Bonus Income And Divorce In Illinois

Money is a funny thing in an Illinois divorce. In a divorce, money is an asset that can be divisible or not based on whether it is marital.  In a divorce money is also evidence of income which can determine child support and maintenance (formerly known as alimony).  Money usually comes in regular allotments every two weeks but sometimes it comes in all at once as a bonus.  So, how is a bonus treated in an Illinois divorce? Is A Bonus Marital Property in Illinois? “Marital property” is property which a court may divide amongst the two parties in a divorce. “Non-marital property” is property which can NOT be divided by the court.  Non-marital property must stay in whomever’s name or possession which it is currently in. When divided, Marital property is divided “equitably.” That is to say that the Illinois divorce courts are not constrained to divide the property equally but rather can divide the property any way the court thinks is fair.  This split can sometimes be 60/40 or even 70/30 but marital property is almost always split 50/50 by a Chicago divorce court, in my experience. Marital property is “all property, including debts and other obligations, acquired by either spouse subsequent to the marriage” 750 ILCS 5/503(a) So, everything earned after the date of the marriage and before the marriage is officially over (the divorce) is marital. But there’s a lot of exceptions to rule and the statute lists them all: “(1) property acquired by gift, legacy or descent or property acquired in exchange for such property; (2) property acquired in exchange for property acquired before the marriage; (3) property acquired by a spouse after a judgment of legal separation; (4) property excluded by valid agreement of the parties, including a premarital agreement or a postnuptial agreement; (5) any judgment or property obtained by judgment awarded to a spouse from the other spouse except, however, when a spouse is required to sue the other spouse in order to obtain insurance coverage or otherwise recover from a third party and the recovery is directly related to amounts advanced by the marital estate, the judgment shall be considered marital property; (6) property acquired before the marriage, except as it relates to retirement plans that may have both marital and non-marital characteristics; (6.5) all property acquired by a spouse by the sole use of non-marital property as collateral for a […]

from Russell D. Knight | Family Lawyer Chicago https://rdklegal.com/bonus-income-and-divorce-in-illinois/