Brenner v. Evelyn Statsinger Trust

Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Trusts and Estates
Citation
Case Number: 
2018 IL App (1st) 180131
Decision Date: 
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
District: 
1st Dist.
Division/County: 
Cook Co., 2d Div,
Holding: 
Affirmed.
Justice: 
MASON

After bench trial, court declared that Plaintiffs were the rightful owners of certain works of art. Plaintiffs had inherited these works from their parents/in-laws, and the works were later transferred to the artist, which Plaintiffs believed had been loaned to the artist to facilitated a retrospective of her career. Art gallery displayed these works and and offered them for sale. Plaintiff testified that she never agreed to gift her interest in the works to the artist, and this evidence was competent and sufficient to overcome presumption of ownership resulting from artist's possession of them.(PUCINSKI and HYMAN, concurring.)