Given this principle, determining which of the decedent's relatives may recover under the Act requires reference to the Probate Act of 1975 ( 755 ILCS 5/1-1 et seq. (West 1996)). Morris v. William L. Dawson Nursing Center, Inc., 299 Ill. App.3d 1107, 1109 (1998), appeal allowed, No. 86708, 182 Ill.2d 552 (1999); Holmgren v. National Big-4 Asbestos Removal Specialty, Inc., 228 Ill. App.3d 433, 435 (1992). Section 2-1(c) of the Probate Act of 1975 provides that, if an intestate decedent leaves a spouse but no descendants, the surviving spouse receives the entire estate.
Recovery is limited to those persons delineated in the statute. Holmgren v. National Big-4 Asbestos Removal Specialty, Inc., 228 Ill. App.3d 433, 434 (1992). In a wrongful death suit, "the amount recovered * * * shall be for the exclusive benefit of the surviving spouse and next of kin of such deceased person."