Where the estate is opened.
Only if the statute's conditions are met. Read the section below.
See the tax section for the exemption or the repeal.
Living trust or probate
A revocable living trust holds assets you title in the trustee's name. You can serve as trustee while you are able.
At death, the successor trustee handles those assets. Property you leave in your own name can still go through the probate court. A pour-over will sends leftover assets into the trust, and those leftover assets may pass through probate first.
The probate path
In Illinois, the estate is opened in the Circuit Court.
When a will is probated, or when the estate of a decedent or missing person is administered in Illinois, the probate or the administration is in the court of the county where the decedent had a known place of residence. If there is no known residence in the state, it is in the county where the greater part of the real estate is located, or, if there is no real estate, where the greater part of the personal estate is located. A will is admitted to probate when execution is sufficiently proved, unless the court finds fraud, forgery, compulsion, or other improper conduct sufficient to invalidate the will. The small-estate affidavit statute recognizes the clerk of the circuit court as agent for service of process when no other Illinois agent is named.
Source: 755 ILCS 5/5-1, Place of probate of will or of administration of estate
Fees
In Illinois, probate compensation is a statutory commission.
755 ILCS 5/27-1 states: "A representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for his services." 755 ILCS 5/27-2 states: "The attorney for a representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for his services." The statute states reasonable compensation and does not set a percentage schedule.
Source: 755 ILCS 5/27-1, Fees of representative
Small estate
Illinois's small-estate figure on this page is $150,000 when the statute's conditions are met.
755 ILCS 5/25-1, as in effect before the January 1, 2027 amendment (source note P.A. 104-346, effective August 15, 2025), allows payment or delivery of a decedent's personal estate on a small estate affidavit when no letters of office are outstanding and no petition for letters is contemplated or pending. Excluding motor vehicles registered with the Secretary of State, tangible and intangible personal property may not exceed $150,000. The affidavit form states that, excluding those motor vehicles, the decedent's entire personal estate passing by intestacy or under a will does not exceed $150,000. The section states no waiting period.
Source: 755 ILCS 5/25-1, Payment or delivery of small estate of decedent upon affidavit
Estate or inheritance tax
Illinois levies an estate tax.
Illinois imposes an estate tax. For persons dying on or after January 1, 2013, 35 ILCS 405/2 recognizes an exclusion amount of only $4,000,000 in computing the state death tax credit. The current compiled text, sourced to P.A. 104-852, effective August 21, 2026, still uses that $4,000,000 figure.
Source: 35 ILCS 405/2, Illinois Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Act, Definitions
Questions
The answers use the same statute and court pages as the sections above.
Does a living trust avoid probate in Illinois?
A revocable living trust holds the assets you title in the trustee's name. The successor trustee handles those assets. Property still titled in your own name can be a probate matter. A pour-over will can send leftover assets into the trust, and those leftover assets may still pass through probate first.
What is the small-estate procedure in Illinois?
755 ILCS 5/25-1, as in effect before the January 1, 2027 amendment (source note P.A. 104-346, effective August 15, 2025), allows payment or delivery of a decedent's personal estate on a small estate affidavit when no letters of office are outstanding and no petition for letters is contemplated or pending. Excluding motor vehicles registered with the Secretary of State, tangible and intangible personal property may not exceed $150,000. The affidavit form states that, excluding those motor vehicles, the decedent's entire personal estate passing by intestacy or under a will does not exceed $150,000. The section states no waiting period.
How are probate fees set in Illinois?
755 ILCS 5/27-1 states: "A representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for his services." 755 ILCS 5/27-2 states: "The attorney for a representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for his services." The statute states reasonable compensation and does not set a percentage schedule.
Does Illinois tax an estate or an inheritance?
Illinois imposes an estate tax. For persons dying on or after January 1, 2013, 35 ILCS 405/2 recognizes an exclusion amount of only $4,000,000 in computing the state death tax credit. The current compiled text, sourced to P.A. 104-852, effective August 21, 2026, still uses that $4,000,000 figure.
Sources
These are the statute and court pages used above.