Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

First of all, I am very sorry to hear about your loss.

To answer your question, it depends on who is in title, who gave the mortgage, whether the mortgage lien is on your daughter's house or secured by other property, and whether your daughter had a will. If title to the house was in your name, then the house is still your house. My guess is that this is the case, since it seems from your question that you are responsible for the mortgage loan.

If title to the house was only in her name and she had no will, then her son might be sort of correct if he is her only heir. He would take title to the house, subject to the mortgage.

If you and your daughter were both in title, and you were joint tenants, the house is now your house. If you were tenants in common, you own a half interest in the property, and your daughter's heirs or devisees own the other half.

In any event, no one gets a free house if the mortgage lien is against this house, since the bank will foreclose if the payments are not made.

If you put title in your daughter's name he could be right. The question is what do you want to have happen? Because if your name is on the loan and you default, and the bank forecloses, then if the house resells for less than the loan balance, you will probably owe the difference. So if the son understands he could lose the house, maybe you can work something out. Get an attorney and explain what is happening.

The response given is not intended to create, nor does it create an ongoing duty to respond to questions. The response does not form an attorney-client relationship, nor is it intended to be anything other than the educated opinion of the author. It should not be relied upon as legal advice. The response given is based upon the limited facts provided by the person asking the question. To the extent additional or different facts exist, the response might possibly change. Attorney is currently licensed to practice law only in the State of Illinois. Responses are based solely on Illinois law unless stated otherwise.