Estate of Feinberg
Illinois Supreme Court
235 Ill. 2d 256, 335 Ill. Dec. 863, 919 N.E.2d 888 (2009)
- Written by Mary Pfotenhauer, JD
Facts
Under Max Feinberg’s will, a trust was established for his wife, Erla’s, benefit. The terms of the trust directed that upon Erla’s death, half of the trust assets would remain in trust, to be used for their grandchildren’s benefit. However, under the trust terms, if any grandchild married a non-Jewish spouse, that grandchild would be considered deceased and would no longer benefit from the trust. The trust gave Erla a limited power of appointment to change the trust terms. Erla exercised her power of appointment and directed that $250,000 should be given, upon her death, to each of Max and Erla’s children, and to each of their grandchildren who were not deemed deceased under the original trust terms. When Erla died, four of her five grandchildren were deemed deceased under the terms of the trust because they had non-Jewish spouses. Erla and Max’s son, Michael (plaintiff), was the executor of his parents’ estates. Michele (defendant), one of the grandchildren who was deemed deceased, challenged the restrictions contained in the trust. The lower courts held that the trust’s beneficiary restriction was invalid as contrary to public policy, and Michael appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Garman, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 779,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
