Updated October 8, 2026. Quick answer: Yes, for securities and vehicles. Illinois’s Uniform TOD Security Registration Act, 815 ILCS 10, says a transfer on death registration “is effective by reason of the contract regarding the registration” and is not testamentary.
How Illinois handles transfer-on-death registration
| Item | What the state documents say |
|---|---|
| Brokerage and securities accounts | The Illinois Uniform TOD Security Registration Act, 815 ILCS 10/1 to 10/12, lets a security, including a securities account with a broker, be registered in beneficiary form. Section 2 allows it only where the registration shows sole ownership by one individual, or ownership by two or more with right of survivorship. The source says: “registration of a security which indicates the present owner”. |
| Effect on the will and probate | Section 7 passes ownership to the surviving beneficiary, and section 9 states that the transfer works through the contract between the owner and the registering entity and is not testamentary. The source says: “ownership of securities registered in beneficiary form passes to the beneficiary”. If no beneficiary survives, the security belongs to the owner’s estate. |
| Changing the beneficiary | Section 6 says the designation has no effect on ownership until the owner’s death, and that the sole owner or all surviving owners may cancel or change it at any time. The source says: “without the consent of the beneficiary”. |
| Vehicle titles | Illinois directs the Secretary of State to provide a space on the vehicle title application where the owner may name a beneficiary to whom ownership of the vehicle passes at the owner’s death. This is stated in section 3-104 of the Illinois Vehicle Code, 625 ILCS 5/3-104. The source says: “may designate a beneficiary, to whom ownership of the vehicle shall pass”. The statute page cited here does not set out further conditions, so the Secretary of State is the place to confirm eligibility and forms. |
A $250,000 brokerage account split
An owner holds a brokerage account worth $250,000 and registers it in beneficiary form to two named beneficiaries, with each to receive half. Each share is computed as $250,000 x 50% = $125,000. The 50/50 split is the owner’s illustration, not a rule of the state: the owner names the beneficiaries and, where the form allows it, the shares.
Real estate, probate and estate tax
A transfer on death deed is a different instrument for real property: see Illinois transfer on death deed. For what probate costs in Illinois, see Illinois probate cost, and for Illinois’s own estate or inheritance tax, see Illinois estate and inheritance tax. Which of these your account or vehicle falls under depends on how it is titled.
Related: Illinois probate cost, how Illinois taxes retirement income, Illinois estate and inheritance tax, Illinois transfer on death deed, car titles after a death, by state, and transfer-on-death registration by state.
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Answer againSources
- Uniform TOD Security Registration Act, 815 ILCS 10, Sections 1 to 12 (Illinois General Assembly): https://www.ilga.gov/Documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/081500100K1.htm
- 625 ILCS 5/3-104, Application for certificate of title (Illinois General Assembly): https://www.ilga.gov/Documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/062500050K3-104.htm
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 8, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the plan administrator or the agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.