Walsh v. Reis

Citations

• 50 Ill. 477

Syllabus

<p>1. Dower—homestead—of the rights of the widow. The right of dower does not merge in a homestead right in the same premises; these interests in the widow, are different, distinct and independent, and in respect to each other there is no “ lesser estate to be drowned in the greater.”</p> <p>2. So, should the husband die in the possession of the homestead, his widow would be entitled, not only to the right of a homestead, but to her dower right, also, in the same premises.</p> <p>3. And where the husband had mortgaged the premises, and upon foreclosure, he having claimed the right of homestead therein, they being worth more than one thousand dollars, that sum was paid to him, and the property was sold under the foreclosure, upon his death, his widow will not be restricted in her claim to dower in the premises, to the residue of the property after deducting the value of the homestead right, which had been paid to her husband on the foreclosure, but she would be entitled to dower in the entire premises unaffected by the purchase of the homestead right.</p> <p>4. Dower—of the rule in estimating its value. Where a right of dower is asserted to premises held by a purchaser from the husband in his lifetime, in ascertaining the yearly value of the dower, where it is not practicable to set it off by metes and bounds, the widow will be given one-third the yearly rents and profits of the premises, after deducting the value of improvements made by the purchaser, the annual insurance, if there be any, and the annual taxes and reasonable annual repairs.</p>