Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois
heir property taken by step-mother
My father remarried after my mother died. his new wife wanted a prenuptal agreement that everything that they had before they had gotten married would remain with their children if one of them would died so everything that my fater had before he married her would come to his children if he died and the same for her and her children. the house was purchased be my father and mother which the stepmother never lived in the house. My fater died from cancer and was not in his right mind. So is their anything that I can do I'm not lookin for money having the house is much more valuable than the money?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: heir property taken by step-mother
Everything will turn on how your father's property was *titled*. Was the house titled in joint tenancy with stepmom or was (is) it in your father's sole name? If it is in joint tenancy with stepmom, then it passes directly to her. If it was held as tenants in common with stepmom or in your dad's sole name, then it will pass under his will, or if none then according to state law. State law would provide that his wife gets 1/2 and his children share 1/2.
So what you need to do is:
1. Check the titling on your father's property.
2. Locate the will if there is one.
3. Contact an attorney to determine how to proceed from there.
Good luck.
Re: heir property taken by step-mother
From this, it appears it was owned by your father before marriage. Under the circumstances it seems unlikely but not impossible that he placed it in joint tenancy with her. If he did so, she would get it as survivor.
If he did not do so, it would pass according to his will or the state-made will of intestacy (half to her, half to descendants). If there is a prenuptial agreement she probably gave up the right to renounce the will, or to take by intestacy, but now we're getting into multiple maybes.
Contact an attorney. The first thing is to check the title, check the prenuptial agreement and check for will.
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