Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois
Rights of Adopted Child
My adopted mother appears to be giving away items in her house to other relatives. I live so far away, and don't know what all she is giving away. I know I am very unhappy about a civil war sword she gave to a non-relative. Here is my question: Before my father passed away I read the will he and mother set up. I was to get the house and my other two adopted sisters were to get one bedroom suite each. I read somewhere many years ago that an adopted child has the rights and those not adopted. I want to make sure the house is still in my name after my dear Mother's death. (Being adopted this house means so much to me, while my other sisters barely have anything to do with my mother...they have not even been to see her or write her in over five or six years and they only live a few hours away from her, unlike myself who is hundreds of miles from ''home'') Of course I visit her whenever I possibly can...I am disabled. Can my mother leave the house to a complete stranger? She appears to have the beginning of alzimer's disease. Thank you for any help you can provide to me.--name removed--Gaither--name removed--Gadsden, Alabama 35907
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Rights of Adopted Child
Your parents have the right to change their wills at any time. If your father left the house to your mother as a life estate and thereafter to go to you, then you should be OK. If, however, your father left the house to your mother and she in turn was going to leave it to you, then she can still change what she does with it. If you believe that your mother has alzheimer's, you can always have community groups establish her ability to make decisions and get support. If it comes to a head down the line, you may be able to apply to the court for a guardianship. This answer is very generalised as it is very difficult to give you an answer with so little facts.
Re: Rights of Adopted Child
You are correct that an adopted child has all the rights of a natural child.
In order to determine whether the house was left to you, I�d have to see the will and I�d have to know how title to the house was held at the time of your father�s death. If the house was held in joint tenancy with your mother, then it passed to your mother outside the will, and she can do whatever she wants with it and leave it to whomever she wants. If the house was not held in joint tenancy, but was left to your mother in your father�s will, and left to you only if your mother had predeceased your father, then the house belongs to your mother, and again, she can do whatever she wants with it and leave it to whomever she wants. If the house was not held in joint tenancy, and was left to your mother as a life estae, and was left to you thereafter, you should receive the house upon your mother�s death.
Even if it were your parents� intention to leave you the house, if they owned it together jointly, the last of the two of them would own it and could change their will later, leaving the house to someone else.
By the way, if your mother has Alzheimer�s, she probable needs a guardian to protect her and her interests. See a lawyer about this.
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