Full Text of HB0151 96th General Assembly
HB0151enr 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HB0151 Enrolled |
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| AN ACT concerning State government.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Secretary of State Act is amended by adding | 5 |
| Section 5.15 as follows: | 6 |
| (15 ILCS 305/5.15 new) | 7 |
| Sec. 5.15. Deposit of wills. | 8 |
| (a) Definitions. As used in this Section: | 9 |
| "Depositor" means an attorney licensed or formerly | 10 |
| licensed to practice in the State of Illinois, the attorney's | 11 |
| representative, the guardian for the attorney, or the personal | 12 |
| representative of the attorney's decedent's estate. | 13 |
| "Testator" means a person who executed a will, other than | 14 |
| as a witness or official to whom acknowledgment of signing was | 15 |
| given. | 16 |
| "Will" refers to an original: | 17 |
| (1) will; | 18 |
| (2) codicil; | 19 |
| (3) will and one or more codicils; | 20 |
| (4) trust; or | 21 |
| (5) trust and one or more trust amendments. | 22 |
| (b) Deposit of wills. A depositor may deposit a will with | 23 |
| the Secretary of State if the depositor certifies in writing to |
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| the Secretary of State that the depositor is unable to locate | 2 |
| the testator after a diligent search. The certification shall | 3 |
| be on a form to be provided by the Secretary. This Section | 4 |
| applies whether it is known or unknown whether the testator is | 5 |
| living.
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| (c) Assumptions. The Secretary of State may assume, without | 7 |
| inquiring into the facts, that the depositor has first made a | 8 |
| diligent search for the testator. | 9 |
| (d) Fee. The Secretary of State shall collect a fee of $15 | 10 |
| for each deposit of a will. The Secretary of State shall not | 11 |
| collect a separate fee for additional documents concurrently | 12 |
| deposited in relation to a single testator or for a single | 13 |
| joint will prepared for a husband and wife.
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| (e) Duty of Secretary of State upon receipt. Upon receipt | 15 |
| of a will under this Section, the Secretary of State shall: | 16 |
| (1) provide the depositor with a receipt for the will, | 17 |
| which receipt shall contain the information designated on | 18 |
| the envelope in accordance with paragraph (3) of this | 19 |
| subsection; | 20 |
| (2) place the will or wills deposited concurrently in | 21 |
| relation to a single testator in one envelope and seal the | 22 |
| envelope securely in the presence of the depositor or | 23 |
| depositor's agent; | 24 |
| (3) designate on the envelope: | 25 |
| (A) the date of deposit; | 26 |
| (B) the name, address, and telephone number of the |
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| depositor; | 2 |
| (C) the name and last known address of the testator | 3 |
| as provided by the depositor; | 4 |
| (D) at the depositor's option, any and all of the | 5 |
| following information: | 6 |
| (i) alternate names by which the testator may | 7 |
| have been known; | 8 |
| (ii) the testator's birth date, and | 9 |
| (iii) the last 4 digits of the testator's | 10 |
| Social Security number; and | 11 |
| (E) with respect to each document enclosed: | 12 |
| (i) a short description of the document, | 13 |
| including, if shown, its date of execution; and | 14 |
| (ii) the number of pages in the document; and | 15 |
| (4) index the will alphabetically by the name of the | 16 |
| testator, and by the alternate names set forth by which the | 17 |
| testator may have been known. | 18 |
| (f) Status as a public record. An envelope and will | 19 |
| deposited under this Section are not public records. The index | 20 |
| created under item (4) of subsection (e) is a public record. | 21 |
| (g) Duty of Secretary of State during testator's lifetime. | 22 |
| During the testator's lifetime, the Secretary of State shall: | 23 |
| (1) keep the envelope containing the will sealed; and | 24 |
| (2) deliver the envelope to: | 25 |
| (i) the testator; | 26 |
| (ii) a person authorized, in writing signed by the |
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| testator and notarized, to
receive the envelope; or | 2 |
| (iii) a person, entity, court, or government | 3 |
| agency authorized to receive the
envelope pursuant to | 4 |
| an order entered by a court of competent
jurisdiction. | 5 |
| (h) Duty of Secretary of State upon notification of death | 6 |
| of testator. If the Secretary of State has custody of the will | 7 |
| after the death of the testator and is notified of the death of | 8 |
| the testator by means of a certified copy of the testator's | 9 |
| death certificate or by a certified copy of an order of court | 10 |
| determining the testator to be deceased, upon receipt of | 11 |
| payment of a retrieval fee in the amount of $10, the Secretary | 12 |
| of State shall promptly deliver the sealed will envelope to the | 13 |
| clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the probate | 14 |
| of the testator's will may occur as determined under Section | 15 |
| 5-1 of the Probate Act of 1975 (755 ILCS 5/5-1). | 16 |
| (i) Duties of Secretary of State upon inquiry. Upon inquiry | 17 |
| by a person identified in paragraph (2) of subsection (g), or | 18 |
| upon inquiry of any person presenting a certified copy of the | 19 |
| testator's death certificate or a certified copy of an order of | 20 |
| a court determining the testator to be deceased, the Secretary | 21 |
| of State shall inform the person whether the name of the | 22 |
| relevant testator appears in the Secretary of State's index of | 23 |
| wills. For the purposes of this subsection, the Secretary of | 24 |
| State need not be certain that the testator is the one being | 25 |
| inquired about, but may release that information if it is | 26 |
| possible that the testator is that one. |
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| (j) Destruction of will. The Secretary of State may destroy | 2 |
| a will deposited under this Section if: | 3 |
| (1) the Secretary of State has not received notice of | 4 |
| the death of the testator; and | 5 |
| (2) at least 100 years have passed since the date the | 6 |
| will was deposited.
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| (k) All fees received by the Secretary of State under this | 8 |
| Section must be deposited into the Secretary of State Special | 9 |
| Services Fund.
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| Section 10. The Probate Act of 1975 is amended by changing | 11 |
| Section 6-1 as follows:
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| (755 ILCS 5/6-1) (from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 6-1)
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| Sec. 6-1.
Duty to file will - altering, destroying or | 14 |
| secreting.)
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| (a) Immediately
upon the death of the testator any person | 16 |
| who has the testator's will in his
possession
shall file it | 17 |
| with the clerk of the court of the proper county and upon
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| failure or refusal
to do so, the court on its motion or on the | 19 |
| petition of any interested person
may issue an
attachment and | 20 |
| compel the production of the will , subject to the provisions of | 21 |
| Section 5.15 of the Secretary of State Act .
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| (b) If any person wilfully alters or destroys a will | 23 |
| without the direction
of the testator
or wilfully secretes it | 24 |
| for the period of 30 days after the death of the
testator is |
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| known
to him, the person so offending, on conviction thereof, | 2 |
| shall be sentenced as
in cases
of theft of property classified | 3 |
| as a Class 3 felony by the law in effect at the
date of the | 4 |
| offense. The 30-day period does not apply to the Secretary of | 5 |
| State when acting pursuant to Section 5.15 of the Secretary of | 6 |
| State Act.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-159, eff. 7-23-97.)
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