Full Text of SB2948 97th General Assembly
SB2948 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012 SB2948 Introduced 2/1/2012, by Sen. Ira I. Silverstein SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
| 755 ILCS 15/1 | from Ch. 17, par. 1501 | 755 ILCS 15/5 new | |
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Amends the Safe Deposit Box Opening Act. Provides that a public administrator may gain access to a decedent's safe deposit box by delivering to the lessor his or her letters of office or an affidavit stating that he or she is conducting a preliminary investigation of the decedent's estate and believes that the safety deposit box may contain assets and estate information. Provides that with letters of office the public administrator may remove the contents from the safety deposit box, but without letters of office only an inventory may be conducted. Provides that the lessor shall open the box for a public administrator with an affidavit regardless of whether the decedent's key or combination is available. Makes other changes.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning civil law.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Safety Deposit Box Opening Act is amended by | 5 | | changing Section 1 and by adding Section 5 as follows:
| 6 | | (755 ILCS 15/1) (from Ch. 17, par. 1501)
| 7 | | Sec. 1.
Upon being furnished with satisfactory proof of | 8 | | death of a
sole lessee or the last surviving co-lessee of a | 9 | | safe deposit box, the lessor
shall open the box and examine the | 10 | | contents in the presence of a person
who presents himself and | 11 | | furnishes an affidavit which states that (a) he
is interested | 12 | | in the filing of the lessee's will or in the arrangements
for | 13 | | his burial, (b) he believes the box may contain the will or | 14 | | burial documents
of the lessee and (c) he is an interested | 15 | | person within the meaning of this
Act. The lessor shall not | 16 | | open the box in accordance with this Act if the
lessor has | 17 | | received a copy of letters of office of the representative of
| 18 | | the deceased lessee's estate or other applicable court order. | 19 | | The lessor
need not open the box if (a) the box has previously | 20 | | been opened in accordance
with this Act, (b) the lessor has | 21 | | received notice of a written or oral objection
from any person | 22 | | or has reason to believe that there would be an objection,
or | 23 | | (c) the lessee's key or combination is not available.
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| 1 | | For purposes of this Section Act , the term "interested | 2 | | person" means any person
who immediately prior to the death of | 3 | | the lessee had the right of access
to the box as a deputy, any | 4 | | person named as executor in a copy furnished
by him of a | 5 | | purported will of the lessee, or the spouse, an adult | 6 | | descendant,
parent, brother or sister of the lessee. If the | 7 | | affidavit states that none
of the persons described above is | 8 | | available to be present at the opening
of the box, the term | 9 | | "interested person" also means any other person who
the lessor | 10 | | in its sole discretion determines may have a legitimate | 11 | | interest
in the filing of the lessee's will or in the | 12 | | arrangements for his burial.
| 13 | | For purposes of this Section, the The lessor shall remove | 14 | | any document which appears to be a will or codicil
and deliver | 15 | | it to the clerk of the circuit court for the county in which
| 16 | | the lessee resided immediately prior to his or her death, if | 17 | | known to the
lessor, otherwise to the clerk of the
circuit | 18 | | court for the county in which the safe deposit box is located.
| 19 | | Delivery of a will or codicil called for herein may be made by | 20 | | registered
mail sent to the clerk of the said court.
The lessor | 21 | | may remove any burial documents and deliver them to the | 22 | | interested
person. No other contents may be removed pursuant to | 23 | | this Section Act .
| 24 | | The lessor is not required to look into the truth of any | 25 | | statement in the
affidavit required to be furnished under | 26 | | section one of this Section Act . The lessor's
determination of |
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| 1 | | the fact situations to be met under this Section act shall be | 2 | | conclusive
and final. The lessor shall be fully protected in | 3 | | relying conclusively on it.
| 4 | | (Source: P.A. 83-642.)
| 5 | | (755 ILCS 15/5 new) | 6 | | Sec. 5. Public administrator; opening safety deposit box. | 7 | | (a) In cases involving a public administrator in this | 8 | | State, in which the public administrator has yet to determine | 9 | | in his official capacity whether administration of the lessee's | 10 | | estate is warranted under this Act the public administrator | 11 | | shall execute and furnish to the lessor an affidavit stating: | 12 | | (1) The public administrator, in his official capacity, is | 13 | | conducting a preliminary investigation and inventory of the | 14 | | decedent lessee's estate; (2) The public administrator, as of | 15 | | the date of the affidavit, has not yet been able to obtain | 16 | | sufficient assets and estate information to warrant the | 17 | | representation and administration of the decedent lessee's | 18 | | estate; and (3) The public administrator reasonably believes | 19 | | that the decedent lessee's safety deposit box may contain such | 20 | | assets and estate information which may provide sufficient | 21 | | grounds for the administration of the estate. Upon receipt of | 22 | | the public administrator's affidavit, the lessor shall open the | 23 | | lessee's box and shall permit the public administrator, in the | 24 | | presence of the lessor, to examine and catalogue the contents | 25 | | of the box. During the course of the examination, the public |
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| 1 | | administrator will not be able to remove any contents from the | 2 | | box, without first presenting to the lessor a copy of letters | 3 | | of office issued to him in representation of the lessee's | 4 | | estate. | 5 | | (b) In cases involving a public administrator in this | 6 | | State, in which the public administrator has been issued | 7 | | letters of office, the public administrator shall provide a | 8 | | copy of such letters of office to the lessor and the lessor | 9 | | shall, upon receipt of such copy from the public administrator, | 10 | | open the lessee's box for examination of its contents by the | 11 | | public administrator. The public administrator shall be | 12 | | permitted to remove any such items in the box he properly deems | 13 | | to be an asset of value of the estate which need to be secured | 14 | | and held by the public administrator in his official duties as | 15 | | the administrator of the lessee's estate. For purposes of this | 16 | | Section, the lessor shall open the box for such public | 17 | | administrator who presents an affidavit in accordance with the | 18 | | provisions of this Section regardless of whether the decedent | 19 | | lessee's key or combination is available.
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