Question from Caring.com community member
Does a trust need to be registered in Illinois?
Expert Answer by Barbara Kate Repa
Barbara Repa, a Caring.com senior editor, is an attorney, a journalist specializing in aging issues, and the author of WillMaker, software enabling consumers to write their own wills, health care directives, powers of attorney, and final arrangements.
Charitable trusts, which are generally established to help those in need, are subject to some registration requirements under Illinois law.
But I'm assuming you're referring to a living trust -- a document that acts much like a will to transfer ownership of property when a person dies.
A little more than two handfuls of states require that the trustee of a trust register it with the local court, but Illinois is not among them. And even in the states that do have registration provisions -- including Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, and Ohio -- there do not appear to be any legal consequences or penalties beyond possible removal from the post if a trustee fails to register.
