Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

I live in Illinois but have been working oversease for 4 years. My significant other decided to end our realtionship and bought her own home. When she moved she took all of our jointly owned personal property (to include all appliances and furniture) with her and stated that she was entitled to it because of the equity in the home. The majority of the personal property was bought within the last 3 years and is in excess of $30,000. The mortgage is in my name alone but I did have her added to the deed upon purchase of the home. We had a joint checking/savings account and all monies earned during this time went into that account. Everything was paid for through the joint account. She has signed a quit claim on the property. Do I have any legal rights?


Asked on 11/07/10, 8:43 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stephen Messutta

Yes. If you were not married to her you and she had some kind of arrangement and that needed to be complied with. You put her on title and that was apparently a gift of equity. Whether it was in contemplation of marriage may have some bearing on whether she had the right to keep anything if she ended the relationship. But otherwise you two had some kind of "arrangement" even if it was oral. Frankly her new place may be at risk if she took things from the old place and moved them there. Time to see an attorney and go over everything and figure out who owes whom what.

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 licensed to practice law only in the State of Illinois. Responses are based solely on Illinois law unless stated otherwise.

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Answered on 11/14/10, 6:25 pm


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