First Illini Bank v. Pritchard

Olive E Custer executed her last will and testamentary trust on April 25, 1953. The document provides that upon her death, Ethyl Schmith (Custer’s daughter), William Pritchard (Custer’s grandson), and Sally Ann Day (Custer’s granddaughter) would have life estates in the income of the trust. The document further recites that upon the death of the surviving life tenant, the corpus of the trust is to be delivered “[t]o my lineal descendants, share and share alike.” Following the death of the last life tenant, the testator’s descendants were unable to agree on the meaning of the words employed by…