Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

Re: Real Estate

You can order a title search if you can identify the property.

Re: Real Estate

First, you should try and locate whether there is a deed recorded which may identify the property(ies) your father owned. Only then can you see if your name is identified on the deed. However, many people put property into a land trust in order to hide the identity of the owner, or the beneficiaries under the trust.

If you don't know the parcel index number, or identification number or anything about the property, you can start in one of two places. You can call the local recorder's office for the county in which the property is located and ask them to do a "grantee" search to see if your name, or your father's name appears as the "grantee" of any property in their county (if the property may be located on a border with another adjacent county, make sure to contact both county's recorder's offices as one county will not have the same information as another county).

If they find something, get parcel index numbers (sometimes called property identification numbers) for all such properties as your father or you may still have an ownership interest in other properties you may not be aware of.

Alternatively, you can contact the local township assessor where the property is located and ask them what they know about the 30 acres of property and give them a location so that they can see who the "assessee of record" is for the property. Get the Parcel index numbers, or a legal description for the property from the Assessor to help in following up with the Recorder of Deeds as discussed above, in order to see who the owner is of each property.