Probate Family Allowance Requirements in Illinois

At a glance

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).