Women and men who do not marry each other, even in decades-long relationships, have no right to maintenance (formerly called alimony) if the relationship ends. These unmarried women and men also have no right to their former partner’s property, such as a profitable business and retirement benefits, even if they contributed time and money to […]
In the event of divorce, issues often arise with regard to the marital residence. In many cases, one spouse wants to keep the marital residence and must buy out the other, which can be accomplished by refinancing the existing mortgage and placing the new mortgage in the sole name of the spouse who is keeping […]
Most attorneys put off the resolution of personal property division to the end of the case. Unfortunately, waiting until the end of the case sometimes allows for the parties’ residual anger and resentment to be focused on what otherwise should be a fairly straight forward problem to resolve. The law requires assets and liabilities to […]
The past decade has seen tremendous progress in the battle for marriage equality. State bans on same sex marriage are falling one after another, granting these families the legal recognition they were denied for too long. On June 1, 2011, the Civil Union Act became effective and Illinois not only began granting civil unions, but […]
Article originally appeared in the November 27, 2012 issue of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin written by Thomas F. Villanti and Evan D. Whitfield Major League Baseball (MLB) is deciding this off-season whether to extend instant replay to other areas of the game. Meanwhile, former LA. Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is facing his own instant […]
Myth: My spouse’s marital misconduct or bad behavior will help me in my marital case. If a husband has a girlfriend, or a wife spends money without any budget or regard for their finances, are those factors things that a court would consider in the division of property? Generally not. Our statute very specifically says […]
Myth: Illinois is a 50/50 property division state. Probably one of the most commonly asked questions I receive from clients is, “Is Illinois a 50/50 property division state?” It can be, but not necessarily. 50/50 states are known as community property states; California, Louisiana and Wisconsin are examples. Illinois is what is called an equitable […]
Pet owners love their pets and view them as an important part of their family. Pet care is a multi-billion dollar industry, as evidenced by the increase in pet insurance, pet attire, specially made pet food, regular pet grooming services, and the number of pet pictures owners carry in their wallets. About a third of […]
Most people contemplating or going through a divorce are looking to retain as much of their property as possible. That property is divided into two classifications: marital and non-marital property. Marital property in Illinois generally consists of property acquired during a marriage. Illinois divorce law requires the equitable sharing of all marital property. That means […]
Under Illinois divorce law, the so-called “equitable distribution” principle (enacted in 1977) allows courts to allocate marital property in myriad ways. The asset mix in the “marital pot” in numerous cases, however, does not lend itself to a percentage division that a court is likely to order (or on which the parties might ideally agree). […]