You inherited an interest in Illinois, or you are about to. Here is what the state actually requires to put it in your name, what can take it away if you do nothing, where the money goes when the operator cannot find you, and the order to do things in. Written by a mineral buyer who pays for the probate on a committed deal, so read it with that in mind.
Updated November 2026. Written by Stephen Clayman, career landman and owner of Berlin Royalties. Statutes were checked against primary sources; this is general information from a buyer, not legal advice, and the state-specific details are the reason to call a Illinois attorney, not a substitute for one.
Yes. Illinois treats severed minerals as real estate, and the small estate affidavit cannot be used at all if the decedent owned any Illinois real estate. A probate, or an ancillary probate for a nonresident, is the route; a transfer on death instrument recorded before death avoids it. Illinois has no self-executing dormant mineral act, but a court process can vest unknown owners' minerals in the surface owner.
Minerals are real estate. The 755 ILCS 5/25-1 small estate affidavit covers personal property only, up to $150,000 since August 15, 2025, and is unavailable if the decedent owned any Illinois real estate. Illinois uses affidavits of heirship inside probate, and operators accept them for pay status, but there is no statutory recorded-affidavit transfer of real estate. A nonresident who owned Illinois minerals generally needs an ancillary probate in the county where they sit, filed with authenticated copies of the home-state letters and will.
Yes. The Real Property Transfer on Death Instrument Act, 755 ILCS 27, has covered any Illinois real property, not only residential, since Public Act 102-68 took effect January 1, 2022, so a severed mineral interest qualifies. It must be signed before two witnesses and a notary and recorded before death; an unrecorded instrument does nothing.
Not a self-executing one. The Severed Mineral Interest Act, 765 ILCS 515, is a court process against severed minerals whose owners are unknown or missing. A surface owner or prospective lessee petitions the circuit court, publishes once a week for three weeks, and mails notice to the last known address. The court can appoint a trustee to lease the interest, and under section 11 can declare the interest null and void and vest it in the surface owner: seven years after the judgment, or one year where the severance happened more than 20 years before the filing. An owner may intervene before final judgment by proving ownership and paying the plaintiff's taxes and allowed costs. There is no statement of claim; the defense is a recorded instrument with a current address.
The Oil and Gas Rights Act, 765 ILCS 520/10, effective January 1, 2016: first payment within 150 days after the end of the month of first purchase, then per the lease, or 60 days after the month of an oil sale and 90 days for gas. Late amounts earn interest at the New York Federal Reserve discount rate, amounts of $100 or less may be paid annually, and 30 days written notice is required before suit. Our letter generator writes the statutory demand, and the full state table is on royalty payment laws by state.
Search Illinois State Treasurer unclaimed property under the decedent's name and every spelling of it. Three-year dormancy. The Illinois act, 765 ILCS 1026, defines mineral proceeds to include royalties, bonuses, delay rentals, and overriding and net revenue interests. Our unclaimed royalties hub covers the search in every state we buy in, and we run it free whether or not you sell.
Illinois has an estate tax with a $4 million exemption, which rarely touches a mineral estate on its own but counts the whole estate. No inheritance tax. No severance tax on conventional production. Inherited minerals take a federal stepped-up basis. The arithmetic is on our capital gains and depletion page, and a date-of-death appraisal is what documents the basis.
The printable version of that list, with the title path for every state, is our executor's checklist for mineral rights.
Send a photo of whatever you have. We will tell you what the family owns, what it pays, whether any money is sitting in suspense or with the state, what the title needs, and what it is worth, in writing and with the reasoning shown. Free, and the answer is the same whether or not you sell.
Get a Free Valuation Text a Check StubOr call or text 918-984-1645 and ask for Stephen.
No. The affidavit under 755 ILCS 5/25-1 is unavailable if the decedent owned any Illinois real estate, and severed minerals are real estate.
Through the Severed Mineral Interest Act court process, if the owners are unknown or missing: seven years after a judgment, or one year where the severance is more than 20 years old. Keep a recorded instrument with a current address in the county and you are neither unknown nor missing.
Yes, the transfer on death instrument under 755 ILCS 27, which now covers any real property. Record it before death.