Filing a Will in Cook County, Part 1

As I've mentioned before, I'm working on integrating this blog into my regular website, and am expanding the number of articles I will be posting there.  One of my major projects currently underway is a narrative that explains the entire probate process in Cook County, with hypertext links to forms, portions of the Probate Act, etc.  The following is an excerpt from that narrative, detailing the steps needed to file a Will.  Section references are to the Probate Act.

Anyone in possession of a Will of a decedent has a duty to file the Will “immediately” following the decedent’s death.  §6-1(a).  Notice the wording – “a Will,” meaning that it doesn’t matter whether the Will is the LATEST Will of the decedent, or even whether you think the Will is valid.

Yes, you can get in trouble for “secreting” or destroying a Will -- §6-1(b) contains language making these acts felonies, although there are big problems of proof.  The more common problem involves someone (usually an attorney) holding a Will for a client and not knowing that the client has passed away.  Overall, judges tend to understand that the holder of a Will may not know that he or she has the Will or even that the decedent has passed away.

The Will should be filed with the “clerk of the court of the proper county,” which presumably is the county where a probate would take place if needed.  Where would that be?  According to §5-1, it’s…

(a) the county where the decedent has a known place of residence;

(b) if the decedent has no known place of residence in Illinois, the county in which the greater part of the decedent’s real estate is located at the time of his or death; or

(c) if the decedent has no known place of residence and no real estate in Illinois, the county where the greater part of the decedent’s personal estate is located at the time of his or her death.

If the proper county for filing is Cook, you should go to the Clerk’s office on the 12th Floor of the Daley Center (50 West Washington Street in Chicago) with the original Will.  Before going, you should make your own copies of the Will (you won’t get it back – under §6-7, once it’s filed, it belongs to the Clerk) and find out the decedent’s date of death. 

When you file the Will with the Clerk, you’ll be given a receipt, which you should obviously keep with your important records.