Full Text of SB0536 095th General Assembly
SB0536 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008 SB0536
Introduced 2/8/2007, by Sen. Kwame Raoul SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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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.
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A BILL FOR
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SB0536 |
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LRB095 04882 AJO 24946 b |
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| AN ACT concerning civil law.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property | 5 |
| Act is amended by adding Section 8.3 as follows: | 6 |
| (765 ILCS 1025/8.3 new)
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| Sec. 8.3. Deposit of wills. | 8 |
| (a) Deposit of Wills. A depositor, as defined in subsection | 9 |
| (d), may deposit a will with the State Treasurer if the | 10 |
| depositor certifies in writing to the State Treasurer that he | 11 |
| 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 State Treasurer may assume, without | 15 |
| inquiring into the facts, that the depositor has first made a | 16 |
| diligent search for the testator. | 17 |
| (c) Fee. The State Treasurer shall collect a fee of $25 for | 18 |
| each deposit of a will. The State Treasurer shall not collect a | 19 |
| separate fee for additional documents concurrently deposited | 20 |
| in relation to a single testator or for a single joint will | 21 |
| prepared for a husband and wife.
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| (d) Definitions. As used in this Section: | 23 |
| "Depositor" means an attorney licensed or formerly |
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| licensed to practice in the State of Illinois, the attorney's | 2 |
| representative, the guardian for the attorney, or the personal | 3 |
| representative of the attorney's decedent's estate; | 4 |
| "Testator" means a person who executed a will, other than | 5 |
| as a witness or official to whom acknowledgment of signing was | 6 |
| given; | 7 |
| "Will" refers to an original: | 8 |
| (1) will; | 9 |
| (2) codicil; | 10 |
| (3) will and one or more codicils; | 11 |
| (4) trust; or | 12 |
| (5) trust and one or more trust amendments. | 13 |
| (e) Duty of State Treasurer upon receipt. Upon receipt of a | 14 |
| will under this Section, the State Treasurer shall: | 15 |
| (1) provide the depositor with a receipt for the will, | 16 |
| which receipt shall contain the information designated on | 17 |
| the envelope per paragraph (3) of this subsection; | 18 |
| (2) place the will or wills deposited concurrently in | 19 |
| relation to a single testator in one envelope and seal the | 20 |
| envelope securely in the presence of the depositor or | 21 |
| depositor's agent; | 22 |
| (3) designate on the envelope: | 23 |
| (A) the date of deposit; | 24 |
| (B) the name, address, and telephone number of the | 25 |
| depositor; | 26 |
| (C) the name and last known address of the |
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| testator; | 2 |
| (D) at the depositor's option, any and all of the | 3 |
| following information: | 4 |
| (i) alternate names by which the testator may | 5 |
| have been known; | 6 |
| (ii) the testator's birth date, and | 7 |
| (iii) the last 4 digits of the testator's | 8 |
| Social Security number; | 9 |
| (E) with respect to each document enclosed: | 10 |
| (i) a short description of the document, | 11 |
| including, if shown, its date of execution; and | 12 |
| (ii) the number of pages in the document; and | 13 |
| (4) index the will alphabetically by the name of the | 14 |
| testator, and by the alternate names set forth by which the | 15 |
| testator may have been known. | 16 |
| (f) Status as a public record. An envelope and will | 17 |
| deposited under this Section is not a public record. | 18 |
| (g) Duty of State Treasurer during testator's lifetime. | 19 |
| During the testator's lifetime, the State Treasurer shall: | 20 |
| (1) keep the envelope containing the will sealed; and | 21 |
| (2) deliver the envelope to: | 22 |
| (i) the testator; | 23 |
| (ii) a person authorized, in a writing signed by | 24 |
| the testator and notarized, to
receive the envelope; or | 25 |
| (iii) a person, entity, court, or government | 26 |
| agency authorized to receive the
envelope pursuant to |
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| an order entered by a court of competent
jurisdiction; | 2 |
| (h) Duty of State Treasurer upon notification of death of | 3 |
| testator. If the State Treasurer has custody of the will after | 4 |
| the death of the testator and is notified of the death of the | 5 |
| testator by means of a certified copy of the medical or | 6 |
| coroner's certificate of death or by a certified copy of an | 7 |
| order of court determining the testator to be deceased, upon | 8 |
| receipt of payment of a retrieval fee in the amount of $10, the | 9 |
| State Treasurer shall deliver the sealed will envelope to the | 10 |
| court that has jurisdiction of the administration of the | 11 |
| decedent's estate within 30 days of receiving notification of | 12 |
| the testator's death. If there is any doubt as to whom a will | 13 |
| should be delivered, the State Treasurer, or any other person, | 14 |
| may apply to the circuit court having jurisdiction over the | 15 |
| testator's estate for directions as to whom the State Treasurer | 16 |
| should deliver the will. | 17 |
| (i) Duties of State Treasurer upon inquiry. Upon inquiry by | 18 |
| a person identified in paragraph (2) of subsection (g), or upon | 19 |
| inquiry of any person presenting a certified copy of a medical | 20 |
| or coroner's certificate of death of the testator or a | 21 |
| certified copy of an order of a court determining the testator | 22 |
| to be deceased, the State Treasurer shall inform the person | 23 |
| whether the name of the relevant testator appears in the State | 24 |
| Treasurer's index of wills. For the purposes of this | 25 |
| subsection, the State Treasurer need not be certain that the | 26 |
| testator is the one being inquired about, but may release that |
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| information if it is possible that the testator is that one. | 2 |
| (j) Destruction of will. The State Treasurer may destroy a | 3 |
| will deposited under this Section if: | 4 |
| (1) the State Treasurer has not received notice of the | 5 |
| death of the testator; and | 6 |
| (2) at least 100 years have passed since the date the | 7 |
| will was deposited. | 8 |
| (k) Immunity. A depositor who complies with this Section is | 9 |
| immune from civil liability for depositing the will unless the | 10 |
| depositor does so with willful and wanton conduct.
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