A Daily Herald story about a Fox River Grove woman who admitted to selling her ex-boyfriend's speed boat illustrates what can go wrong when a couple that jointly owns property breaks up without deciding how that property should be handled. Kathleen M. Helman initially was arrested on felony charges after selling the unidentified man's 1998 Wellcraft Scarab.
While the couple was never married or in a legal domestic partnership. But both parties were named on the boat's title and Ms. Helman said she was left with the monthly payments after her ex allegedly left her for another woman. She claims she couldn't afford to make the payments, so she sold the boat.
Ms. Helman's attorney, public defender Richard Behof, said that the ex-boyfriend put his client in a tough spot and that he does not deserve restitution for the lost boat:
"She had to sell it. She was trying not to let her credit go in the toilet."
It wasn't until her estranged ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend returned that he noticed the boat was gone. He then went to the police, who investigated and discovered that Ms. Helman had forged some documents to make it easier for her to sell the boat. She pleaded guilty to the lesser misdemeanor charge of attempted forgery.
If the initial Class 2 felony charge had stood, Ms. Helman would have been facing from three to seven years in prison, according to the Daily Herald.
FindLaw suggests that unmarried couples draft written property agreements and otherwise understand how jointly owned property is treated. Chicago family law attorneys are better qualified to help unmarried couples determine the way to go about this.
The Minnesota man who paid $21,000 for the boat was allowed to keep it.
Related Resources:
- Unmarried Couples and Property - Basics (FindLaw)
- Cohabitation (LawBrain)
- Directory of Chicago Family Law Attorneys (FindLaw)
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