Good News Comes To Illinois: The Governor Signs Into Law Helpful Changes To The Small Estate Process
When clients come to me and ask about what type of plan they should consider to avoid probate, I like to start with the law in Illinois regarding whether their estate needs to be probated at all. Governor Pritzker recently signed legislation that fundamentally changed that discussion for those who die after August 14th, 2025.
There is a law in Illinois regarding small estates and the necessity to have them go through a probate action. If the estate is small enough, no probate is required. The person cleaning up the estate can use what is known as a “small estate affidavit” to settle the estate. Previously, the limit for an estate to avoid probate was $100,000 so long as the estate did not contain real estate. The governor just raised that limit to $150,000. Also, the value of motor vehicles was previously included in the $100,000 limit. Motor vehicles are now excluded from the limit if they are titled through the Illinois Secretary of State.
The process of using the small estate affidavit requires that no formal probate process is underway or pending. The person using the small estate affidavit lists out the bills and debts of the decedent and must pay those before distributing assets to heirs or beneficiaries.
Why does this matter?
For those with smaller estates, more loved ones can use the simpler small estate process rather than a full probate action. This saves time, court fees, legal expenses, and administrative overhead. Additionally, pricey vehicles could push an estate over the limit so that probate was required just to transfer the title to vehicles.
For those with larger estates, this is also good news. First, sometimes all of the assets don’t wind up in a revocable living trust or in a properly designated beneficiary account. The increased limit reduces the pressure on identifying and addressing stray accounts that formally could have pushed an estate into probate even after the decedent did estate planning. There is also less risk in keeping pricey vehicles outside of the revocable living trust for the purposes of asset protection.
Using the small estate affidavit is not perfect and not without limitations. If someone owns real estate in their name, probate is still going to be required to pass title to that real estate. You can consult with your estate planning attorney about solutions to that issue including trusts and transfer on death instruments. Additionally, it’s important to recognize that the person completing the small estate affidavit must pay all outstanding debts, expenses, and family awards before distribution of the remaining estate property. There is legal risk to the person using the small estate affidavit if they fail to pay off debt before distributing assets to heirs and beneficiaries.
The updates to Illinois’s small estate affidavit law are a meaningful boost for people with modest estates: more people can avoid the delays, cost, and complexity of probate. And even for those with larger or trust-based estate plans, the law offers more breathing room to handle smaller or overlooked assets without having to open a full probate case.