Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust Co. v. Clancy

This case presents a question of the construction of an inter vivos trust limiting gifts over to “issue” and “grandchildren” of the settlor. The plaintiff, Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company of Chicago, as trustee, filed its complaint to construe a trust agreement entered into by Merrill C. Clancy on July 5, 1928. The sole questions raised by the pleadings are whether the defendant Donald Merrill Clancy is a legally adopted son of the settlor’s son, Leslie M. Clancy, and whether he is a beneficiary under the irrevocable trust. The trial court held that neither Donald Merrill…