April 22, 2025
Dissipation Claims in Illinois Divorce Cases

In determining how to divide home in Illinois divorce circumstances, judges are directed by 750 ILCS 5/503(d), which sets forth a amount of components that have an effect on how marital assets might be distributed. The second of these things that the Courtroom may well think about is the dissipation of marital belongings by both celebration. “Dissipation” has been defined by Illinois appellate courts as the use of marital residence for the sole profit of one particular of the spouses for a objective unrelated to the marriage at a time that the marriage is going through an irreconcilable breakdown. One prevalent form of dissipation is investing marital property on a new girlfriend or boyfriend though continue to married.

In the past, dissipation statements in Illinois were being often utilised as a sort of leverage to achieve a far more favorable settlement agreement. As a divorce case came to trial many divorce attorneys would current various claims of dissipation as a system of escalating their claims to the marital estate. This kind of litigation experienced the result of producing an enormous sum of perform for every side in the days and weeks in advance of the demo. Frequently situations the greenback total of the claimed dissipation would be dwarfed by the legal charges expected to protect towards the statements.

The good thing is the Illinois legislature not long ago amended the statute governing residence distribution (750 ILCS 5/503) with regard to the generating of dissipation promises. There are now unique needs and deadlines that should be achieved in order to make a dissipation declare. Area 503(d)(2) of the Illinois Relationship and Dissolution of Marriage Act now offers as follows:

(2) the dissipation by every single celebration of the marital or non-marital home, offered that a party’s assert of dissipation is issue to the pursuing problems:

(i) a observe of intent to claim dissipation shall be provided no later than 60 days in advance of trial or 30 days immediately after discovery closes, whichever is later

(ii) the see of intent to claim dissipation shall include, at a minimum amount, a day or time period of time through which the marriage started undergoing an irretrievable breakdown, an identification of the home dissipated, and a day or period of time of time during which the dissipation occurred

(iii) the observe of intent to claim dissipation shall be filed with the clerk of the court and be served pursuant to applicable procedures

(iv) no dissipation shall be deemed to have happened prior to 5 a long time in advance of the filing of the petition for dissolution of relationship, or 3 a long time right after the get together saying dissipation realized or must have recognised of the dissipation

Considering that the modification of the statute, Illinois lawyers and functions planning to make a dissipation assert now have a deadline by which they should provide a observe of intent to declare dissipation as opposed to waiting till the working day of trial. The see will have to also give a description of the assets dissipated, when the marriage broke down, when the house was dissipated and it need to be submitted with the Court. Last but not least, no occasion may perhaps make a claim of dissipation that occurred additional than 5 many years right before the divorce submitting or 3 decades right after the claimed dissipation.

The new statute will with any luck , finish the “demo by ambush” approach of producing dissipation statements while still making it possible for for genuine dissipation claims to be introduced before the trial courts. There are in fact quite a few respectable dissipation promises that need to be brought in advance of the courtroom. It is, therefore, essential that your Illinois divorce attorney be knowledgeable of the amended statute and the complex techniques by which a dissipation claim ought to be designed.