Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

15 years ago, my wife purchased a home for herself and her indigent mother to live in. Prior

to this they had shared a 1-bedroom apartment, and my wife had been sleeping on the floor.

She purchased a home for 10% down, and at the time she was approached by her brother, who

lives in a different state, who wanted to match her down payment with the understanding that

she would be taking care of their mother in the home. Five years later, her estranged and

equally indigent father arrived unannounced at the house and proceeded to move himself in,

much to the chagrin of his former wife.

At this time, the brother began to make occasional cash gifts to his sister, which were

always earmarked for specific purposes on the memo of the check: "property tax payments",

home repairs, etc. He paid a total of about 20% of the tax payments over 15 years, and he

and his sister went 50/50 on major home repairs, but she covered all incidentals. She also

covered most expenses for her mother for about 15 years, and all expenses for her father for

ten. He never paid any type of bills, rent, etc., and was very demanding to boot.

One of his demands was that his daughter quitcliam her home over to her out-of-state

brother, whom he always favored, so that he could have a "tax writeoff". Although she

initially refused, he badgered her relentlessly and mercilessly to her mother's horror. With

full approval of the brother, he would rouse her from sleep night after night until she

finally put her name on the document so she could get some sleep in order to go to a

demanding job in the morning in order to support him.

Let me emphasize that other than the earmarked checks, the brother gave no assistance but

the occasional Christmas gift, etc. This document was not notarized, and its whereabouts are

unknown. A recent title search revealed my wife to be sole owner of the property. The

brother's name was never put on either the original title or on the title after the

refinancing of the building, which occurred shortly before the "quitclaim" episode. At the

time of the refinance, the brother gave no indication of willingness or desire to have his

name appear on the title.

The father passed away three years ago, and she has continued paying all house payments and

interest, as she has always done. The house is now nearly paid off. On a recent visit, the

brother took my wife to a bar while I was off working a second job. He had previously

indicated that he considered himelf to be half owner of the property, despite her

objections. At the bar, he got her into a highly emotional state of intoxication and began

browbeating her about this issue. (My wife's brother often uses bullying tactics and what I

consider to be physical intimidation against my wife.) He pushed her into what he considers

to be a binding verbal agreement that, because of her caretaking role to her parents, he

would agree to a 60-40 split, which he has portrayed as one of the most magnanimous gestures

in human history.

She has no clear recollection of where this "deal" (as he calls it) even took place. When I

returned from work and learned of this the next morning, I immediately objected. However,

because of her fear of her brother's anger (and her fear of estrangement from her only

sibling) she failed to mention her objection for about one month. When she did finally voice

this objection, he flatly refused to consider it and and insists that he has a binding

agreement. He is upset that she continues to live in the building: his demand is that it be

sold and he receives 40% of the selling price. Barring that, he wants to arrange his own

assessment of the home's value so that she can "buy him out". He has stated thgat he has

been "patient long enough," is very upset that the home was not sold immediately upon his

father's death when the real estate values were higher, absolutely refuses to consider any

of her seemingly legitimate objections, and has now begun to assert that he has invested

"more than $100,000" into the house (which is presently worth about $164,000), which is at

least about 300% more than any actual contributions he has made could possibly total.

He insists that they have a valid agreement because she "gave her word'. He has managed to

instill enough guilt and fear in her that she is willing to just give in. My feeling on the

subject is that anything he contributed is basically a gift: her name is on the title. If

anything, I feel that he owes her for services rendered to his parents. A compromise

solution is to give him anything he put in back that he can prove with canceled checks or

receipts. He doesn't really have a case, has he? By the way, he will not answer the phone if

I call. I have left messages stating that there is no legitimate "deal" in place. None of my

messages have ever been acknowledged.

3 Answers from Attorneys

Related Questions & Answers

More Real Estate and Real Property questions and answers in Illinois

Looking for something else?