Plaintiff filed a complaint seeking to modify his irrevocable trust. The trial court granted a section 2-615 motion filed by the respondent and dismissed all counts of the complaint. Petitioner appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in determining that the trust could not be modified as requested. The appellate court affirmed, explaining that where a trust agreement does not contain provisions for revocation or modification it can only be revoked or modified with the consent of all of the beneficiaries and if the requested modification was consistent with the material provisions of the trust. The appellate court explained that neither factor was satisfied and, as a result, petitioner could not as a matter of law modify the trust as proposed. The appellate court also explained that petitioner’s failure to include a transcript or bystander’s report of the hearing on the motion to dismiss was not a fatal flaw on appeal because the appellate court reviewed the matter de novo and the issue could be resolved on the record presented. (C.A. WALKER and TAILOR, concurring)
Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Irrevocable Trust