SEPT. 13, 2001
DEAR MIC:
Is your father still living or not? If so, he gets 1/3 of the house.
If there is no surviving spouse, then Illinois law (according to a reference book I consulted) states that all children get equal shares of the estate.
How recently did your mother die? Did she own the house (was it paid for in full) or was there still a mortgage on it?
Did you want to charge him rent for space he is not using or did you want to rent it out to someone else?
If no one has filed any probate action on your mother's estate, someone should do so in order that it can be determined who is the legal owner of the house and whether the name on the deed needs to be changed to the new owners, and it is possible that your brother might be eligible for partial ownership in the home. The probate process will have to decide who is the legal owner of the home, and then decisions about what to do can be made from that point on.
SINCERELY,
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