In Illinois, the courts generally accept a fair and reasonable property division the parties agree to, but if the parties cannot agree, the Circuit Court divides the marital estate within the Judgment of Divorce. The court will accept a property settlement agreement that the parties submit unless the court finds it to be unconscionable, according to Section 750 ILCS 5/502(a) of the Illinois Compiled Statutes.

Illinois is an equitable distribution state. Equitable does not mean equal, or even half, but rather what the Circuit Court considers fair. Illinois is a dual classification state. It separates marital property from separate property. The court divides the marital estate without regard to marital misconduct.

According to 750 ICLS 5/503(d) of the Illinois Compiled Statutes, each spouses non-marital property is awarded to the spouse who owns it.

The division of marital property is done considering the following relevant factors:

This information has been summarized from the Illinois statutes. The complete version of Illinois divorce statutes is online at Illinois Divorce Laws.

Regardless of title, all property acquired by either spouse during the marriage is presumed to be marital for purposes of distribution of property. Separate property, which is non-marital, includes: property acquired by gift, legacy, or descent; property acquired in exchange for property acquired before the marriage, or acquired by gift, legacy, or descent; property acquired by a spouse after a judgment of legal separation; property excluded by valid property settlement agreement of the parties; any judgment or property obtained by judgment awarded to a spouse from the other spouse; property acquired before the marriage. The appreciation of separate property is separate.

In dividing and distributing the marital estate, the court goes through a discovery process to classify property and debt as marital or separate. Then it assigns a monetary value on the marital property and debt. Last, it distributes the marital assets between the two parties in an equitable fashion.

In Illinois, as in many jurisdictions, the equity in the marital home is often one of the biggest assets the spouses divide. The equity is the market value of the house, less any debts or liens against it. Equity is established by determining what the current market value of the home is at the time of separation. Once the spouses agree to a current market value, any debts associated with the property (mortgage, taxes, home equity loans, etc.) from are deducted the market value to arrive at the equity to be divided. Normally, making this calculation requires a paid real estate appraisal or a real estate agent can prepare a market analysis for free.

From there, couples choose one of three options to divide the equity:

In Illinois, vested pensions are marital property. A pension vests when all the requirements to receive the pension have been met. Unvested pensions are also marital property. Until the pension has vested, the person under whom the pension is maintained has only an expectancy of interest in the pension.

Several different methods of valuation are used in determining how much a marital asset is worth, depending upon the asset to be valued and the level of agreement between the parties. Courts generally accept the value when the spouses mutually agree on a value of a particular asset. Experts may be retained by the parties or by the courts to determine the value of marital assets if the parties cannot agree. Such experts may include accountants, real estate or business appraisers, or pension valuators. The use of experts adds to the cost of the divorce.

In Illinois, the court may include the retirement benefits and plans earned by both spouses as marital assets available for division. Retirement benefits vary greatly but can generally be divided into two groups:

In Illinois, if spouses share in each others retirement or pension plan, a Qualified Domestic Relations Order must be completed. A QDRO is a written set of instructions that explains to a plan administrator that two parties are dividing pension benefits. The instructions set forth the terms and conditions of the distribution - how much of the benefits are to be paid to each party, when such benefits can be paid, how such benefits should be paid, etc.