Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois

Yes. Those grandchildren would share in the share that their parent would have inherited if the parent had survived.

You must be careful in how you define "inheritance." For example, those grandchildren would probably not share any part of any assets held in joint tenancy (e.g., jointly held land, or a jointly held bank account) or any part of certain other types of assets which often have a beneficiary designation (e.g., life insurance, retirement plans), unless those grandchildren filed a lawsuit which claimed that they should get all of their "inheritance."

I would not rely on general provisions of Illinois law when considering what gifts you would like to leave to your family. Feel free to call me if you'd like to discuss this further. I never charge for initial consultations.

Generally Yes. The offspring, i.e., children, of a pre-deceased child, step into the parent/child's shoes on the death of a grandparent to the extent that a pre-deceased child would have taken. IOW if grandparent had 4 children living at the time of death, each child would take 1/4 of grandparents estate with nothing to any grandchild. However, if one of those 4 children predeceases grandparent the result would be that any children of the predeceased child would share equally in the 1/4 interest of the predeceased child. The grandchild do not share equally with their aunts and uncles unless the predeceased child is survived by only one child. If the predeceased child had 2 surviving children then each surviving grandchild would get 1/2 of a 1/4 share of grandparent's estate; if 3 then 1/3 of a 1/4 share and so forth.

Simple answer, the children of that child would as a group share "equally" with the other heirs (their aunt(s)/uncle(s)). They will be dividing what would have been their late parent's share.

That said, you would be well served to have a will, which will save expense later in administration of the estate and better cover other eventualities. An attorney can also advise you concerning a new option in Illinois, a Transfer on Death Instrument.

In addition, you should review other matters that would not fall into your probate estate, such as the beneficiary designations on life insurance, retirement plans and similar assets, and the way title is held to other assets, such as your home, vehicles, bank accounts, etc.