Max Feinberg's trust treated any grandchild who married outside Judaism as dead, and the Illinois Supreme Court let it stand

Max Feinberg died in 1986, leaving his wife Erla, his children Michael and Leila, and five grandchildren. His will poured his assets into a trust. After Erla's death, half the trust was to be held for the grandchildren for life. Any grandchild who married outside the Jewish faith, or whose non-Jewish spouse did not convert within a year, would be "deemed deceased for all purposes of this instrument as of the date of such marriage," and that share reverted to Michael or Leila. In 1997 Erla used her power of appointment to replace the plan: at her death, each child and each grandchild not "deemed deceased" would receive $250,000. All five grandchildren married between 1990 and 2001. When Erla died in 2003, only Leila's son Jon qualified. Michael's daughter Michele Trull sued her father, the coexecutor. The Cook County circuit court struck the clause, and a divided appellate court affirmed in 2008, holding that it "seriously interferes" with the right to marry. Agudath Israel of America, the National Council of Young Israel and the Orthodox Union filed briefs for the estate. On 24 September 2009 the Illinois Supreme Court reversed unanimously in an opinion by Justice Rita Garman. It held that no grandchild had a vested interest, that Erla's plan took effect only at her death, and that grandparents may favour grandchildren "of whose life choices they approved." Four of the five grandchildren received nothing from the trust.