What the rule says
When an Illinois resident divorces, the Probate Act cleans up their will automatically. Under 755 ILCS 5/4-7(b), a judgment of dissolution of marriage (or declaration of invalidity) revokes every legacy, interest, or power of appointment given to the former spouse — and every nomination of the former spouse to a fiduciary office such as executor, trustee, or guardian — in a will executed before the judgment. The will then takes effect as if the former spouse had died before the testator.
This puts Illinois in line with the majority rule: the ex-spouse is removed from the will by operation of law. It does not matter whether the will was signed before or after the marriage, and no court filing or new document is needed for this part — the revocation happens automatically when the divorce is finalized.
Two boundaries matter. First, only a final judgment triggers it. Separation, a pending divorce case, or an informal split changes nothing; until the judgment is entered, a spouse named in the will keeps every right the will gives them. Second — and this is where most of the real-world risk lives — the statute reaches only the will. It does not touch anything that passes outside probate.
What this means in practice
The revoked provisions are treated as if the ex-spouse predeceased. Gifts that named the ex-spouse fall to the alternate beneficiary if the will names one, otherwise into the residue or, in the worst case, through intestacy. An executor or trustee nomination shifts to the named successor — or, if there is none, the probate court appoints someone.
Non-probate assets follow a completely different path. Life insurance policies, 401(k)s, IRAs, and payable-on-death or transfer-on-death bank and brokerage accounts pass by beneficiary designation, not by will. Illinois's revocation-on-divorce rule does not rewrite those designations. An ex-spouse who is still the named beneficiary on a life insurance policy generally remains entitled to it, and for employer retirement plans federal law can require payment to the named beneficiary regardless of state law. Divorce decrees sometimes address these assets, but the reliable mechanism is changing each designation directly with the insurer or financial institution.
The combined effect is a trap of misplaced confidence in both directions: people either assume divorce fixed everything (it fixed only the will) or assume the ex-spouse still inherits under the will (they don't, once the judgment is entered).
What you can do about it
1. Execute a new will after the divorce anyway. Relying on automatic revocation leaves the will full of holes — revoked gifts falling into the residue can produce distributions you never intended, and a missing executor nomination puts the choice in the court's hands. A fresh will states your actual post-divorce wishes. 2. Update every beneficiary designation directly. Life insurance, 401(k), IRA, HSA, and POD/TOD accounts each require their own change form with the provider. This is the step Illinois law will not do for you. 3. Review powers of attorney and healthcare directives. Documents naming the former spouse as agent should be revoked and replaced so the authority they grant matches your current intentions. 4. Check any trusts. Trust instruments naming the former spouse as trustee or beneficiary follow the trust's own amendment rules, not the Probate Act's will-revocation rule.
Who this affects most
- Recently divorced Illinois residents whose wills predate the judgment — the will is partially rewritten by statute, and the result may not match what they would choose. - Anyone with life insurance or retirement accounts that still name the former spouse — those designations survive the divorce untouched. - People mid-divorce: until the judgment is entered, the spouse named in the will retains every right under it.
Illinois law removes an ex-spouse from the will automatically, but a complete post-divorce estate plan still requires deliberate action on everything the will does not control.