It is not unusual for divorcing parties to own real estate, whether residential, rental and/or farmland and it is not unusual that said property, if marital, is subject to being split or divided among the parties pursuant to any Judgement of Dissolution of Marriage. Although parties may believe they are current in regard to knowing relative information regarding the real estate, consideration should be given in regard to obtaining title reports in regard to the real estate. Title reports may show any easements, liens, mortgages or other encumbrances against any property. A title report can also identify the owner of record of the property, as well as any unpaid taxes that would have to be cleared before the property could be sold.

It is not unusual for one spouse to come into the marriage with a residence that is solely in his or her name.

When parties are married, if they receive wedding gifts, there may be a question as to how to divide those wedding gifts upon the dissolution of marriage.

When parties are divorcing, there can be an issue in regard to the marital home. If neither of the parties intends to stay in or wishes to receive the marital home as part of the dissolution of marriage proceeding, they could agree to list and/or to sell the marital home during the pendency of the divorce proceeding.

In any divorce proceeding, there could be assets that were not disclosed, or disposed of, within the context of a dissolution of marriage proceeding, whether the case was concluded by settlement or through any rulings by the Court.

In Madison and St. Clair County Illinois divorce cases as well as in counties throughout the State of Illinois, Illinois is an equitable distribution state.

If you’re like most divorcing couples, over the years you’ve amassed a variety of assets and liabilities; houses, cars, credit cards and, the subject of today’s post, mutual funds.

If you’re contemplating divorce and you reside in Illinois, one of the main topics you will be dealing with is dividing up your assets. Illinois is an “equitable division” state, meaning that regardless of what happened to cause the demise of the marriage, the goal is to split the assets as fairly and equitably as possible between both you and your spouse.

When negotiating through a divorce, one of the most important topics involves which spouse will get what property once everything is finalized, as well as who will be responsible for what portion of the marital debt.

But other than the usual suspects, there are a number of other items that may be considered assets. Therefore when preparing for divorce or to work with a divorce financial analyst, you should also gather information on as many of these unusual divorce assets as possible.

Illinois law distinguishes between marital and non-marital property. Only marital property is subject to equitable redistribution.

If you are considering a divorce, you may be surprised by these common misconceptions. Please take a moment to review them.