9.7 TRANSFER OF TITLE BY DESCENT – Chicago Real Estate School

When a person dies intestate (without leaving a valid will), her state’s law of descent governs how and to whom her property will be distributed.

The Illinois Law of Descent and Distribution (in the Illinois Probate Act) provides that real estate located in Illinois owned by a deceased resident or nonresident who did not leave a valid will is distributed as follows:

Spouse, no children — Spouse gets 100%
Spouse, children —Spouse gets 50%, children get equal shares of the remaining 50%. If a child is dead, then the children (grandchildren of the dead spouse) get the dead mother’s or father’s share.
No Spouse, No children — Family members (father, mother, brothers, sisters of the dead spouse) get equal shares. If a father or mother of the spouse is dead, the surviving spouse gets the dead mother’s or father’s share. If both parents of the dead spouse are also dead, the brothers and sisters get equal shares.
No Spouse, No Children, No immediate Family Members — surviving relatives inherit the dead spouse’s property.
No heirs — property escheats to the county in which the property is located.

The estate of an intestate decedent must be probated to determine which statutory heirs will inherit. as well as to inventory the assets of and claims against the estate. Any heir or other interested person may petition the circuit court of the county in which the decedent last resided to probate the estate. Proof of heirship must be presented to the court. Probate generally proceeds as if the decedent had left a valid will. Once the heirs have been determined, the court appoints an administrator or a personal representative to administer the affairs of the estate the role usually taken by an executor

Probate Proceedings
Probate is a formal judicial process that:

proves or confirms the validity of a will,
determines the precise assets of the deceased person, and
identifies the persons to whom the assets are to pass.

The purpose of probate is to see that the assets are distributed correctly. All assets must be accounted for, and the decedent’s debts must be satisfied before any property is distributed to the heirs. In addition, estate taxes must be paid before any distribution. Any probate proceedings will take place in the county in which the decedent resided. If the decedent owned real estate in another county, probate would occur in that county as well.

Once all obligations have been satisfied, the representative distributes the remaining property according to the terms of the will or the state’s law of descent.