Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: in Illinois, dying without a will does not mean the state keeps the estate; it means Illinois’s intestacy statute (755 ILCS 5/2-1) decides who gets it, and the surviving spouse usually does not take everything. The single most common misunderstanding on this page: a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship can cut the spouse’s share sharply below what most people assume.
What this guide covers
Who inherits from Illinois residents who die without a will is set by statute, not custom: 755 ILCS 5/2-1 and the sections around it. It governs only the probate estate: what is left after retirement accounts and life insurance with a living named beneficiary, payable-on-death accounts, property in joint tenancy with survivorship, and anything already in a funded trust have already passed outside it. This page covers the spouse’s share, who inherits if there is no spouse, and the rules that can change the answer: half-blood relatives.
The spouse’s share
When the spouse takes everything: Spouse inherits the ENTIRE estate only when there is a surviving spouse but no descendant of the decedent; 755 ILCS 5/2-1(c). Illinois does NOT condition this on the absence of surviving parents: parents/siblings inherit under (d) only when there is NO surviving spouse at all.
When it is less than everything: 755 ILCS 5/2-1(a): ‘If there is a surviving spouse and also a descendant of the decedent: 1/2 of the entire estate to the surviving spouse and 1/2 to the decedent’s descendants per stirpes.’ A flat 1/2-1/2 fraction regardless of the number of children; Illinois is NOT a UPC dollar-plus-fraction state. The statute draws NO distinction based on whether the surviving descendant is or is not the spouse’s own child; no blended-family reduction exists in the Illinois text.
(a) If there is a surviving spouse and also a descendant of the decedent: 1/2 of the entire estate to the surviving spouse and 1/2 to the decedent’s descendants per stirpes. … (c) If there is a surviving spouse but no descendant of the decedent: the entire estate to the surviving spouse.
Source: 755 ILCS 5/2-1
If a DIY will fits your situation in Illinois
In Illinois, a surviving spouse can end up sharing the estate with a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship under the default rules above; a will is what lets you decide that instead of the statute. LawDepot builds a state-specific last will and testament.
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Who inherits if there is no spouse
(b) descendants per stirpes -> (d) parents, siblings, and descendants of siblings share equally, with a surviving lone parent taking a double portion -> (e) grandparents: 1/2 to maternal grandparents (or their descendants), 1/2 to paternal grandparents (or their descendants); if one side is exhausted, the other side takes the whole -> (f) same 1/2-1/2 maternal/paternal split among great-grandparents -> (g) nearest kindred in equal degree, without representation -> (h) escheat.
Rules that change the outcome
Half-blood relatives: Full share, no reduction. 755 ILCS 5/2-1(h): ‘In no case is there any distinction between the kindred of the whole and the half blood.’
What a will changes
A will does not just skip the statute above; it lets you choose who gets Illinois property that the intestacy rules would send somewhere else: a spouse who would otherwise share the estate with a stepchild, a partner who is not married and inherits nothing under intestacy at all, or specific people the statute’s ladder never reaches. It also lets you name an executor rather than leaving the court to appoint one. What it does not change: assets that already pass outside probate: a will has no effect on a beneficiary designation, a payable-on-death account, or property held in joint tenancy.
General information drawn from state intestate-succession statutes, not legal advice. Who inherits without a will is STATE law and differs in every state; the spouse’s share, the order of inheritance, and how half-blood and community-property rules apply all change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.