DoI have any legal rights ifwas evicted by my deceased fiance’s children from the house thathe and I built together?

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DoI have any legal rights ifwas evicted by my deceased fiance’s children from the house thathe and I built together?

I WAS IN A RELATIONSHIP FOR 9 YEARS. WE LIVED IN THE HOUSE THAT WE BUILT. MY FIANCE DIED LAST MONTH BUT HE DID NOT HAVE A WILL. HOWEVER HE MADE IT CLEAR VERBALLY TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS AND TO ME, THAT IF SOMETHING WERE TO HAPPEN TO HIM I WAS TO GET THE HOUSE. I WAS EVICTED BY HIS 2 CHILDREN WHO WERE MADE ADMINISTRATORS?

Asked on March 29, 2011 under Real Estate Law, Illinois

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 13 years ago | Contributor

Unfortunately, your fiance's verbal wishes have no legal effect. If your finance owned the home solely by himself, it would pass upon his death, in the absence of a will, by intestate succession. Those who inherit the house--his children, if he was not married--have the right to evict anyone who did not have a life estate or a still-in-effect lease on the property.

If you and your finance owned the property as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, the home would have passed to you. If you paid much of the costs of the home, and can prove it, and can also prove that your fiance wanted you to have the home, you *may* be able to establish an interest in it--but be warned that this is very much an uphill battle, when you did not have an ownership interest. If you want to consider this, you should speak with a real estate attorney and bring all documentation of what you've paid and your finance's intent.

Otherwise, despite your fiance's wishes, the home will pass by intestate succession and those who inherit, not you, decide what's to be done with it and who may live there


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