Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

Re: Who owns our house?

There are some key points to figure out to answer this question.

1) Who owned the house when it was first bought (was it both your husband and his father or just one?) This depends mainly on whose name went on the title.

2) What type of joint ownership did you husband and his father have? Probably the conditions were such that if one died, his rights would pass to his heirs.

3) Who did your father in-law's possessions pass to when he died? Probably they would have gone to his wife and/or children. Also depends on whether he had a will.

4) Since you are concerned about who gets the house if your husband dies, then it also depends on what your husband has done in terms of a will as well as some other factors.

Notice how many times I wrote "probably" above. I think you would benefit from speaking to an attorney who can take a look at some of the documents to answer the question for you. More importantly, I think you and your husband should sit down with an attorney and figure out what he is going to do to make sure you are taken care of if anything happens to him. That might mean putting your name on the house, or it might mean setting up some kind of will.

Re: Who owns our house?

This is a very complicated question and the answer depends on facts you do not provide in your question. I think you would benefit from consulting a real estate and/or probate attorney about this. I don't think your husband's belongings would be going to his mother, but the ownership of the house depends on how your husband and his father owned the house.