First Nat. Bank of Chicago v. King

The issue in this case is whether section 2 — 4(f) of the Probate Act of 1975 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 110½, par. 2 — 4(f)) should be construed to permit the adopted child of a testator’s grandson to receive proceeds from a trust created by a will executed in 1936 under which the class of beneficiaries was limited to the "lawful descendants” of the testator’s son and daughter-in-law.

The circuit court answered this question in the negative, holding that the presumption created by the statute in favor of adopted children cannot be applied here because "[t]he intent to exclude such child is…