Landheer v. Landheer

              No. 3--07--0629
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Filed June 25, 2008
IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
THIRD DISTRICT
A.D., 2008
ARLYN LANDHEER and MARK )
LANDHEER, ) Appeal from the Circuit Court
) of the 14th Judicial Circuit,
Plaintiffs and Counterdefendants- ) Whiteside County, Illinois
Appellees, ))
v. ))
No. 2004-MR-65
WARREN LANDHEER, Individually and )
as Successor Trustee of the Landheer )
Family Trust, ))
Honorable
Defendant and Counterplaintiff- ) Michael R. Albert,
Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding.
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JUSTICE CARTER delivered the opinion of the court:
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Plaintiffs, Arlyn and Mark Landheer, brought suit to have the trial court enter a declaratory
judgment that a certain document (the disputed document) signed by their father shortly before his
death is not an effective amendment to the Landheer Family Trust (the trust). Defendant, Warren
Landheer, individually and as successor trustee of the trust, filed a counterclaim for a declaratory
judgment to the contrary. Plaintiffs filed a motion to dismiss the counterclaim pursuant to section
2-619 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2-619 (West 2006)) asserting that the disputed
document is void because it was prepared by a person who is not an attorney, in violation of section
2BB of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (the Act) (815 ILCS 505/2BB
(West 2006)). The trial court granted the motion to dismiss. Defendant appeals, arguing that the