Harms v. Sprague

105 Ill. 2d 215, 473 N.E.2d 930 (1984)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Harms (P) and his brother, John, were joint tenants with full right of survivorship in property on June 26, 1973. Sprague (D) wanted to purchase other property from the Simmonses (D1) for $25,000 and tendered $18,000 in cash and signed a promissory note for $7,000. D asked his friend John to co-sign the note and give a mortgage on John’s interest in the joint tenancy property. John agreed, and the note was executed on June 12, 1981. The note stated that the principal was to be paid from the proceeds of the sale of John’s interest in the joint tenancy property but in any event no later than six months from the date the note was signed. John executed a mortgage in favor of D1 on his undivided half-interest in the joint tenancy property. P was unaware of the mortgage. John died on December 10, 1981. D was the devisee of his entire estate. The mortgage given to D1 was recorded on December 29, 1981. D was the devisee of John's entire estate through his will. P sued to quiet title and for a declaratory judgment. The trial court held that the mortgage severed the joint tenancy and that the mortgage survived the death of John; it was a lien against the undivided half interest in the property, which passed to D through John's will. The appellate court reversed, holding that the mortgage did not sever the joint tenancy, so the property was owned entirely by the surviving joint tenant with no mortgage lien. D appealed.