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Two sons disagree over ownership of late father's home

Q. My father was very ill for some time and a few months ago he had a lawyer prepare and record a quitclaim deed, giving his house to me. My dad passed away a few weeks ago.

I have one brother who I don't speak to very often. After dad died, I sent him an email telling him I was moving into dad's house. My brother responded telling me we each own 50% of the house and if I want to live there, I will have to either buy him out or pay him some rent.

I sent him a copy of the quitclaim deed to show him I now own the house. He sent me a copy of something called a Deed in Trust, which my brother says put the property in dad's trust. This deed is dated about a year before my quitclaim deed. My brother says dad's house is part of dad's trust and the trust gives us each 50% of dad's property.

I spoke to my dad often and he never mentioned to me anything about a trust. I called the attorney who prepared the deed in trust and the trust agreement and he would only verify that he prepared the deed and dad's trust, but would not tell me anything else.

I am now wondering who owns what. Doesn't my quitclaim deed take priority over the trust agreement?

A. For this answer, I am presuming the property is located in Illinois. If not, you must speak to an attorney who practices in the state where the property is located.

Illinois is a recording state. This means ownership is generally not recognized until the conveyance is recorded. If your dad recorded two quitclaim deeds, one to you and one to your brother, the first to record would prevail.

So, first your dad executes and records a deed conveying the property into his trust, then he executes and records a second deed conveying the property to you. Once dad conveyed the property into the trust, he no longer retained the individual power to convey the property to you. He did, however, possibly retain the power to covey the property to you as trustee of his trust, presuming he named himself trustee of this trust.

To determine who owns what, dad's trust agreement and the two deeds must be examined. For you to become sole owner of the property, dad will need to have been the trustee of his trust at the time of the conveyance to you and his conveyance to you must have been as trustee of his trust and not individually. All documents will also need to be reviewed to determine authenticity and proper execution.

Obtain a copy of dad's trust agreement and bring the two deeds and the trust agreement to an attorney experienced in these matters.

Q. My wife and I received a notice in the mail concerning the assessment of our property. It appears our 2019 tax assessment is going up around 12 percent from our 2018 assessment. Does this mean our 2019 tax bill will also go up 12 percent?

A. Your real estate tax bill is derived by multiplying your property's assessed valuation (tax assessment) times your state equalizer times your local tax rate. Tax rates and state equalizers generally don't change significantly from year to year. So, a rise or fall in your assessed valuation will often have a somewhat comparable rise or fall in your tax bill.

If you are in Cook County, your assessed valuation is calculated to be 10 percent of the fair market value of your property. In the surrounding counties, the assessed valuation is calculated to be one-third the fair market value of your property. Do the math and if you believe the assessed valuation for your property is too high, you have 30 days to contest the valuation. Visit your county assessor's website for further information on contesting assessed valuation.

Also make sure you are receiving all appropriate exemptions. If the property is owned by you and/or your wife and is your principal residence, you are entitled to a homeowners exemption. If you and/or your wife own the property and either of you are 65 years of age or older, you are entitled to a senior exemption. If you and/or your wife own the property and either of you are 65 years of age or older and your income is below a certain level, you may be entitled to a senior freeze. Again, visit your county assessor's website for further information.

• Send your questions to attorney Tom Resnick, 345 N. Quentin Road, Palatine, IL 60067, by email to tom@thomasresnicklaw.com or call (847) 359-8983.

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