(January 8, 2020, 1:34 PM EST) -- ELGIN, Ill. — An Illinois appellate panel on Dec. 23 held that a couple’s legal agreement of separation prevented a surviving spouse from claiming a spousal award or rights as heir after one party died, reversing a lower court’s finding that the agreement entitled the surviving spouse to inherit the decedent’s property acquired post-separation (In re estate of Catherine A. Holms [James Holms v Tracy Batdorf], No. 2-19-0139, Ill. App., 2nd Dist.)....