Updated September 7, 2026. Quick answer: In Illinois, you have 6 months to contest a will that has already been admitted to probate, running from admission of the will to probate.
How long do you have to contest a will in Illinois?
| Deadline to contest an admitted will | 6 months |
| What starts the clock | admission of the will to probate |
| Dedicated will-contest statute? | Yes |
“Within 6 months after the admission to probate of a domestic will…any interested person may file a petition in the proceeding for the administration of the testator’s estate…to contest the validity of the will.”
Source: 755 ILCS 5/8-1
What makes Illinois different
Illinois enforces a hard, strictly jurisdictional 6-month deadline with no built-in fraud-discovery or minority-tolling exception in the statute itself. The controlling authority is 755 ILCS 5/8-1, and the window runs from admission of the will to probate.
What happens once this deadline passes?
Once the window above closes, Illinois’s probate of the will generally becomes final and binding on everyone who had the chance to object, subject only to the tolling or discovery exceptions described above; a separate objection Illinois allowed at the original probate hearing does not reopen or extend it.
Sources
| Statute / rule | 755 ILCS 5/8-1 |
| Illinois courts (general reference) | Illinois judicial branch |
| Confidence | High |
Every statute or rule quoted on this Illinois page was read directly from the state’s own legislature/court/code site this session, or, where that site blocked automated access, from a reputable legal-citation mirror quoting the same official text with its official citation (disclosed below). General information, not legal advice; whether a specific contest is still timely can turn on facts (exactly when notice was given, how the will was probated, whether a disability applies) that only your own Illinois probate court file can confirm.