Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois

Rights to Co-Owned House for an Unmarried Couple

I have read the reply of the Georgia-based lawyer, and her points are valid and advice sound. Please permit me to comment further.

Generally, in Illinois, when two or more people own real estate together (including land with a house built on the property), any one of the owners is entitled to have the property divided among the owners in proportion to their interest in the property. This process is called �partition.� It is done by a court along well established procedural lines. In a partition proceeding, when a piece of property is incapable of being fairly physically divided without manifest prejudice to the owners thereof (e.g., you can�t take a chainsaw to a house), it is sold with the sale proceeds divided among the owners in proportion to their interest in the property. The right to partition is imperative and absolutely binding upon courts of equity where a case is fairly brought within the law authorizing such proceeding.

Illinois law (735 ILCS 5/17-101, et seq.) statutorily sets out a procedure for partition, stating in pertinent part that �When lands, tenements, or hereditaments are held in joint tenancy or tenancy in common, whether such right or title is derived by purchase, legacy or descent, or whether any or all of the claimants are minors or adults, any one or more of the persons interested therein may compel a partition thereof by a verified complaint in the circuit court of the county where the premises or part of the premises are situated.�

In practice, when a person in your position files a partition suit, because the respondent-owner cannot stop a court from partitioning the property, the other party often works rapidly and cooperatively to settle the matter (this is because the respondent-owner cannot stop a court from partitioning the property) by agreeing to a sale, buying the other out, or selling his or her interest to the other.

To learn more about partition, see an attorney in your area. As for a method of getting your former boyfriend to move out, you can�t do so unless your right to immediate possession of the property is superior to his. Ordinarily, tenants in common and joint tenants have equal rights to possess the property and neither can evict the other.

If things become bad enough for you in the meantime and you are abused by your ex boyfriend, you can seek a domestic violence order of protection which may provide for exclusive possession of the property in you even though he is a half-owner.

You should also be aware that, if you own the property jointly with your ex boyfrien, the entire property can be attached to satisfy the debt or liability of one of the property owners. To ensure your share cannot be attached by his creditors, you can unilaterally change the form of ownership to tenants in common. See a lawyer to learn how this is done. Changing title is not a long, difficult, or expensive thing to do.

Re: Rights as a Couple Living Together -Not Married

You may want to offer to buy your boyfriend's 1/2 interest. If he refuses to sell you can bring a suit asking the judge to decide the issue. This case would seek a judgment that equitably divides the property/equity in the real estate and the investment for repairs. It sounds like your boyfriend may be satisfied if he can get his money out of the investment and move on. Please call me if you would like to discuss this issue in further detail.