living.
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| (b) Assumptions. The Secretary of State may assume, without | 15 |
| inquiring into the facts, that the depositor has first made a | 16 |
| diligent search for the testator. |
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| (c) Fee. The Secretary of State shall collect a fee of $25 | 2 |
| for each deposit of a will. The Secretary of State shall not | 3 |
| collect a separate fee for additional documents concurrently | 4 |
| deposited in relation to a single testator or for a single | 5 |
| joint will prepared for a husband and wife.
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| (d) Definitions. As used in this Section: | 7 |
| "Depositor" means an attorney licensed or formerly | 8 |
| licensed to practice in the State of Illinois, the attorney's | 9 |
| representative, the guardian for the attorney, or the personal | 10 |
| representative of the attorney's decedent's estate; | 11 |
| "Testator" means a person who executed a will, other than | 12 |
| as a witness or official to whom acknowledgment of signing was | 13 |
| given; | 14 |
| "Will" refers to an original: | 15 |
| (1) will; | 16 |
| (2) codicil; | 17 |
| (3) will and one or more codicils; | 18 |
| (4) trust; or | 19 |
| (5) trust and one or more trust amendments. | 20 |
| (e) Duty of Secretary of State upon receipt. Upon receipt | 21 |
| of a will under this Section, the Secretary of State shall: | 22 |
| (1) provide the depositor with a receipt for the will, | 23 |
| which receipt shall contain the information designated on | 24 |
| the envelope per paragraph (3) of this subsection; | 25 |
| (2) place the will or wills deposited concurrently in | 26 |
| relation to a single testator in one envelope and seal the |
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| envelope securely in the presence of the depositor or | 2 |
| depositor's agent; | 3 |
| (3) designate on the envelope: | 4 |
| (A) the date of deposit; | 5 |
| (B) the name, address, and telephone number of the | 6 |
| depositor; | 7 |
| (C) the name and last known address of the | 8 |
| testator; | 9 |
| (D) at the depositor's option, any and all of the | 10 |
| following information: | 11 |
| (i) alternate names by which the testator may | 12 |
| have been known; | 13 |
| (ii) the testator's birth date, and | 14 |
| (iii) the last 4 digits of the testator's | 15 |
| Social Security number; | 16 |
| (E) with respect to each document enclosed: | 17 |
| (i) a short description of the document, | 18 |
| including, if shown, its date of execution; and | 19 |
| (ii) the number of pages in the document; and | 20 |
| (4) index the will alphabetically by the name of the | 21 |
| testator, and by the alternate names set forth by which the | 22 |
| testator may have been known. | 23 |
| (f) Status as a public record. An envelope and will | 24 |
| deposited under this Section is not a public record. | 25 |
| (g) Duty of Secretary of State during testator's lifetime. | 26 |
| During the testator's lifetime, the Secretary of State shall: |
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| (1) keep the envelope containing the will sealed; and | 2 |
| (2) deliver the envelope to: | 3 |
| (i) the testator; | 4 |
| (ii) a person authorized, in a writing signed by | 5 |
| the testator and notarized, to
receive the envelope; or | 6 |
| (iii) a person, entity, court, or government | 7 |
| agency authorized to receive the
envelope pursuant to | 8 |
| an order entered by a court of competent
jurisdiction; | 9 |
| (h) Duty of Secretary of State upon notification of death | 10 |
| of testator. If the Secretary of State has custody of the will | 11 |
| after the death of the testator and is notified of the death of | 12 |
| the testator by means of a certified copy of the medical or | 13 |
| coroner's certificate of death or by a certified copy of an | 14 |
| order of court determining the testator to be deceased, upon | 15 |
| receipt of payment of a retrieval fee in the amount of $10, the | 16 |
| Secretary of State shall deliver the sealed will envelope to | 17 |
| the court that has jurisdiction of the administration of the | 18 |
| decedent's estate within 30 days of receiving notification of | 19 |
| the testator's death. If there is any doubt as to whom a will | 20 |
| should be delivered, the Secretary of State, or any other | 21 |
| person, may apply to the circuit court having jurisdiction over | 22 |
| the testator's estate for directions as to whom the Secretary | 23 |
| of State should deliver the will. | 24 |
| (i) Duties of Secretary of State upon inquiry. Upon inquiry | 25 |
| by a person identified in paragraph (2) of subsection (g), or | 26 |
| upon inquiry of any person presenting a certified copy of a |
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| medical or coroner's certificate of death of the testator or a | 2 |
| certified copy of an order of a court determining the testator | 3 |
| to be deceased, the Secretary of State shall inform the person | 4 |
| whether the name of the relevant testator appears in the | 5 |
| Secretary of State's index of wills. For the purposes of this | 6 |
| subsection, the Secretary of State need not be certain that the | 7 |
| testator is the one being inquired about, but may release that | 8 |
| information if it is possible that the testator is that one. | 9 |
| (j) Destruction of will. The Secretary of State may destroy | 10 |
| a will deposited under this Section if: | 11 |
| (1) the Secretary of State has not received notice of | 12 |
| the death of the testator; and | 13 |
| (2) at least 100 years have passed since the date the | 14 |
| will was deposited. | 15 |
| (k) Immunity. A depositor who complies with this Section is | 16 |
| immune from civil liability for depositing the will unless the | 17 |
| depositor does so with willful and wanton conduct. ".
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