Are Testator's Children Who Were Not Identified by Name (In His Will) Entitled to Inheritance ?

In Young v. Whisler, 19 Ill. 2d 501, 167 N.E.2d 191, (1960), the testator had four children, two from his first marriage and two from his second. The testator's will devised property to "my children" but identified by name only the two children born of his second marriage. Young, 19 Ill. 2d at 503, 167 N.E.2d at 192. On review, the court held that the term "children" merely described the testator's relationship to the two named devisees and its use was not inconsistent with naming only those children that he intended to receive the devise. The court stated the following general rule: "Where legatees are named as individuals and also described as a class, and there is nothing more to show the testator's intention, the gift by name constitutes a gift to individuals, to which the class description is added by way of identification." Young, 19 Ill. 2d at 504, 167 N.E.2d at 193.