A friend of mine has informed me that according to the Illinois law regarding adoption,
We are unable to work out in what circumstances such a rule would possibly apply. Does anyone have any idea why there should be such a provision? Is it common to adopt dead people?
The full Adoption Act is available online here:
http://www.legis.state.il.us/legislation/ilcs/ch750/ch750act50.htm
WAG - In case someone was in the process of adopting a little tyke and he/she dies beforehand. Without this provision the corpse would be a ward of the state, so to speak, and thus would not get a dignified burial (it would instead get the standard Illinois pauper’s funeral: cremation and then ashes scattered in a park). Under this provision, the potential adoptee could still adopt the person and then would be responsible for giving it a proper burial.
IANAL, and to repeat, this is a WAG.