Abstract
Illinois courts have struggled with the extent to which decedents may exercise “dead hand control” over the living, allowing some testamentary restrictions on beneficiaries, but not others. In Feinberg, the decedent sought to restrict his beneficiaries’ rights by allowing the beneficiaries to take their bequests only if they did not marry anyone outside the Jewish faith. The decedent’s grandchild, a beneficiary who did not follow her grandfather’s instructions and married outside the Jewish faith, filed suit and raised the question: does this sort of restriction constitute improper dead hand control over the living? While the Illinois Supreme Court stuck to its precedent and allowed the condition to stand, the Court did not explain why its decision made sense in modern-day society; an important concern, considering the precedent the Court followed was quite ancient. This Note argues that when restrictions on beneficiaries’ fundamental rights take the form of conditions precedent, such as occurred in Feinberg, those restrictions should stand because they strike a proper balance between the rights of testamentary freedom and fundamental rights of the living.
Recommended Citation
Natalie Lorenz,
Reaching From the Grave? The Validity of Testamentary Conditions Precedent Restricting Marriage in Illinois: In re Estate of Feinberg, 919 N.E.2d 888 (Ill. 2009),
36
S. Ill. U. L.J.
183
(2011).
Available at:
https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/siulj/vol36/iss1/7