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McLean County, IL Probate Information
Quick facts
| Item | McLean County information |
|---|---|
| Court | Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, McLean County. Probate matters are civil cases in McLean County, not a separate probate division. |
| Filing office | McLean County Circuit Clerk, Civil / Probate desk, McLean County Law and Justice Center, 104 West Front Street, 4th Floor, Room 404, Bloomington, IL 61701. |
| Mailing address | McLean County Circuit Clerk, P.O. Box 2400, Bloomington, IL 61702-2400. |
| Probate phone | (309) 888-5350. Civil / Probate also lists (309) 888-5340, and the general Circuit Clerk line is (309) 888-5301. |
| [email protected]. | |
| Fax | (309) 888-5281, general Circuit Clerk fax. Eleventh Judicial Circuit Rule 3(A) does not allow filing by fax or email without leave of court. |
| Hours | Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except legal holidays and court closures. No lunch closure or separate filing cutoff is published. |
| Filing fee | $382.00 to open administration of a decedent's estate, effective October 1, 2025. Confirm the current amount with the McLean County Circuit Clerk. |
| Local forms | No local decedent-estate probate forms are published. Illinois has no statewide standardized decedent-estate probate form set. |
| E-filing | Required for civil cases, including probate, under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 9(a). Self-represented filers who cannot e-file may use the Certification for Exemption From E-filing under Rule 9(d). Original wills may not be e-filed under Rule 9(c)(1) and Eleventh Judicial Circuit Rule 3(B), so call the probate line before delivering or mailing the original will. |
| Case search | Use the McLean County Circuit Clerk's Public Access Search System, not judici.com. Search the civil case search by name or case number, and contact the Circuit Clerk if the case does not appear. |
| Remote appearance | Available in civil matters at the judge's discretion under Eleventh Judicial Circuit Rule 4. The court publishes a Remote Hearings directory with Zoom courtroom links. |
| Website | McLean County Circuit Clerk |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you file in McLean County, make a complete list of assets, debts, beneficiary designations, jointly held property, real estate and possible creditors. This determines whether a court estate is needed, what has to be e-filed, what still must be delivered on paper, and how many certified copies of letters of office the family may need under 755 ILCS 5.
Sunset's estate settlement process starts with asset discovery across more than 2,300 institutions, then organizes what belongs in the McLean County probate packet. Doing that work before filing helps avoid opening the wrong kind of case, missing a Bloomington or Normal real estate issue, or paying for documents the representative does not need.
Which court handles jurisdiction
One courthouse serves McLean County probate matters: the McLean County Law and Justice Center at 104 West Front Street in Bloomington. The Civil / Probate desk is in the Circuit Clerk's office on the 4th Floor, Room 404. The Circuit Clerk publishes no branch, satellite or annex probate filing location.
McLean County covers Bloomington, Normal, Anchor, Arrowsmith, Bellflower, Carlock, Chenoa, Colfax, Cooksville, Danvers, Downs, Ellsworth, Gridley, Heyworth, Hudson, Le Roy, Lexington, McLean, Saybrook, Stanford, Towanda and surrounding rural townships. McLean County shares the Eleventh Judicial Circuit with Livingston, Logan, Ford and Woodford Counties, but the shared circuit does not mean a shared filing counter. File a McLean County estate in Bloomington, not in another county in the circuit.
Illinois venue starts in the county where the decedent had a known place of residence. If there is no known Illinois residence, venue moves to the county holding the greater part of the decedent's real estate, then to the county holding the greater part of the personal estate (755 ILCS 5/5-1).
The jurisdiction process
- Identify the county and filing office. For a McLean County resident, file with the McLean County Circuit Clerk at the Law and Justice Center in Bloomington under the venue rule in 755 ILCS 5/5-1.
- File the original will on paper if there is one. Anyone holding the will must file it with the Circuit Clerk immediately after death (755 ILCS 5/6-1). Original wills may not be e-filed under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 9(c)(1), and Eleventh Judicial Circuit Rule 3(B) excepts WI, Will Filing, from civil e-filing. Call (309) 888-5350 before delivering or mailing the original will.
- E-file the petition and supporting documents. Probate is a civil case, so the petition to admit the will and issue letters of office, or the petition for administration when there is no will, is e-filed through eFileIL unless the filer has an exemption under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 9(d). Use the Probate (PR) case category.
- Pay the filing fee or request a fee waiver. McLean County charges $382.00 to open administration of a decedent's estate, effective October 1, 2025. If you cannot pay, file the statewide Application for Waiver of Court Fees for civil cases.
- Establish heirship and request appointment. The petition asks the court to determine heirship under 755 ILCS 5/5-3 and to appoint the executor or administrator. Illinois courts grant independent administration under Article XXVIII unless the will forbids it or an interested person properly objects (755 ILCS 5/28-2).
- Complete oath, bond and appointment requirements. Before acting, the representative takes the required oath and gives bond unless the will or the court permits the bond to operate without a written bond (755 ILCS 5/12-2).
- Receive letters of office. Once the court enters the order and the representative qualifies, the Circuit Clerk issues letters of office under 755 ILCS 5. Letters issued on a will are letters testamentary, and letters issued without a will are letters of administration.
- Give notice after appointment. Within the Illinois Probate Act of 1975 requirements, the representative gives notice to heirs and legatees after the order and handles publication where an address is not stated (755 ILCS 5/6-10).
- Publish creditor notice and file proof. The representative publishes claims notice once each week for three successive weeks in a newspaper published in the county where the estate is administered, then files proof with the clerk. The claims date must be at least six months from first publication or three months from mailing or delivery, whichever is later (755 ILCS 5/18-3).
- Administer and close the estate. The representative inventories assets, handles claims, pays expenses, sells or transfers property when authorized, prepares any required account, distributes the estate and closes under the Illinois Probate Act, including Article XXIV for accounts and Article XXVIII for independent administration.
Forms and documents
Probate forms in McLean County
The McLean County Circuit Court publishes a Forms and Resources library, but it does not publish decedent-estate probate forms. There is no local petition for letters of office, order admitting a will, inventory, claim form, account or small-estate affidavit form for a decedent's estate. The county forms that mention guardianship are for guardianship cases, not for a decedent's estate.
Illinois also has no statewide standardized decedent-estate probate form set. The statewide forms that can still matter in a McLean County estate settlement are the Certification for Exemption From E-filing, the Application for Waiver of Court Fees for civil cases, the Appearance and Jury Request, Motions and Notice, and the Interpreter Request. Eleventh Judicial Circuit Rule 1(B) says forms used in another Illinois jurisdiction must be recognized by the Circuit Courts, but the Circuit Clerk and court personnel cannot draft probate papers or give legal advice.
Fees
McLean County publishes a civil fee schedule that prices decedent-estate probate cases specifically. The schedule is effective October 1, 2025, and the clerk should be contacted before filing to confirm the current amount. Illinois filing fees are set through the circuit clerk fee framework in 705 ILCS 105/27.1b, with county-board amounts published by the Circuit Clerk.
| Fee item | McLean County amount |
|---|---|
| Administration of a decedent's estate | $382.00, effective October 1, 2025 |
| General guardianship and probate filing fee, except listed exceptions | $282.00, effective October 1, 2025 |
| Appearance fee | $207.00, effective October 1, 2025 |
| Appearance by an executor, administrator, administrator to collect, guardian, guardian ad litem or special administrator | No appearance fee under the October 1, 2025 schedule |
| Depositing a will under 755 ILCS 5/6-1 | No filing fee under the October 1, 2025 schedule |
| Claim greater than $150 and not more than $500 | $25.00, effective October 1, 2025 |
| Claim greater than $500 and not more than $10,000 | $40.00, effective October 1, 2025 |
| Claim more than $10,000 | $60.00, effective October 1, 2025 |
| Certified copy of letters of office, court order or other certification | $2.00 per page, effective October 1, 2025 |
| Each certification or authentication with seal of office | $6.00, effective October 1, 2025 |
| Record search within a division | $6.00 per year searched, effective October 1, 2025 |
Local nuance
McLean County-specific considerations
| Local point | What it means in McLean County |
|---|---|
| No separate probate division | Eleventh Judicial Circuit Rule 303(C) lists McLean County divisions as Civil Division, Criminal Division and Family Division. A decedent's estate is filed as a civil Probate (PR) case and handled through the Civil / Probate desk. |
| Will filing is the paper exception | Illinois Supreme Court Rule 9(c)(1) says original wills may not be e-filed. Eleventh Judicial Circuit Rule 3(B) reinforces that locally by excepting WI, Will Filing, from civil e-filing. Call the probate line before delivering or mailing the original will. |
| No fax or email filing without leave | Eleventh Judicial Circuit Rule 3(A) says no summons, petition, notice, motion or other document may be filed by fax or email absent leave of court. The published fax number is not a routine probate filing method. |
| Remote hearings are discretionary | Eleventh Judicial Circuit Rule 4 allows remote appearances in civil matters at the judge's discretion. A request for remote appearance for a matter set in person must be made at least three business days before the proceeding and copied to the other side. |
| Some civil proceedings stay in person | Rule 4(D)(2) lists evidentiary hearings, settlement conferences, jury or bench trials and contempt proceedings as civil matters exempted from remote proceedings. |
| Assignments of inheritance interests get judicial review | Rule 107(B) requires an assignment of, or power of attorney over, a distributee's interest in a decedent's estate to be presented by verified petition to the presiding judge of the proper division for approval of filing. The judge may refuse filing or set terms if the consideration is inadequate or fees are excessive. |
Recent updates
| Change | What changed | Link |
|---|---|---|
| McLean County civil fee schedule effective October 1, 2025 | The current published schedule sets the administration of a decedent's estate filing fee at $382.00, effective October 1, 2025. It also lists a $207.00 appearance fee, effective October 1, 2025, with no appearance fee for an executor or administrator, and certified copies of letters of office at $2.00 per page, effective October 1, 2025. | Civil fee schedule |
| Eleventh Judicial Circuit rules effective May 1, 2025 | The circuit reissued its rules for Ford, Livingston, Logan, McLean and Woodford Counties. Rules that matter to a McLean County estate include Rule 3 on will filing and e-filing, Rule 4 on remote appearances, Rule 9 on e-filing mechanics and Rule 303(C) on McLean County divisions. | Eleventh Judicial Circuit rules |
Scenarios
| Scenario | Likely McLean County path | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse with co-owned home | If the home was held in joint tenancy or passed by beneficiary designation, it may not need a McLean County probate estate. Deed work is recorded with the McLean County Clerk at 115 East Washington Street, not with the Circuit Clerk. Sole-name assets may require a Probate (PR) case filed with the Circuit Clerk, with a $382.00 filing fee effective October 1, 2025, and the original will handled on paper. | Sunset helps identify which assets pass outside probate, organizes the estate settlement checklist, and prepares the family to speak with the Circuit Clerk or a McLean County probate attorney. |
| Out-of-state adult child with a small estate | Many steps can be handled remotely through eFileIL, the Civil / Probate email and the court's Zoom procedures. The original will still cannot be e-filed, so call the probate line before mailing or delivering it. Certified copies of letters of office are $2.00 per page, effective October 1, 2025. | Sunset helps find accounts, organize documents, decide what can be done remotely, and flag when a local attorney should handle Bloomington filing or a court appearance. |
| Parent settling predeceased child's estate, home must be sold | A home sale usually requires letters of office under 755 ILCS 5, so the estate is opened as a Probate (PR) case with the McLean County Circuit Clerk. The $382.00 filing fee is effective October 1, 2025. Claims notice is published in the county of administration, opening the six-month claims window under 755 ILCS 5/18-3, and the deed is later recorded with the McLean County Clerk. | Sunset gathers asset and debt information, helps prepare the probate packet, and can connect the family with a vetted attorney for the sale, title company requests, claims and any heirship issue. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | How it helps |
|---|---|
| McLean County Circuit Clerk, Civil / Probate Division | Filing office for estates. The Civil / Probate desk is at 104 West Front Street, 4th Floor, Room 404, Bloomington. Probate line (309) 888-5350, civil line (309) 888-5340, [email protected], Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| McLean County civil fee schedule | Current published civil fee schedule, effective October 1, 2025. It lists the $382.00 decedent-estate filing fee effective October 1, 2025, probate claim fees and certified-copy charges. |
| McLean County court search | Free public access search from the Circuit Clerk. Use the civil search by name or case number. If nothing appears, contact the Circuit Clerk for a written inquiry. |
| McLean County Law Library and Legal Self-Help Center | Located in the Law and Justice Center, Room 665, phone (309) 888-4801, Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Walk-ins, public terminals, scanners, legal research tools and Illinois JusticeCorps help with courthouse navigation and e-filing. |
| Eleventh Judicial Circuit court rules | Local rules for Ford, Livingston, Logan, McLean and Woodford Counties, effective May 1, 2025, including filing, e-filing and remote-appearance rules. |
| McLean County remote hearings directory | Zoom courtroom directory and remote-hearing instructions for McLean County courtrooms, including the court that hears probate matters. |
| Prairie State Legal Services, Bloomington office | Legal aid office serving Livingston, McLean and Woodford Counties. Bloomington office: 201 West Olive Street, Suite 203, Bloomington, phone (309) 827-5021, toll free (800) 874-2536. Services may require income qualification, and estate help should be requested directly. |
| McLean County Bar Association | Local route listed by the court for finding a McLean County attorney in a specific practice area. Phone (309) 888-5265. |
| Illinois Legal Aid Online estate guide | Statewide plain-language guide on settling an estate after someone dies. |
| Illinois Courts approved statewide forms | Statewide forms every Illinois court must accept. In a McLean County estate, the useful forms include the Certification for Exemption From E-filing, the civil fee waiver application and the Appearance. |
| eFileIL | Statewide e-filing system for Illinois civil cases, including probate filings other than original wills. |
When to hire an attorney
How Sunset helps
Find the accounts and assets. Estate settlement starts with knowing what exists. Sunset's asset discovery searches more than 2,300 institutions so families can find bank accounts, investment accounts, insurance, retirement accounts and other assets before deciding what must be filed in McLean County.
Generate the probate packet. McLean County does not publish decedent-estate probate forms, so Sunset helps organize the information needed for the petition, heirs, assets, debts, notice and supporting documents before anything is e-filed or delivered to the Circuit Clerk.
Find a local probate attorney. When an estate needs letters of office under 755 ILCS 5, a house sale, creditor work, heirship analysis or a contested hearing, Sunset can connect the family with a vetted Illinois probate attorney who serves McLean County.
Sunset is free for families. Sunset helps families understand the estate settlement path, gather information and decide what help they need. Families do not pay Sunset to get started.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I file for probate in McLean County?
File with the McLean County Circuit Clerk at the McLean County Law and Justice Center, 104 West Front Street, 4th Floor, Room 404, Bloomington, IL 61701. Mail goes to P.O. Box 2400, Bloomington, IL 61702-2400. Venue is the county of the decedent's known residence, then the county with the greater part of the real estate, then the county with the greater part of the personal estate (755 ILCS 5/5-1).
Is there a probate court or probate division in McLean County?
No. McLean County is served by the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. Eleventh Judicial Circuit Rule 303(C) lists McLean County divisions as Civil Division, Criminal Division and Family Division, so a decedent's estate is handled as a civil Probate (PR) case.
Do I have to e-file probate papers in McLean County?
Yes. E-filing is required in Illinois civil cases, including probate, under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 9(a). A self-represented filer who cannot e-file may use the Supreme Court's Certification for Exemption From E-filing under Rule 9(d), and exempt documents may be filed in person or by mail under Rule 9(e).
What do I do with the original will in McLean County?
An original will may not be e-filed under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 9(c)(1). Eleventh Judicial Circuit Rule 3(B) also excepts WI, Will Filing, from civil e-filing. Anyone holding the will must file it with the Circuit Clerk immediately after death (755 ILCS 5/6-1). Because the clerk's e-filing page gives broad paper-filing cautions, call the probate line at (309) 888-5350 before delivering or mailing the original will.
How much does probate cost in McLean County?
The McLean County Circuit Clerk's schedule charges $382.00 to open administration of a decedent's estate, effective October 1, 2025. The schedule also lists a $207.00 appearance fee, effective October 1, 2025, but no appearance fee for an executor or administrator. Certified copies of letters of office are $2.00 per page, effective October 1, 2025. Confirm current amounts with the Circuit Clerk.
Can I appear remotely in a McLean County probate case?
Often, but not always. The court publishes a Zoom courtroom for the judge who hears probate matters, and Eleventh Judicial Circuit Rule 4 allows remote appearances in civil matters at the judge's discretion. A request to appear remotely for a matter set in person must be made to the court at least three business days before the proceeding and copied to the other side. Evidentiary hearings, settlement conferences, trials and contempt proceedings are listed as in-person civil proceedings.
Are there local probate forms in McLean County?
No local decedent-estate probate forms are published, and Illinois does not publish statewide standardized decedent-estate forms. McLean County publishes guardianship forms, but those are for guardianship cases, not for administering a decedent's estate.
How do I look up a McLean County probate case?
Use the McLean County Circuit Clerk's Public Access Search System and choose the civil search. Probate cases use the Probate (PR) case category, and older cases may use Probate (P). McLean County is not on judici.com, so do not use judici.com for a McLean County estate.
Do I have to travel to Bloomington for a McLean County estate?
Many steps can be handled by e-filing, email, phone and remote appearance. The original will still has to be handled on paper, and the judge may require in-person attendance for certain proceedings. Call the probate line before making travel plans.
Is the Circuit Clerk the same as the County Clerk?
No. The McLean County Circuit Clerk receives probate filings at the Law and Justice Center. The McLean County Clerk at 115 East Washington Street handles vital records, elections and recording functions, including deed recording, and does not take probate filings.
Shaped by the families we've helped
Thank you to the thousands of families who have trusted Sunset to help settle their loved ones' estates. This page is shaped by the questions they actually asked and the obstacles they actually hit — and that hard-won experience is what keeps it accurate, current, and genuinely useful to the families who come next.