Full Text of HB0745 99th General Assembly
HB0745eng 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning local government.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by adding Section | 5 | | 3-5048 as follows: | 6 | | (55 ILCS 5/3-5048 new) | 7 | | Sec. 3-5048. Will repository. | 8 | | (a) 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, the personal | 12 | | representative of the attorney's decedent's estate, or the | 13 | | testator. | 14 | | "Depositor affidavit" means an affidavit signed by a | 15 | | non-testator in which the depositor affirms he or she is | 16 | | authorized to submit a registration form and will for scanning | 17 | | on behalf of the testator. | 18 | | "Testator" means a person who executed a will, other than | 19 | | as a witness or official to whom acknowledgment of signing was | 20 | | given. | 21 | | "Will" refers to an original: | 22 | | (1) will; | 23 | | (2) codicil; |
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| 1 | | (3) will and one or more codicils; | 2 | | (4) trust; | 3 | | (5) trust and one or more trust amendments; or | 4 | | (6) any other attachments, addendums, or other related | 5 | | documents to items (1) through (5). | 6 | | (b) If a county recorder's office maintains a computer | 7 | | system with the capability of scanning and securely storing | 8 | | electronic image files and corresponding index information, | 9 | | the county recorder may implement a county will repository | 10 | | pursuant to this Section to privately store electronic copies | 11 | | of wills. If a county recorder implements a will repository, | 12 | | they shall create a registration form to be signed by the | 13 | | testator which: | 14 | | (1) states the testator's full first, middle, and last | 15 | | name and all previous names by which the testator may have | 16 | | been known; | 17 | | (2) states the testator's date of birth and last four | 18 | | digits of the testator's Social Security number; | 19 | | (3) states the testator's current address; | 20 | | (4) affirms that the document being presented to the | 21 | | county recorder is the testator's will; | 22 | | (5) lists the full names of up to 10 individuals to | 23 | | whom the county recorder is authorized to deliver the will | 24 | | upon the death of the testator and a space to indicate if | 25 | | there are additional names attached. The county recorder | 26 | | shall prepare a form addendum for attachment to the |
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| 1 | | registration form for the testator to list additional full | 2 | | names in addition to the 10 individuals listed on the | 3 | | registration form. The addendum shall contain a disclaimer | 4 | | that only individuals listed on the registration form or | 5 | | addendum are eligible to retrieve a copy of the will | 6 | | without a court order; | 7 | | (6) has a section reserved for county recorder office | 8 | | staff where the employee accepting the document will write | 9 | | the name of the testator, name of the depositor, date of | 10 | | deposit, confirmation that photo identification was | 11 | | inspected, and a space to indicate the employee name or | 12 | | identification number; | 13 | | (7) has a blank 3 inch by 5 inch section in the upper | 14 | | right corner of the front side to affix a unique document | 15 | | number, date and time of deposit, and amount of recording | 16 | | fee; and | 17 | | (8) has the option to include the location of the | 18 | | original signed copy of the will. | 19 | | (c) If a county has created a will repository, a depositor | 20 | | may present a will for scanning into the will repository if he | 21 | | or she presents a signed and completed registration form as | 22 | | described in subsection (b). If a depositor is not the | 23 | | testator, the county recorder may require proof of authority to | 24 | | register the will for scanning including requiring a depositor | 25 | | affidavit to be completed. A will shall only be accepted for | 26 | | scanning if it is the original signed will.
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| 1 | | (d) The county recorder shall collect a fee of $25 for each | 2 | | scanning of a will of up to 10 pages and may charge an | 3 | | additional $1 for each page above 10 pages. The registration | 4 | | form and depositor affidavit, if any, shall not be counted when | 5 | | determining the page count for determining fees. The county | 6 | | recorder shall not collect a separate fee for additional | 7 | | documents concurrently deposited in relation to a single | 8 | | testator or for a single joint will prepared for a husband and | 9 | | wife. Fees collected under this subsection shall be deposited | 10 | | into the recorder's document storage fund as set up by the | 11 | | county treasurer pursuant to Section 3-5018 of the Counties | 12 | | Code.
| 13 | | (e) Upon receipt of a will under this Section, the county | 14 | | recorder shall: | 15 | | (1) provide the depositor with a receipt for the | 16 | | registration form and will listing the date and time of | 17 | | filing and the unique document number assigned to the | 18 | | documents; | 19 | | (2) scan in, electronically store, and electronically | 20 | | affix a unique document number, date and time of deposit, | 21 | | and amount of recording fee in the upper right corner of | 22 | | the registration form; | 23 | | (3) scan in and electronically store a copy of the | 24 | | depositor affidavit and will including electronically | 25 | | affixing the unique document number and date of recording | 26 | | on each page of the will; |
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| 1 | | (4) return the original signed registration form, | 2 | | depositor affidavit, and will to the depositor after | 3 | | scanning in and electronically storing the registration | 4 | | form, depositor affidavit, and will pursuant to items (2) | 5 | | and (3) of this subsection; | 6 | | (5) index the will alphabetically by the name of the | 7 | | testator, by the previous names by which the testator may | 8 | | have been known, by the date of registration of the will, | 9 | | by the names of persons on the registration form or | 10 | | addendum who are eligible to retrieve a copy, and by the | 11 | | unique document number; and | 12 | | (6) upon request and payment of the recorder's | 13 | | non-certified copy charge, provide to the testator a | 14 | | non-certified copy of the registration form, depositor | 15 | | affidavit, and will with the electronically affixed unique | 16 | | document number with a maximum fee of $1 per page. | 17 | | (f) A registration form, depositor affidavit, and will | 18 | | scanned or executed under this Section are not public records. | 19 | | The indexes created under item (5) of subsection (e) are not | 20 | | public records. | 21 | | (g) During the testator's lifetime, the county recorder | 22 | | shall: | 23 | | (1) keep the electronic images of the registration | 24 | | form, depositor affidavit, and will in a secure database | 25 | | not available to the public with access limited to recorder | 26 | | office staff necessary for the operation of the repository; |
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| 1 | | and | 2 | | (2) deliver a certified copy upon request to: | 3 | | (i) the testator; | 4 | | (ii) a person authorized by the testator, in a | 5 | | writing other than the registration form or addendum, | 6 | | to
receive a copy of the will; or | 7 | | (iii) a person, entity, court, or government | 8 | | agency authorized to receive a certified copy pursuant | 9 | | to an order entered by a court of competent
| 10 | | jurisdiction. | 11 | | (h) If the county recorder has custody of a scanned copy of | 12 | | the will after the death of the testator and is notified of the | 13 | | death of the testator by a person to whom the recorder is | 14 | | authorized to deliver a copy of the will in the registration | 15 | | form by presenting a certified copy of the testator's death | 16 | | certificate or by a certified copy of an order of court | 17 | | determining the testator to be deceased, upon receipt of | 18 | | payment of the recorder's fee for certified copies, the county | 19 | | recorder shall promptly deliver a certified copy to the person | 20 | | or clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the | 21 | | probate of the testator's will may occur as determined under | 22 | | Section 5-1 of the Probate Act of 1975. Copies of the | 23 | | registration form or depositor affidavit shall not be provided | 24 | | to any retriever unless so ordered by a court. | 25 | | (i) Upon inquiry by a person or entity identified in | 26 | | paragraph (2) of subsection (g) or upon inquiry of any person |
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| 1 | | presenting a certified copy of an order of a court requesting | 2 | | documents scanned under this Section, the county recorder shall | 3 | | inform the person whether the name of the relevant testator | 4 | | appears in the county recorder's index of the will repository. | 5 | | If an inquiry is made for a testator that is not found in the | 6 | | database, or if the inquiry is made by someone not listed as | 7 | | eligible to retrieve a copy, the recorder's office staff may | 8 | | not confirm or deny the existence of documents held under this | 9 | | Section. | 10 | | (j) The county recorder may destroy the scanned copy of the | 11 | | registration form, depositor affidavit, and will scanned under | 12 | | this Section if: | 13 | | (1) the county recorder has not received notice of the | 14 | | death of the testator; and | 15 | | (2) at least 100 years have passed since the date the | 16 | | will was scanned into the repository.
| 17 | | (k) The county recorder may use fees generated under this | 18 | | Section for the operational expenses of the will repository and | 19 | | for advertising the will repository. | 20 | | (l) If a testator desires to remove a will from the will | 21 | | repository, or to replace a will, he or she must fill out a | 22 | | removal affidavit proscribed by the recorder's office that | 23 | | affirms his or her desire to remove the will and provide | 24 | | satisfactory identification to confirm he or she is the | 25 | | testator. If the request is to replace a will with a new will, | 26 | | the scanned copy of the will must first be removed using a |
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| 1 | | removal affidavit and the testator or depositor must submit a | 2 | | new registration form and will following the repository | 3 | | guidelines as described in this Section and pay the required | 4 | | fees. There shall be no fee for removing a will scanned under | 5 | | this Section. | 6 | | (m) Recorder office staff may refuse, without liability, to | 7 | | store a copy of a will if the will presented for scanning is | 8 | | illegible, unable to be imaged, if margins are too small for | 9 | | the unique document number or date to appear on each page, or | 10 | | the will appears to not be an original signed document. Wills | 11 | | to be scanned under this Section must be submitted in person | 12 | | and may not be submitted by electronic means. Recorder office | 13 | | staff may not be held liable, either in their personal or | 14 | | official capacities, for any error or omission in the | 15 | | performance of duties related to this Section except for | 16 | | willful or wanton misconduct. | 17 | | (n) Recorder office staff may request to inspect and copy | 18 | | any identification documents deemed necessary to prove the | 19 | | identity of anyone seeking to register or retrieve a copy of a | 20 | | document under this Section and may refuse service until | 21 | | satisfactory determination of identity is made. | 22 | | (o) Registration forms, depositor affidavits, and wills | 23 | | scanned under this Section are exempt from State and county | 24 | | fees related to the Rental Housing Support Program Act. | 25 | | (p) Documents obtained by the county recorder under this | 26 | | Section are not public records and are exempt from disclosure |
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| 1 | | under the Freedom of Information Act.
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