Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

It depends on what your divorce decree says, but if you quit claim your interest to her, and you are still obligated under the note and mortgage, that is a bad situation. You still owe all of the money, but own none of the real estate. Normally, she would be required to refinance the property in her name before you would be required to convey your interest to her, but that is not always the case.

Yes, as Mr. Moens suggests, you must look at your divorce papers. If this kind of change of ownership is NOT required, you may have no legal obligation to convey. But you may want to find out why -- if she is refinancing and you can get off title, mortgage and property tax obligations and be left with only child support and maintenance, you may have some decent choices available. Or if the papers suggested the house was supposed to be sold but this is a lousy time to do so, but rates are down, again it is something that could be an opportunity for you to consider! But again, if this is NOT in the divorce papers, you may also need a modification of the court decree so that you don't agree to do something that sounds nice but still leaves you open to other obligations under the decree or marital settlement agreement.

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.