This section of the website operated by the Office of Maria Pappas, Cook County Treasurer, allows visitors to scan probate case files by year, by the names of the estates, and, where available, the names of listed heirs. The list includes the dollar amounts on deposit with the Treasurer’s Office under court order in each probate file. PLEASE NOTE that potential heirs must work through the Courts to seek an order to release funds. The Treasurer’s Office functions only as the keeper of funds under court order and cannot determine the legal validity of claims or issue payments without a court order.

This database will be updated monthly. The listing will grow as data becomes available for files that currently lack names of the deceased who left behind potential inheritances.

Important Instructions

If you believe you may have a claim on any funds, you must do the following:

1. Write down the name and case number of the proceeding in which you believe you may be an heir.
2. Obtain a copy of the court order that ordered that funds be held with the County Treasurer. This court order may be obtained at the Probate Division of the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, Room 1202 of the Richard J. Daley Center, 50 West Washington Street, Chicago.
3. Find in the court file which persons are serving as the executors or administrators of the estate, their addresses and phone numbers.
4. Put together any proof that may show you are among the heirs who should receive a portion of the funds held in that estate.
5. For assistance in obtaining a court order for the release of funds:
   • Call or write to the executor or administrator.
   • Contact your own attorney for assistance in obtaining such an order.
   • Contact a bar association’s attorney-referral center for assistance.
6. After you obtain a court order indicating that funds should be paid to you, go to the Cook County Treasurer’s Office and present a certified copy of the court order so that the payment may be processed.
   
   In Cook County, case numbers represent the calendar year, the division of the Courts that presides over the case, and the sequential filing of the case during that year (thus, "55P9999" would represent a 1955 probate case that was the 9,999th probate case filed in that calendar year.)

DISCLAIMER: With respect to information available from this server, neither the State of Illinois, Cook County, nor any agency thereof, nor any employees, officers or vendors, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, product or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. It is the responsibility of any potential claimant to perform due diligence to investigate the accuracy of the records held by the Circuit Court of Cook County and the identities of the decedents whose estates are the subjects of the Probate Court files maintained therein.

The Treasurer's Office offers no expressed or implied warranty that the Courts, acting within the constraints of Illinois Revised Statutes and established case law, will be able to release any portions of the monies listed now or at any time in the future. PLEASE NOTE that because probate law provides for governmental use of certain funds not claimed within a decade of the date of death, it is advisable to consult an attorney to determine whether it will be feasible to pursue a claim on the funds listed herein. Also note that certain funds in older probate cases were received and deposited in recent years.

It is important that you read and understand the DISCLAIMER above.