Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

A deed, even a quitclaim deed, is not valid unless it is notarized and properly recorded at the county recorder of deeds. You might get a way with recording the deeds now, but it is best to put the property through probate and use the copies of the deed as evidence of your father's intentions. New deeds can then be prepared in accordance with your father's wishes and properly recorded. If no one can produce the deed or any other evidence of what your father wanted, then the judge will have no choice but to follow Illinois intestacy law in dividing the land.

I assume that this is Illinois property. In what county? Was there a will? Was it filed with the Circuit Clerk (this is NOT probate)? So many questions.................

You also have the problem of delivery. For a deed to be valid it must be delivered to the grantee. In other words, I can prepare a deed conveying my property to you, but if I just tuck it in my drawer and never deliver it to you, it probably has no effect. Maybe I changed my mind, or maybe there was some contingency I wanted met before I gave you the deed. Without delivery, the transfer of property probably did not occur.

Try starting a probate case, but only after you offer your brothers the chance to sit down and talk this through, because that kind of legal case takes time, costs money, and by the way you've put it, will lead to bad feelings especially if there's no will. Because the brother holding the deeds will probably want to be administrator and control the probate. If everyone sits down there's the chance that you can reach an agreement about what would work for everyone -- maybe not perfect, but something's better than nothing? Also by offering a chance to meet, you may be able to uncover some of the information you'd need if a case has to be filed.

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