Kane County Divorce Attorney and Property Settlements

In Kane County divorces, the property and debt issues are typically settled between the parties by a Marital Settlement Agreement or the property award is actually order and decreed by the Kane County Circuit Court within the Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage.

Illinois is known as an "equitable distribution" state. If the parties are unable to reach a property settlement, the Circuit Court will take the following approach to dividing the various assets; First, there will be a discovery process to classify which property and debt is marital property. It will assign a monetary value on the marital property and debt. Finally, the Court will distribute the marital assets between the two parties in an equitable fashion. Equitable IS NOT equal, but rather what is deemed by the Circuit Court to be fair.

Upon the termination of any marriage, the court shall divide the marital property without regard to marital misconduct in just proportions considering all relevant factors, including: (A) the contribution of each party to the acquisition, preservation, or increase or decrease in value of the marital or non-marital property, including the contribution of a spouse as a homemaker or to the family unit; (B) the dissipation by each party of the marital or non-marital property; (C) the value of the property assigned to each spouse; (D) the duration of the marriage; (E) the relevant economic circumstances of each spouse when the division of property is to become effective, including the desirability of awarding the family home, or the right to live therein for reasonable periods, to the spouse having custody of the children; (F) any obligations and rights arising from a prior marriage of either party; (G) any antenuptial agreement of the parties; (H) the age, health, station, occupation, amount and sources of income, vocational skills, employability, estate, liabilities, and needs of each of the parties; (I) the custodial provisions for any children; (J) whether the apportionment is in lieu of or in addition to maintenance; (K) the reasonable opportunity of each spouse for future acquisition of capital assets and income; and (L) the tax consequences of the property division upon the respective economic circumstances of the parties. For further information, contact your Kane County Divorce Attorney or your DeKalb County Divorce Attorney.