Illinois: Probate Family Allowance Requirements

Requirements one by one

Who receives the spouse's award

Section 15-1 gives the surviving spouse a reasonable amount for nine months of
support, with a $20,000 floor. It adds at least $10,000 for each minor child who
lived with the spouse when the decedent died. The statute calls the award the
spouse's own property and protects it from a judgment, garnishment, or attachment
while it remains with the representative.

A qualifying adult child who lived with the spouse has a separate minimum. The
child must be likely to become a public charge, must have been financially
dependent on the decedent, and must have lived with the spouse at death. The
award is at least $5,000 and otherwise must track the support the decedent had
been providing immediately before death.

Children outside the surviving spouse's household

Section 15-2 supplies separate awards. A minor child who did not live with the
surviving spouse receives reasonable nine-month support of at least $10,000. If
there is no surviving spouse, every child who was a minor at death receives at
least $10,000, plus an additional aggregate amount of at least $20,000 divided
equally or apportioned as the court directs.

The adult-dependent route also covers a qualifying adult child who did not live
with the surviving spouse. Payment goes for the child's benefit to the person
directed by the court or, in a qualifying small estate, by the affiant.

How the award begins and can be reviewed

The family member does not replace the representative as the initial applicant.
Section 15-3 says the representative shall apply to the court when an award
is allowable and is not waived or barred. After allowance, the representative
must mail or deliver a copy of the award to each recipient unless service is
waived.

The spouse, representative, an heir or legatee, or an estate creditor may later
petition for review. The court may hear evidence and increase or reduce the
award as justice requires. For a qualifying adult child, §§ 15-1 and 15-2 also
permit the amount to be agreed in the circumstances they describe.

Deadlines and payment choices

Article XV states no general deadline for the representative's initial
application. It does impose two event-triggered 30-day clocks:

• A spouse or adult child asserting adult-child dependency must give written
  notice within 30 days after receiving written notice of the potential award.
  Missing that deadline bars the adult-child award.
• Under § 15-4, a spouse choosing nonbequeathed goods and chattels instead of
  money must make a written selection within 30 days after written notice that
  the award was allowed and file it in court. Children have that selection right
  when there is no surviving spouse.

The spouse's § 15-1 award may be paid in no more than three installments. If the
spouse dies before the spouse-support portion is fully paid, the unpaid balance
goes to the spouse's estate. If the spouse dies or abandons a supported child,
the child's unpaid portion instead goes for that child's benefit as the court
directs.

Priority and effect of the will

Section 18-10 places a spouse's or child's award in the second claim class, and
§ 18-13 requires payment in classification order. If the estate cannot pay all
claims in one class, that class is paid pro rata.
Funeral and burial expenses, administration expenses, statutory custodial
claims, and the listed guardianship fees and costs are first-class claims. The
award therefore precedes the federal, last-illness, employee, government, and
general claims listed in the lower classes, but it is not first in line.

There is a narrow source-of-payment exception. Section 19-6 gives obligations
incurred while an authorized representative continues the decedent's
unincorporated business priority from the business assets.

Under § 15-1, a spouse remains entitled unless the will expressly says its
provision for the spouse is in lieu of the award and the spouse does not renounce
the will. Section 15-3 recognizes that an award can be waived or barred, but
Article XV states no separate execution form for that waiver.

What trips people up

• Nine months measures the support period, not a stated filing deadline. The
  article separately creates 30-day clocks for an adult-dependency notice and an
  in-kind selection.
• The child minimums depend on the household structure. A minor living with
  the spouse adds at least $10,000 to the spouse's award. When there is no spouse,
  the minor children also divide an additional amount of at least $20,000.
• The three-installment cap appears in § 15-1. Section 15-2 does not repeat
  that limit for a separate child's award.
• Adult status alone does not qualify. The adult child must satisfy the
  public-charge and financial-dependency conditions, plus the applicable
  residence and notice requirements.

Common questions

Can the spouse take estate property instead of cash?

Yes, within limits. Section 15-4 permits a timely written election to accept
nonbequeathed goods and chattels at appraised value, in whole or partial payment.
The selection must be filed in court within 30 days after written notice of the
award.

Who may ask the court to change an award?

The surviving spouse, representative, an heir or legatee, or an estate creditor
may petition. The court may hear evidence and increase or diminish the amount as
justice requires.

Does the spouse's death erase an unpaid award?

No. Section 15-1 directs the unpaid spouse-support balance to the spouse's estate.
An unpaid child-support portion is redirected for the child's benefit if the
spouse dies or abandons the child.

Statutes and sources

• 755 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/15-1 — spouse and in-household child eligibility,
  nine-month period, minimums, installments, adult-dependent notice, death and
  abandonment, and will-in-lieu rule. “The award may in no case be less than
  $20,000.” Official §
  15-1
  (accessed 2026-08-03).
• 755 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/15-2 — separate minor and adult-dependent child
  awards. When there is no spouse, the minor-child award includes “an additional
  sum not less than $20,000.” Official §
  15-2
  (accessed 2026-08-03).
• 755 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/15-3 — representative's application, delivery of
  the award, waiver, and review. “The representative shall apply to the court to
  make the award.” Official §
  15-3
  (accessed 2026-08-03).
• 755 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/15-4 — cash or nonbequeathed-goods selection and
  the 30-day filing clock. Official §
  15-4
  (accessed 2026-08-03).
• 755 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/18-10 — claim priority. “2nd: The surviving spouse's
  or child's award.” Official §
  18-10
  (accessed 2026-08-03).
• 755 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/18-13 — classification-order payment and
  insolvency. Claims in an underfunded class “shall be paid pro rata.” Official
  § 18-13
  (accessed 2026-08-03).
• 755 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/19-6 — continued-business exception. Authorized
  business obligations have priority “out of the assets of the business.”
  Official §
  19-6
  (accessed 2026-08-03).