Illinois probate leads and inheritance data, by county.
If you are researching Illinois probate leads, the public court file is only one part of the inherited-property market. USLeadList starts with death and property records, typically about five weeks after death, and generates an average of 3,845 records a month across Illinois.
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Looking for an Illinois probate property list?
What the court's list shows, and what it misses.A probate property list is built from estate cases filed with the court, and other investors can pull the same filings. USLeadList sells something different: data on Illinois homes whose owners have died.
- The court's list
Circuit Court; a Probate Division where a circuit created one, as in Cook County. Statewide: re:SearchIL with registration; many circuit clerks also run their own lookups.
A case record shows who died, the case number and filing date, and often the executor and attorney. It exists only after someone files.
- Trust-held homes
- Homes held in living trusts pass outside probate, so they aren't part of an estate case. Probate lists leave out trust-held homes. Ours include them.
- Homes of deceased owners
- USLeadList matches death records to property records, typically about five weeks after death, without waiting for a court filing. Each lead goes to no more than three subscribers.
Pulling the court's list yourself? See how to pull a probate property list from public records and the county court records guides below.
Illinois probate court records by county
Where each county's estate records are kept and how to search them.2 Illinois counties have a guide to its probate court records, checked against the court's own site.
Illinois counties
Browse 102 counties.Every Illinois county has its own page. Highlighted counties currently generate the largest monthly record volume.
How inherited property moves in Illinois
Verified state rules behind the county data.Probate rules matter because they determine when a public court record appears and which inherited properties never appear in an ordinary probate case.
What changes for an heir
Illinois does not reassess real property on a change of ownership. Assessments are set at 33 1/3 percent of fair cash value (35 ILCS 200/9-145) and redone in general assessment years every fourth year outside Cook County (35 ILCS 200/9-215), so an heir inherits the same assessment. 35 ILCS 200/9-180 governs pro rata valuation of new or removed improvements, not inheritance. Illinois does levy its own estate tax, administered by the Attorney General, with a $4,000,000 exclusion for deaths on or after January 1, 2013, no portability, and payment due nine months after death (35 ILCS 405/2), reaching only estates above that figure. For ordinary estates the operative rule is that probate is avoidable: a transfer on death instrument under 755 ILCS 27 passes real property at death with no court filing, and the small estate affidavit clears up to $150,000 of personal property.
Where probate records appear
Circuit Court. A Probate Division exists only where a circuit's chief judge has created one, most notably in Cook County, and is not a statewide feature re:SearchIL, the Illinois Supreme Court's statewide remote access system, which carries the case information and documents filed through eFileIL. Access is granted by user group and requires registration. Under the Supreme Court Remote Access Policy revised June 1, 2022, the public user group reaches probate case information but non-public documents in probate cases are excluded from remote access. Many circuit clerks also run their own county case lookups, and the electronic court record is open for free inspection at the courthouse.
Ways property can avoid ordinary probate
Transfer on death instrument under the Real Property Transfer on Death Instrument Act, 755 ILCS 27, as replaced by P.A. 102-68 effective January 1, 2022, which extended the instrument from residential real estate to all real property; joint tenancy; living trust; and the 755 ILCS 5/25-1 small estate affidavit for personal property.
Small-estate route
Small estate affidavit under 755 ILCS 5/25-1, for personal property only, capped at $150,000 excluding motor vehicles registered with the Secretary of State, for decedents dying on or after August 15, 2025 (P.A. 104-346). It requires that no letters of office be outstanding and none be contemplated or pending anywhere. There is no waiting period after death, and the affidavit is presented to the holder of the property rather than filed with the court. It cannot transfer real estate.
Timing investors should understand
The statutory floor is the creditor window. Under 755 ILCS 5/18-3 the representative publishes notice once each week for three successive weeks and mails or delivers notice to known creditors, and the claim date stated in that notice may be no earlier than six months after first publication or three months after mailing, whichever is later. Under 755 ILCS 5/18-12(b) all claims that could have been barred are barred two years after death whether or not letters of office ever issue. Anyone holding the will must file it with the circuit clerk of the proper county immediately on the testator's death (755 ILCS 5/6-1). Illinois publishes no official typical duration.
Illinois inheritance volume
Updated monthly · October 2026 edition.Newly inherited residential properties recorded in Illinois, from the same database that builds the lists. Published nationally in the Inheritance Property Index.
Biggest Illinois counties by volume
Free to cite with attribution: USLeadList Inheritance Property Index, October 2026 edition. See every state and download the data.
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