Sec. 66. Renunciation by spouse.

409 words·~2 min read·/il/chapter-755/act-27/66

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

(a)Unless the right to renounce is waived by the owner's surviving spouse, a transfer on death instrument may be renounced by the owner's surviving spouse. If renounced, the surviving spouse is entitled to a one-third interest in the real property transferred by the transfer on death instrument if the owner leaves a descendant or a one-half interest in the real property if the owner leaves no descendant. The surviving spouse may waive his or her right to renounce by executing a waiver as part of the transfer on death instrument. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a surviving spouse does not have the right to renounce a transfer on death instrument that transfers the owner's interest in real property to a trustee of a trust created under the owner's will or otherwise that is for the sole benefit of the surviving spouse during his or her lifetime.

(b)In order to renounce the transfer on death instrument, the owner's surviving spouse must file, in the recorder of deeds office where the transfer on death instrument is recorded, a written instrument signed by the surviving spouse setting forth a description of the real property and declaring the renunciation. The instrument shall be filed within 7 months after the date of the owner's death, or within such additional time as a court having jurisdiction of the real property may grant pursuant to Section 2-8 of the Probate Act of 1975. The filing of the instrument renouncing the transfer on death instrument is a complete bar to any claim of the surviving spouse under the transfer on death instrument.

(c)If a transfer on death instrument is renounced under this Section, any future interest that is to take effect in possession or enjoyment at or after the termination of an estate or other interest given by the transfer on death instrument to the surviving spouse takes effect as though the surviving spouse had predeceased the owner, unless the transfer on death instrument expressly provides that in the case of renunciation the future interest shall not be accelerated.

(d)If the surviving spouse of the owner renounces the transfer on death instrument and the interests transferred to other persons are thereby diminished or increased, upon petition by a beneficiary, the court shall abate from or add to any interest transferred in such a manner as to apportion the loss or advantage among the beneficiaries in proportion to their respective interests.