How to fill out Illinois RT OPR 31

Three pages of sworn statement that let a vehicle move out of an estate without letters of office. It is a Probate Act document that the Secretary of State accepts, which is why it reads like nothing else in the Illinois set - creditor classes, a spouse's award, heirs and legatees - and why the vehicle appears only in paragraph 6(b).

Written against RT OPR 31 (RT OPR 31.18, February 2026), issued under 755 ILCS 5/Art. XXV, Probate Act. The value threshold printed on the current affidavit is $150,000, and the office's web summary of the small estate route still gives a lower figure. Read the note in paragraph 6(b) before either number decides anything for you, and take advice on an estate rather than from a form page.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank RT OPR 31 from the ilsos.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   County, and your name in the oath

   State of Illinois, the county, and I, ______, on oath state.

   Watch out: The county is where the affidavit is sworn, not necessarily where the decedent lived. Paragraph 4 asks for that separately.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Paragraph 1 and the agent for service

   Post office address, residence address, and - if you live outside Illinois - a named agent for service of process here, with an address, city and telephone.

   Watch out: If no agent is named, or service on them cannot be effected, the affidavit says the Clerk of the Circuit Court of the named county and judicial circuit becomes your agent by law. Leave those two blanks empty and you have still appointed somebody.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Paragraphs 2 to 4, the decedent

   Name, date of death with the death certificate attached, and the place of residence immediately before death.

   Watch out: A copy of the death certificate is attached to the affidavit itself - the Secretary of State asks for one with the application as well.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Paragraph 6(b), the vehicle

   Make, body type, year model and VIN, with room for two vehicles, then the year and plate numbers they were last licensed under in Illinois.

   Watch out: Read the note directly beneath. Used solely for a title transaction, the affidavit works without regard to the value in 6(a) - which is the difference between a straightforward afternoon and valuing an entire estate.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Paragraph 7, the seven classes

   Either mark that all funeral expenses and other debts have been paid, or list every known unpaid debt in its class with a name, address and amount.

   Watch out: The classes are in statutory order and the order is not decorative - 7.5 says the estate pays them in that order and pro rata within a class it cannot cover.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Paragraph 9, spouse and children

   Names, relationships and residences of a surviving spouse, minor children and adult dependent children, with ages, and then the award calculation.

   Watch out: The affidavit defines an adult dependent child as one who is unable to maintain themself and is likely to become a public charge. It is a narrower category than it sounds.

7. 7
   You fill this in

   Paragraph 10, will or no will

   Box (a) for no will, with heirs and portions under intestacy. Box (b) for a will filed with the clerk of an appropriate court, with a certified copy attached and the legatees and their portions.

   Watch out: Sub-paragraph (c) is not optional either: the affiant states they are unaware of any dispute or potential conflict as to heirship or the will.

8. 8
   You fill this in

   Paragraph 11, who the car goes to

   A name and an address, and the sentence that this affidavit is made to induce the Secretary of State to issue a certificate of title to the assignee.

   Watch out: This is the operative line for the vehicle. Everything above it establishes that you are entitled to say it.

9. 9
   You fill this in

   Sign in front of a notary

   Under penalties of perjury, then subscribed and sworn before a notary with a seal.

   Watch out: The note beside it points out that a fraudulent statement made under penalties of perjury is perjury as defined in the Criminal Code. Then attach the decedent's title, which does not need to be assigned, and a VSD 190.

What gets this one rejected

• •Reading the value cap and stopping there. Paragraph 6(b) carries a note that changes the answer for a great many families - under 755 ILCS 5/25-1(a-5), where the affidavit is being used solely for a title transaction with the Secretary of State for the transfer of the decedent's motor vehicles, it may be used to transfer those motor vehicles without consideration of the value of the personal estate in paragraph 6(a).
• •Using it while letters of office are outstanding. Paragraph 5 is an oath that no letters of office are now outstanding and no petition for letters is contemplated or pending anywhere.
• •Leaving paragraph 7 blank because you think the debts are settled. There are two boxes: all debts paid, or all known unpaid debts listed and classified. One of them has to be marked.
• •Skipping the will. If there is a will it must have been filed with the clerk of an appropriate court and a certified copy attached.
• •Signing at home. The affidavit is subscribed and sworn to before a notary.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •You are indemnifying, not just declaring. Paragraph 10.5 is the one to read twice. By signing, the affiant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless all creditors of the estate, the heirs and legatees, and any person, corporation or financial institution relying on the affidavit, up to the amount lost - and adds that anyone recovering under it is entitled to reasonable attorney's fees and the expenses of recovery.
• •Claims come before heirs. Paragraph 7.5 states the order plainly: all valid claims must be paid from the estate before any distribution to any heir or legatee, in the class order set out, and where the estate cannot cover one class the claims in it are paid pro rata.
• •The affiant need not be family. The Secretary of State's own guidance on the small estate route says the affiant does not have to be an heir or legatee. Paragraph 10.3 simply asks what your relationship to the decedent or the estate is.

Every line here was read off RT OPR 31 (RT OPR 31.18, February 2026) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Illinois Secretary of State pages. This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.

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