Marital vs. Non-Marital Property
Under Illinois divorce laws, marital property is any property that is acquired during the marriage other than property that is acquired by gift or inheritance. It does not matter in whose name the property is held.
If your case concludes by trial, a divorce judge will divide marital property and distribute it between the parties “equitably”. Nowhere in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act is the word “fair” used. There are guidelines and caselaw which guides a divorce judge in determining what is “equitable”.
Non-marital property is not divided but is awarded to the party that owns the property. Sometimes non-marital property gets combined with marital assets and it is difficult to distinguish. In situations where one spouse has combined his or her non-marital property with marital property a divorce judge may deem that action to be a “gift” to the marital estate and the property loses its non-marital status.
For questions on marital vs. non-marital property please call me: 630.409.8184 or e-mail: <!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>