Schuttler v. Ruark

Plaintiff, Scott Schuttler (Scott), appeals the circuit court’s dismissal of his complaint seeking a declaration of his right to receive income as the “lawful issue” of his adoptive father, Ballard Schuttler, under the testamentary and inter vivos trusts of Ballard’s grandfather, Peter Schuttler III. Scott asserted that the September 1989 amendment of the Instruments Regarding Adopted Children Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 40, par. 1652) (hereinafter the amendment) created new substantive rights for adopteds and was applicable to income distributed pursuant to the trusts after that date. The…