Division of Marital Property

The division of marital assets and liabilities is an important aspect of dissolution of marriage. The term “equitable distribution” is the legal term for the process of dividing the marital property. Some of the factors that the Illinois courts consider in equitable distribution include: the length of the marriage, whether either party had previously been married; whether either party has significant non-marital assets including assets excluded by a prenuptial agreement; the age, health, and income of the parties; whether either party contributed to the increased earning potential of the other; the standard of living of the parties during the marriage; the tax consequences of any award and whether either party will be serving as the custodian of any minor children.

Nonmarital Property

Nonmarital property escapes the equitable distribution process. Nonmarital property includes property that a spouse brought into the marriage, inheritances received by one party during the marriage, gifts to a spouse, property sold or disposed of in good faith during the marriage, and property excluded by a valid prenuptial agreement. However, the increase in value during the marriage of nonmarital property may be considered a marital asset if the increase in value was not excluded from consideration in a prenuptial agreement. Furthermore, if a spouse decides to use some nonmarital funds for a common purpose, those funds will be converted from nonmarital property to marital property.

Marital Property

Marital assets include property and income acquired during the marriage. A home, business owned by the parties, furniture, retirement accounts, other investments and cars purchased during the marriage are examples of marital assets. In these examples, the particular asset may be considered to be a marital asset even if it was acquired in only one spouse's name as long as it was acquired during the marriage and was not acquired through the use of the spouse's non-marital assets. Some assets may have both a marital and non-marital component. In that case, the non-marital value of the asset is excluded from the equitable distribution process. Marital debts are debts that were acquired by the parties after the date of marriage and before the date of final separation. Marital debts include such items as mortgages, loans, credit card balances, tax obligations and judgments. A debt may be a marital debt even if only one of the parties contracted for the debt as long as the debt was incurred during the marriage.

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