republic-os/legislation/us/states/il/96th/hb-151.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "SOS-DEPOSIT OF WILLS"
description: "Amends the Secretary of State Act. Provides that an attorney (or an attorney's representative or guardian) who certifies that he or she has been unable to locate a testator after a diligent search may deposit the testator's will with the Secretary of State. Requires the Secretary of State to: index, store, and perform other duties with respect to deposited wills; deliver the will to the testator or a designee or to a person specified in a court order; deliver the will to a court upon being notified of the death of the testator; and respond to inquiries regarding the will under specified circumstances. Contains provisions regarding fees, destruction of wills, immunity, and other matters. Provides that the index of wills created by the Secretary of State is a public record. Provides that fees collected in connection with the deposit of wills must be deposited into the Secretary of State Special Services Fund."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "96th"
identifier: "HB 151"
citation: "Illinois HB 151 (96th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 28
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2009-01-12"
last_action: "2009-08-07"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/56689b30-6d19-4f37-8035-4acdb16311a0"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=151&GAID=10&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=40155&SessionID=76&GA=96"
source_hash: "902bd83f5a5bb794abe9e0294019b2d4dcddbabca695faf7ea900aa459fb3100"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-il"]
---

# Illinois HB 151 (96th) — SOS-DEPOSIT OF WILLS

Amends the Secretary of State Act. Provides that an attorney (or an attorney's representative or guardian) who certifies that he or she has been unable to locate a testator after a diligent search may deposit the testator's will with the Secretary of State. Requires the Secretary of State to: index, store, and perform other duties with respect to deposited wills; deliver the will to the testator or a designee or to a person specified in a court order; deliver the will to a court upon being notified of the death of the testator; and respond to inquiries regarding the will under specified circumstances. Contains provisions regarding fees, destruction of wills, immunity, and other matters. Provides that the index of wills created by the Secretary of State is a public record. Provides that fees collected in connection with the deposit of wills must be deposited into the Secretary of State Special Services Fund.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600HB0151&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=40155&DocNum=151&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600HB0151eng&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=40155&DocNum=151&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600HB0151enr&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=40155&DocNum=151&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **114–0** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **55–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Pamela J. Althoff — cosponsor (person)
- Sidney H. Mathias — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2009-01-12** Prefiled with Clerk by Rep. Sidney H. Mathias `filing`
- **2009-01-14** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2009-01-14** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2009-02-04** Assigned to Judiciary I - Civil Law Committee `referral-committee`
- **2009-02-25** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by Judiciary I - Civil Law Committee `amendment-introduction`
- **2009-02-25** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Adopted in Judiciary I - Civil Law Committee; by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
- **2009-02-25** Do Pass as Amended / Short Debate Judiciary I - Civil Law Committee; 016-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2009-02-25** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2009-03-03** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2009-03-03** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2009-03-24** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 114-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2009-03-25** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2009-03-25** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading March 26, 2009 `reading-1`
- **2009-03-26** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Kwame Raoul
- **2009-03-26** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2009-03-26** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2009-04-01** Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Pamela J. Althoff
- **2009-04-15** Assigned to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2009-04-22** Do Pass Judiciary; 011-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2009-04-22** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading April 23, 2009
- **2009-05-07** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2009-05-07** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 12, 2009
- **2009-05-13** Third Reading - Passed; 055-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2009-05-13** Passed Both Houses
- **2009-06-11** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2009-08-07** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2009-08-07** Effective Date January 1, 2010
- **2009-08-07** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-0137 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/56689b30-6d19-4f37-8035-4acdb16311a0`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).