Letter asking for the balance on the date of death in Illinois

A short letter that asks a bank or other holder for the value of the person's accounts on the date of death. Banks usually want this before the estate is settled.

Required when you mail the letter.

It goes into the letter only. It is never saved or sent to us.

It goes into the letter as you type it. You can add a ready-made sentence:

Other formats

Do not send original documents unless the holder asks; keep copies. Sign the letter and keep a copy.

What to expect

A bank may ask for a certified death certificate and proof that you are allowed to ask. The bank decides what it will release and when.

Bank accounts after a death in Illinois

A joint account with a surviving owner, or an account with a payable-on-death beneficiary, goes to that person and is not counted in the small estate affidavit. For an account in the person's name alone, the bank must pay on a proper small estate affidavit and is released from liability when it relies on it in good faith. There is no separate Illinois rule letting a bank pay a small amount to family without an affidavit.

Law: 755 ILCS 5/25-1(a), (d)

Source: Official page

Do bank accounts count toward the small estate limit?

Kind of propertyHow it is treatedDetails
Bank accounts in the person's name alone
Counts

Bank accounts in the person's name alone, with no payable-on-death beneficiary, count.

Law: 755 ILCS 5/25-1(a-5)

Joint or payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts
Left out

Joint accounts with a survivor and payable-on-death accounts are not counted, because they do not pass under a will or by inheritance law.

Law: 755 ILCS 5/25-1(a-5)(2) ('passing to any party by intestacy or under a will')

Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in Illinois

Bank account (POD)

Yes

Law: 755 ILCS 5/25-1(a-5)(2) (POD accounts pass outside the will)

Source: Official page

Death certificates in Illinois

Certified copies come from the state office or the county clerk, where fees vary. The state fee is $19 for the first certified copy and $4 for each extra copy ordered at the same time.

Where to get it
Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Records, or the county clerk in the county where the death happened
Official page
Official page

Surviving spouse in Illinois

A surviving spouse of an Illinois resident is entitled to a spouse's award of at least $20,000, plus at least $10,000 for each minor child who lived with the spouse (and at least $5,000 for each qualifying dependent adult child). In a small estate affidavit the award is listed and paid as a Class 2 debt before heirs receive anything. A spouse can transfer the person's vehicle by applying to the Secretary of State within 180 days.

Small Estate Affidavit (755 ILCS 5/25-1)

A sworn statement, signed before a notary, that you give to a bank, company or person holding the person's personal property so they pay or transfer it as the affidavit says. It is not filed with the court.

Limit

Up to $150,000 (deaths on or after August 15, 2025)

Date of deathLimit
On or after August 15, 2025
$150,000
On or before August 14, 2025
$100,000

For a death on or after August 15, 2025, the person's personal property, not counting motor vehicles registered with the Secretary of State, cannot be worth more than $150,000. The vehicles are listed separately in the affidavit. For a death before August 15, 2025, the limit was $100,000 for the gross value of all personal property, including vehicles. For a death on or after January 1, 2027, motor homes, vehicles used as living quarters, trailers and other vehicles that are not self-propelled, commercial vehicles, farm implements, buses and commuter vans are not treated as excluded vehicles, so their value counts toward the $150,000.

What counts

The fair market value of the person's personal property that passes under a will or by inheritance law, not counting motor vehicles registered with the Illinois Secretary of State. Real estate is not counted and cannot be transferred with the affidavit. The law asks for the fair market value of each asset; it does not say whether debts are subtracted.

Waiting period

The law sets no waiting period. The affidavit can be used only if no probate case is open or planned in Illinois or anywhere else.

Who can use it

One person (the affiant) signs under oath. The affidavit must list the person's surviving spouse, minor and adult dependent children, all heirs (or, if there is a will, all people named in the will) and the share each one gets. An affiant who lives outside Illinois must name an agent in Illinois for court papers. The affiant may appoint an agent in writing to open a safe deposit box or sell property.

Court or where to file

Not filed with a court. You give it (or a copy) to each bank, company or person holding property. If there is a will, the will must first be filed with the clerk of the circuit court.

Notary

The statutory form is signed and sworn before a notary public, under penalty of perjury.

Papers to attach
  • Copy of the death certificate
  • Certified copy of the will, if there is one (the will must be filed with the circuit court clerk first)
  • List of each asset and its fair market value, and a description of each vehicle (make, body type, year, VIN)
  • List of known unpaid debts by class (or a statement that all debts and funeral costs are paid)
  • Names, addresses and shares of all heirs or will beneficiaries, and of the spouse and children entitled to an award
Steps
  1. Check that no probate case is open or planned and that the personal property (not counting registered vehicles) is under the limit.
  2. If there is a will, file it with the clerk of the circuit court and get a certified copy.
  3. Fill in the affidavit in the form set by the law, listing assets, debts, heirs or beneficiaries, and the spouse's or children's award.
  4. Sign it before a notary.
  5. Give a copy with the death certificate (and certified will) to each holder of property.
  6. Pay the person's valid debts in the order the affidavit lists before giving anything to heirs or beneficiaries, then distribute as paragraph 11 of the affidavit says.
Fee

No court filing fee, because the affidavit is not filed with the court. The circuit court clerk may charge for filing a will or for a certified copy; ask the clerk.

Debts and responsibility

You must pay the person's valid debts from the estate, in the order of the classes listed in the affidavit, before any distribution to heirs or beneficiaries. By signing, you agree to repay (indemnify) creditors, heirs, beneficiaries and anyone who relied on the affidavit for any loss caused by your act or omission, up to the amount lost, plus their reasonable attorney's fees. A false statement is perjury. Anyone who receives property is answerable to a person with a prior right and to any later personal representative.

What the bank or holder must do

A person, company or bank given an affidavit in substantially the legal form must pay, deliver or transfer the property (or give safe deposit box access) as the affidavit says. If it acts in good faith on a copy that substantially follows the form, it is fully protected and released, as if it had paid a court-appointed representative. If it refuses, the person entitled can sue to recover the property, and the affidavit is prima facie proof of the facts in it.

Law: 755 ILCS 5/25-1, 5/25-3 (as amended by P.A. 104-346, eff. 8-15-25; P.A. 104-624, eff. 1-1-27)

Source: Official page

Who inherits with no will in Illinois

If there is no will and there is a spouse and children (or other descendants), the spouse gets half and the descendants share half. With no spouse, the descendants get everything; with a spouse and no descendants, the spouse gets everything. If there is neither, the estate goes to parents, brothers and sisters (a surviving parent gets a double share if the other parent has died), then to grandparents and their descendants, then to great-grandparents and their descendants, then to the nearest relatives.

Law: 755 ILCS 5/2-1

Source: Official page

Good to know in Illinois

  • For deaths on or after August 15, 2025, the small estate affidavit limit is $150,000 and Secretary of State-registered motor vehicles are not counted; before that the limit was $100,000 including vehicles (P.A. 104-346).
  • For a death on or after January 1, 2027, motor homes, campers, trailers, commercial vehicles, farm implements, buses and commuter vans are no longer treated as excluded vehicles (P.A. 104-624; 755 ILCS 5/25-1(j)).
  • The person who signs the affidavit must pay the person's debts in a set order before distributing anything, and agrees to repay anyone harmed by mistakes in the affidavit.

Changes in 2024–2026

P.A. 104-346, effective August 15, 2025, for deaths on or after that date: small estate affidavit limit raised from $100,000 (gross, including vehicles) to $150,000 excluding motor vehicles registered with the Secretary of State; vehicles listed separately; affidavit may be used only for a Secretary of State vehicle title transaction regardless of estate value. P.A. 104-624, effective January 1, 2027: motor homes, living-quarters vehicles, non-self-propelled vehicles, commercial vehicles, implements of husbandry, buses and commuter vans are not excluded vehicles.

Law: SB 83; SB 2704

Related pages

Free help in Illinois

A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.