Who Inherits If You Die Without a Will in Illinois

Spouse and descendants: one-half to the spouse, one-half to the descendants. Spouse but no descendants: everything to the spouse. Descendants but no spouse: everything to the descendants. No spouse or descendants: to parents, brothers and sisters in equal shares (a surviving parent takes a double share if the other parent has died; a deceased sibling's descendants take that sibling's share), then to grandparents or their descendants (half to each side), then great-grandparents or their descendants, and then more distant relatives.

A surviving spouse may renounce the will and take one-third of the estate if the decedent left a descendant, or one-half if there is no descendant (after claims are paid). The spouse must file a signed written renunciation in the probate court within 7 months after the will is admitted to probate (the court can extend this if litigation affecting the spouse's share is pending).

A small estate affidavit can be used to collect personal property when no letters of office are outstanding or planned anywhere and the decedent's personal estate passing by will or intestacy is worth $150,000 or less, not counting motor vehicles registered with the Secretary of State (registered vehicles can also be transferred with it). It covers money, bank accounts, safe deposit boxes, stocks and other personal property; it cannot transfer real estate. The affidavit must list each asset and its value, the debts, and the heirs or beneficiaries, and a death certificate must be attached.