Illinois
Death Laws & End-of-Life Guide

At a Glance

The 7-day rule.

In Illinois, a death certificate must be filed with the local registrar of the district where the death occurred within 7 days after the death, and before cremation or removal of the body from the state. The funeral director who first assumes custody of the body is responsible for filing it. (410 ILCS 535/18)

Who files it.

The funeral director who first assumes custody of the body prepares the certificate and gets the personal data from the next of kin. The medical certification of cause of death has to be completed and signed within 48 hours after death by the health care professional who was treating that illness or condition. If the death is subject to a coroner's or medical examiner's investigation, that office signs it instead, also within 48 hours.

Who can order copies.

Spouses, parents, children, siblings, and legal representatives can order certified copies. Contact the Illinois Department of Public Health or the county clerk where the death occurred.

• -IDPH Vital Records: dph.illinois.gov
• -Cost: approximately $19 per certified copy
• -Expedited service available online through VitalChek

Who can order a death certificate in Illinois?

Death records are not public. A certified copy goes to someone with a personal or property right interest with the person who died; anyone who is not a relative sends a letter from the office or agency that needs the certificate. Uncertified copies for genealogy are available on plain paper. Certified copies come from Illinois's Division of Vital Records, Illinois Department of Public Health, in Springfield (at 110 W Lawrence Avenue since September 14, 2026); the county clerk where the death occurred issues copies too, by mail or fax to the Division of Vital Records, online through VitalChek, or from the county clerk.

How do I get a death certificate in Illinois?

Order certified copies from Illinois's vital records office; this section's source link is the official process. The funeral home or cremation provider usually orders the first copies for you. Ask each bank, insurer, court, and agency whether it needs its own certified copy before you decide how many to order.

How much does a death certificate cost in Illinois?

$19 per certified copy in Illinois, as shown above. Additional-copy pricing varies; the official source linked in this section has the current fee schedule.

At a Glance

When probate is required.

Illinois requires formal probate for assets owned solely by the deceased with no beneficiary designation. A small estate affidavit can be used instead when the personal estate passing under the will or by intestacy comes to $150,000 or less, not counting motor vehicles registered with the Secretary of State. That threshold was $100,000 until August 15, 2025.

If you die without a will.

Illinois intestate succession (755 ILCS 5/2-1) determines who inherits:

• -Surviving spouse only: gets everything
• -Spouse + descendants: spouse gets half, descendants split the other half
• -No spouse, descendants survive: descendants inherit equally by representation
• -No spouse or descendants: parents inherit; then siblings; then more distant relatives
• -No heirs found: estate escheats to the State of Illinois

When two people die close together.

Illinois sets no fixed survival period for an heir. Where title turns on who died first and there isn't enough evidence that the deaths weren't simultaneous, 755 ILCS 5/3-1 disposes of each person's property as if that person had survived, unless a will, trust, deed, or insurance contract says otherwise.

What goes through probate.

Only assets owned solely by the deceased without beneficiary designations. Joint tenancy property, accounts with named beneficiaries, and life insurance pass outside probate automatically.

Handwritten wills.

Illinois doesn't accept an unwitnessed handwritten will signed here. Every will has to be signed and attested in the person's presence by two or more credible witnesses (755 ILCS 5/4-3). A will signed outside Illinois can be admitted if it met the law of the place it was signed or of the person's home state at the time, or if it's already been admitted to probate elsewhere (755 ILCS 5/7-1).

Source: 755 ILCS 5/4-3 (Illinois General Assembly) ↗

How long does probate take in Illinois?

A straightforward Illinois probate typically runs 9-18 mo, as shown in this section. Contested wills, missing heirs, or real property in other states stretch it well past that.

What is the small-estate limit in Illinois?

$150,000. Estates under that figure can use the simplified process or affidavit covered above instead of full probate.

Do I need a probate attorney in Illinois?

Not always. If the estate qualifies for the simplified process covered above, many people handle it without a lawyer. Hire one for full probate, a contested will, or property in more than one state. Before you hire anyone, know the fee structures: hourly, flat, and (in a few states) statutory percentages. Our probate attorney cost guide covers what each should run you.

Does Illinois allow transfer-on-death deeds?

Yes. Illinois authorizes the transfer on death instrument (TODI) under 755 ILCS 27/1 to 27/95, Real Property Transfer on Death Instrument Act. Record it while you’re alive and the property passes to your named beneficiary at death, outside probate, revocable any time before then. Illinois calls it an 'instrument,' not a deed, and since 2022 it covers all real property (not just homes); it must be witnessed and notarized like a will, which is stricter than most states.

Source: 755 ILCS 27/1 to 27/95, Real Property Transfer on Death Instrument Act ↗

Time off work after a death in Illinois

Illinois is one of nine states that require a private employer to give bereavement leave. The limits matter as much as the entitlement.

Who it covers. Illinois borrows the federal FMLA definitions (820 ILCS 154/5), so three limits apply at once: the employer has 50 or more employees, you have worked there 12 months and 1,250 hours, AND your worksite has 50 or more employees within 75 miles of it. Someone at a 500-person company's 12-person satellite office doesn't qualify. Covered family members: child, stepchild, spouse, domestic partner, sibling, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, or stepparent.

How much. 2 weeks (10 work days) per qualifying death or event, and it comes OUT of your federal FMLA 12 weeks rather than on top of them, so a worker who already used their FMLA that year has none left for a death (820 ILCS 154/10(e)). Only FMLA-eligible workers at FMLA-covered employers qualify. Leave must be completed within 60 days after notice of the death, and is capped at 6 weeks in a 12-month period when more than one covered family member dies.

Paid or unpaid. Unpaid. The employee may substitute accrued paid leave, and the Act doesn't require the employer to add paid time.

One of the few state mandates anywhere that names pregnancy loss. Read the coverage limit first: the Act's word "employees" is a defined term, not the plain-English one, so "All employees" means all FMLA-eligible employees at FMLA-covered employers, not every worker in the state. Section 10(a) then lists four purposes: (1) attend the funeral or alternative to a funeral of a covered family member; (2) make arrangements necessitated by the death; (3) grieve the death; and (4) be absent from work due to a miscarriage, an unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination or of an assisted reproductive technology procedure, a failed adoption match or a contested adoption that isn't finalized, a failed surrogacy agreement, a diagnosis that negatively impacts pregnancy or fertility, or a stillbirth. Employers may ask for reasonable documentation but can't demand which category of event it was. Illinois also has a separate Child Extended Bereavement Leave Act (820 ILCS 156) for a parent who loses a child. This guide doesn't cover its terms.

Source: Family Bereavement Leave Act, 820 ILCS 154/10 (definitions at 820 ILCS 154/5); renamed and expanded from the Child Bereavement Leave Act by P.A. 102-1050, effective Jan 1, 2023. ↗

Can I leave money to care for my pet in Illinois?

Yes. Illinois enforces pet trusts under 760 ILCS 3/408 (Illinois Trust Code), so money you set aside for an animal is legally binding on whoever you put in charge of it. The trust runs until no animal it covers is still alive, with no year limit, and Illinois writes in that the old rule against perpetuities can't be used to cut it short. Whoever you name in the trust instrument enforces it, and if you name nobody any individual can petition the court to appoint someone. If you named no trustee, or the one you named won't or can't serve, the court names a trustee too. A judge can cut the amount back, but only if it substantially exceeds what your animal's care requires, which is a harder test than most states set. Whatever gets cut goes where your trust directs, then to you if you're living, then under your will's residuary clause, then to your heirs. Illinois doesn't require your animal to have been alive while you were, so a pet the trust takes in later can still be covered if you write it that way. Courts here are also told to read a rough pet-trust clause as a binding trust and to take outside evidence of what you meant, so an imperfect document has a better chance in Illinois than in most states.

Source: 760 ILCS 3/408 (Illinois Trust Code) ↗

How to set one up, and what it costs →

Die without a will in Illinois and this law picks your heirs.

If you die intestate (without a valid will) in Illinois, 755 ILCS 5/2-1 decides who inherits everything a will would have covered. The shares depend on exactly who survives you: spouse, children, parents, siblings. What you told people you wanted doesn't matter. Only a signed will changes these defaults.

What your spouse gets.

What your spouse inherits depends on who else survives you. The four common family shapes:

• -Spouse only (no descendants or parents): the spouse takes the entire estate.
• -Spouse + parents (no descendants): parents change nothing, the spouse still takes everything.
• -Spouse + joint descendants: one-half to the spouse, one-half to the descendants per stirpes.
• -Spouse + blended family: same split, one-half to the spouse, one-half to the decedent's descendants.
• -Source: 755 ILCS 5/2-1

Children's shares.

With no spouse, the descendants take the entire estate per stirpes.

No spouse, no children: the line of succession.

With no spouse or descendant, parents and siblings share equally (a lone surviving parent takes a double portion, and a deceased sibling's descendants take per stirpes); then half each to the maternal and paternal grandparents or their descendants; then great-grandparents or their descendants; then the nearest kindred by civil-law degree; and with no kin at all, real estate escheats to the county where it sits and personal property to the state.

At a Glance

Two witnesses is the living will's rule (755 ILCS 35/3). The statutory health care power of attorney needs one witness, 18 or older, and no notary (755 ILCS 45/4-5.1).

Illinois Living Will.

Illinois recognizes a Living Will under the Illinois Living Will Act (755 ILCS 35/). This document directs physicians to withhold or withdraw death-delaying procedures if you have a terminal condition and can't make decisions. It has to be signed by you, or by someone else at your direction, and witnessed by two people 18 or older (755 ILCS 35/3). The Act sets no other witness restrictions, though picking someone who inherits from you invites a challenge later.

When a living will takes effect.

Since January 1, 2026, a living will becomes operative only when it was validly signed, hasn't been revoked, the patient can't give directions about life-sustaining treatment, and the patient is a qualified patient. It doesn't take effect while a health care agent under a power of attorney is available to decide (755 ILCS 35/3.5 and 35/9.5). No physician, provider, or facility can require a POLST to put a qualified patient's living will into effect (755 ILCS 35/9(j)).

Source: Public Act 104-0378 (SB 1411), Illinois General Assembly ↗

Healthcare Power of Attorney.

The Illinois Power of Attorney Act (755 ILCS 45/4-1) allows you to designate a healthcare agent to make medical decisions on your behalf. This is broader than a Living Will. The statutory short form needs one witness, 18 or older, and no notary (755 ILCS 45/4-5.1).

POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment).

Illinois recognizes POLST as a medical order for individuals with serious illness or frailty. Unlike an advance directive, a POLST is signed by a physician and travels with the patient across healthcare settings.

Where do I get Illinois's advance directive form?

Start with 755 ILCS 45/ (Illinois Power of Attorney Act), linked as this section's source. Use the current form or sample that the official source provides or identifies. Form authority and execution requirements vary by state, so confirm the source before signing and get legal help if your situation or the instructions are unclear.

Does Illinois require a notary or witnesses for an advance directive?

Illinois requires 2 adult witnesses; notarization isn’t required. Two witnesses is the living will's rule (755 ILCS 35/3). The statutory health care power of attorney needs one witness, 18 or older, and no notary (755 ILCS 45/4-5.1). Anyone 18 or older of sound mind can make one.

At a Glance

Cremation regulations.

Illinois statutes don't set a general waiting period before cremation. What they require is paperwork. The ordinary burial-transit report doesn't authorize cremation, so the funeral director has to get a separate permit for disposition from the registrar of the district where the death occurred (410 ILCS 535/21). The crematory can't start until it also holds a signed cremation authorization form from the authorizing agent and a completed burial transit permit marked for cremation (410 ILCS 18/20). The authorization form has to state whether the death came from a disease the Department of Health has declared infectious or communicable, and whether the body still contains a pacemaker or similar implant.

Right of disposition.

Illinois law (755 ILCS 65/) establishes a priority order: (1) the deceased's written instructions, (2) designated agent, (3) surviving spouse, (4) adult children, (5) parents, (6) siblings, (7) other relatives.

Where cremated remains can go.

Cremated remains can be placed in a grave, crypt, or niche, scattered in a scattering area, or disposed of any way at all on private property with the owner's consent. A scattering area is a spot a cemetery designates on its grounds, or land the Department of Natural Resources owns for outdoor recreation or conservation and designates for the purpose. Since January 1, 2026, if the person's religion requires scattering in water, the remains can go in an Illinois river without a Department of Natural Resources permit. Only one person's remains can be scattered at a time, spread so they leave no visible pile, out of sight of any public use area such as a road, trail, picnic area, campground, or parking lot, and with nothing in the water but the remains (410 ILCS 18/40(b)).

Source: Public Act 104-0124 (SB 1793), Illinois General Assembly ↗

Green burial.

Green burial is permitted in Illinois. The state has no specific green burial regulations, meaning natural burial practices are generally allowed at cemeteries that permit them.

Who decides what happens to the body in Illinois

Illinois sets this order by statute. The first person on the list who is available and willing decides, and a funeral home takes its instructions from them.

1. the decedent's own written directions or designated agent under Section 65 of the Crematory Regulation Act or Section 40(a) of this Act displace the list entirely
2. person designated in a written instrument satisfying 755 ILCS 65/10 and 65/15 (the statutory Appointment of Agent to Control Disposition of Remains)
3. executor or legal representative of the estate acting according to the decedent's written instructions in the will
4. spouse of the decedent at the time of death
5. sole surviving competent adult child, or a majority of surviving competent adult children
6. surviving competent parents (one alone after unsuccessful reasonable efforts to locate the other)
7. surviving competent adults in the next degrees of kindred, by majority of that degree
8. any recognized religious, civic, community, or fraternal organization willing to assume legal and financial responsibility
9. for indigents or others whose disposition is the State's responsibility: public administrator, medical examiner, coroner, State appointed guardian, or other public official charged with arranging disposition
10. for body donors, or deaths in a nursing home or other private institution charged with arrangements: a representative of the institution
11. any other person or organization willing to assume legal and financial responsibility
12. overriding all of the above for members of the U.S. Armed Forces, Illinois National Guard, or U.S. Reserve Forces who executed a DD Form 93: the person designated on that form

Naming someone in advance. 755 ILCS 65/10 sets out a statutory form titled "APPOINTMENT OF AGENT TO CONTROL DISPOSITION OF REMAINS," with space for special directions, successor agents, and an election on whether survivors may cancel a cremation. Section 15 makes it legally sufficient only if the wording complies substantially with Section 10, the form is properly completed, it is signed by the decedent AND by the agent, and the decedent's signature is notarized; the agent's authority does not take effect until the agent signs, and the instrument can be modified or revoked only by a later instrument meeting the same requirements. Section 40(a) alternatively lets a person give written directions or designate an agent in a will, a prepaid funeral or burial contract, a power of attorney for health care under Article IV of the Illinois Power of Attorney Act that contains a power to direct disposition, a cremation authorization form under the Crematory Regulation Act, or the notarized Section 10 instrument.

When the same tier disagrees. 755 ILCS 65/50(a): any dispute among the persons listed in Section 5 about the right to control disposition, including cremation, must be resolved by a court of competent jurisdiction within 30 days of the dispute being filed, and a cemetery organization or funeral establishment is not liable for refusing to accept, inter or otherwise dispose of the remains until it receives a court order or other suitable confirmation that the dispute is resolved or settled. Subsection (b) sends disinterment disputes to a circuit court and lets the court award costs and reasonable attorney's fees against a party it finds acted in bad faith. Section 20(a) confirms a listed person has the right, duty and liability only if no one ahead of them exists.

The person with the right to control disposition in Illinois is also expressly "liable for the reasonable costs of the disposition," so taking the authority means taking the bill. Section 20(b) strips the right from anyone charged with first or second degree murder or voluntary manslaughter in connection with the death once the funeral director or cemetery authority knows of the charge. Section 30 bars anyone from authorizing cremation where the decedent left written instructions against it. Section 40(a) also states that written directions may include instructions regarding gender identity, including appearance, chosen name and gender pronouns, regardless of whether the person obtained a court-ordered name change, changed a gender marker, or had any transition-related medical treatment, and the person controlling disposition must faithfully carry out the decedent's directions so far as the estate or that person is financially able. Directions in a will are carried out immediately without probate under Section 40(b).

Source: 755 ILCS 65/5 (Disposition of Remains Act, Right to control disposition; priority); agent form at 755 ILCS 65/10 and 65/15; disputes at 755 ILCS 65/50 ↗

If you can't afford the funeral in Illinois

Three separate pots of money, on three different agencies' websites, collected nowhere. A family that qualifies for all three usually claims none of them.

1. When nobody can pay. Funeral and Burial Benefits Illinois Department of Human Services, Funeral and Burial Unit, 100 South Grand Avenue East, 2nd Floor, Springfield, IL 62762. Phone (217) 785-4216, email dhs.fb@illinois.gov, fax 217-524-7554.

What it pays. $1,370 for a funeral and $686 for a cremation or burial. Both figures are published on the IDHS benefits page and in the rule at 89 Ill. Adm. Code 117.50(b). The rule also sets $15 for burial of amputated limbs, and $142 for funeral home services plus $50 for a memorial service in an anatomical gift case. A separate Murdered Children Funeral and Burial Assistance Program is set at $10,000 in the rule and adjusted every July 1 by CPI-U. IDHS Manual Release #25.32 raised it from $10,300 to $10,578 effective July 1, 2025.

What disqualifies you. The person had to be receiving one of these at the time of death: TANF cash, AABD cash, All Kids Assist, Parent/All Kids Assist, All Kids Moms & Babies, Family Assist, AABD medical, or General Assistance Foster Care/Adoption Care. A person who would have qualified at the time of death for All Kids Assist, Parent/All Kids Assist, All Kids Moms & Babies, Family Assist or AABD medical also counts, even if they never applied. The rule at 117.50(a)(1) additionally lists Medicaid, Health Benefits for Workers with Disabilities, Foster Care and Adoption Care. The Murdered Children program covers a person under 17 killed in Illinois by a firearm as a result of first degree murder, second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter of an unborn child, involuntary manslaughter, or involuntary manslaughter of an unborn child.

The official page ↗

2. If the death was caused by a crime. $10,000 for funeral, burial, headstone, cremation, and travel and transport for survivors of homicide victims to secure and transport the body, per 740 ILCS 45/2(h)(16). The same $10,000 applies in a dismemberment or desecration case under 45/2(h)(17). Where more than one person paid, they share the single $10,000 in proportion to what each actually lost. The overall final award cap is $45,000 per victim for a crime committed on or after August 7, 2022, and $27,000 for crimes on or after August 7, 1998 and before that date, per 740 ILCS 45/10.1(f). No separate sub-caps for headstone, flowers or burial clothing are published: the headstone is inside the $10,000.

Illinois crime victim compensation ↗

3. Money the person was already owed. Search Illinois's unclaimed property before you borrow anything. Searching and claiming are free.

Illinois unclaimed property ↗

Illinois has a real statewide burial benefit, and it's small. IDHS pays $1,370 toward the funeral and $686 toward burial or cremation. That's the whole benefit. Do this first. Tell the funeral home the person was on public aid. The funeral home or cemetery files the claim, on form IL444-0029, not you. If you already paid the bill and you weren't legally responsible for the person, you file form IL444-0094 yourself. Questions go to the IDHS Funeral and Burial Unit at (217) 785-4216 or dhs.fb@illinois.gov. Apply even if you're not certain the person qualified. The rule covers people who were getting TANF cash, AABD cash, All Kids Assist, Parent/All Kids Assist, All Kids Moms & Babies, Family Assist, AABD medical, General Assistance Foster Care or Adoption Care. It also covers people who would have qualified for All Kids Assist, Parent/All Kids Assist, All Kids Moms & Babies, Family Assist or AABD medical but never applied while they were alive. 89 Ill. Adm. Code 117.50 adds Medicaid, Health Benefits for Workers with Disabilities, foster care and adoption care to that list. Someone outside the family can put up to $2,000 toward the funeral and $2,000 toward the burial for things the state payment doesn't have to cover, and it won't reduce what IDHS pays. A casket or vault bought after the death by a person or organization who isn't legally responsible doesn't reduce the payment either. If the person who died was a child under 17 killed in Illinois by a firearm in a murder or manslaughter case, there's a much larger separate benefit: the Murdered Children Funeral and Burial Assistance Program. The rule sets it at $10,000 and IDHS raises it every July 1 with inflation. It was $10,578 effective July 1, 2025. Ask IDHS for the current figure before you sign a contract, because it may have gone up again since. If the death was a violent crime, apply to the Attorney General's Crime Victims Compensation Program as well. Funeral, burial, headstone, cremation, and travel to bring the body home are covered up to $10,000, inside an overall cap of $45,000 per victim for crimes on or after August 7, 2022. Call the Crime Victim Assistance Line at 1-800-228-3368 or email CVA@ilag.gov. The program pays last, so you'll need to show you've used insurance, Social Security burial benefits and VA burial benefits first. Money raised on a crowdfunding page doesn't count against you. Last, search icash.illinoistreasurer.gov for money the state is holding in the person's name. Old accounts, uncashed checks, insurance payouts. It's free.

At a Glance

Illinois estate tax.

Illinois imposes a state estate tax on estates exceeding $4 million. The exemption isn't portable between spouses. Illinois estate tax rates range from 0.8% to 16% on the taxable estate.

Source: IRS ↗

Federal estate tax.

The federal estate tax exemption is $15 million per individual in 2026. The Working Families Tax Cuts Bill (Public Law 119-21, 2025) made the higher exemption permanent.

Illinois inheritance tax.

Illinois doesn't impose a separate inheritance tax. The estate tax is paid by the estate, not by individual beneficiaries.

Does Illinois have an estate tax?

Yes. Illinois levies its own estate tax, with a state exemption of $4 million and rates of 0.8%-16%. The federal estate tax can also apply, but only to estates over $15 million per person (2026).

Does Illinois have an inheritance tax?

No. Illinois doesn’t tax inheritances. Heirs owe no state tax on what they receive, though the estate itself can owe state estate tax before anything is distributed.

What is the federal estate tax exemption for 2026?

$15 million per person, $30 million for a married couple, indexed for inflation. The Working Families Tax Cuts Bill (Public Law 119-21, 2025) made the higher exemption permanent. Estates below the threshold owe no federal estate tax.

At a Glance

The Illinois Organ/Tissue Donor Registry.

Illinois maintains a donor registry through Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network. Registration is legally binding under the Illinois Anatomical Gift Act (755 ILCS 50/).

Your family can't override an adult donor's decision.

Under Illinois law, a registered donor's decision is legally binding, and nobody else can change, amend, or revoke your gift after your death (755 ILCS 50/5-7(a)). One exception: if the donor is an unemancipated minor, a parent or guardian can amend or revoke the gift (755 ILCS 50/5-7(a-5)). Organ procurement organizations still consult families in practice. Register AND tell your family.

How to register.

Register online at giftofhope.org, when renewing your driver's license at the DMV, or by completing a donor card.

• -Online: giftofhope.org
• -At the DMV when renewing your license
• -Donor card: available from Gift of Hope