Businesses in Illinois divorces are typically considered marital property. Even if only one spouse operated the business, it is generally assumed that the profits from the business contributed to the needs of the couple, the children, and the household. Due to this, when one or both spouses operated a business during the marriage, it is subject to the property division rules of the state. Dividing a business is one of the most complicated aspects of any divorce and typically, there are three ways in which it can be done.

Give Your Spouse Something of Equal Value

You can give your spouse something that is equal to their portion of the business in one of two ways. If you operate the business and want to continue doing so after the divorce, you can simply buy your spouse out. In this method, the value of the business is divided and you will have to pay your spouse their equal share. In some cases, you may not have to buy out your spouse, but you may allow them to keep more assets during property division hearings. For example, if you want to keep the business and your spouse wants to keep the family home that is approximately the same value, you can forfeit your rights to the home and retain control of your business.

Sell the Business

If you do not wish to continue running the business after divorce, selling it might be a good option. In this instance, the business is simply sold and you and your spouse will divide the proceeds fairly. This is not always a good option, as many people do not want to lose the hard work they have put into a business to simply sell it. However, if neither spouse wants it, or you both co-owned and operated the business and you will not be able to continue doing so once the divorce is final, this may be the only way to do it.

During a divorce, any retirement account either spouse holds is subject to property division proceedings. These funds are some of the most difficult to divide and the process can sometimes be lengthy. These funds also require a court order that is separate from the divorce settlement agreement. To ensure that these assets are divided properly, individuals must work with a family lawyer that is familiar with how these assets are divided, and that can help you navigate through the process.

Determining How Many of the Funds to Divide

Only marital property, which is property that was acquired by the couple during the marriage, is divided during a divorce. This concept can become complex when dividing retirement funds because in many instances, a person has acquired some of their funds prior to the marriage, but continued to build the retirement fund after they were married. As such, a portion of those funds are considered separate property and the remaining funds are considered marital property. The first step then, when dividing retirement funds, is to determine how much of the account is considered marital property.

Qualified Domestic Relations Orders

All divisions of retirement funds require a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). This lengthy document will detail how much of the retirement fund each spouse is entitled to receive after the divorce, as well as a number of other details. To begin the process, it is essential to work with a divorce lawyer that can contact the administrator of the plan. There are a number of specific steps that must be taken when dividing these funds, and your lawyer and the plan administrator will work together to ensure those steps are followed properly. The administrator must also approve the QDRO before it is submitted. The funds cannot be transferred until the administrator has approved the QDRO.

No one wants to think about losing a loved one but when it happens, sometimes it can also bring surviving family members a bit of financial security in the event that they receive an inheritance. During a divorce, people often fear losing that financial security because they believe their inheritance will be divided as part of divorce proceedings. So, what will happen to your inheritance during a divorce?

Property Division During Divorce

Illinois is an equitable distribution state when it comes to divorce. This means that in the event that the couple cannot come to a fair and mutual agreement on their own, a judge will divide the marital property fairly, although not necessarily 50/50. Marital property includes assets that were acquired during the marriage, while separate property includes any assets that one spouse acquired before the wedding and brought into the marriage with them.

Under Illinois law, inheritances are not considered marital property. This holds true even if the inheritance was accepted after the two spouses were already married. However, there are times when inheritances are considered marital property and so, it is important that all individuals know how to protect theirs.

Individuals who suffer serious injuries are sometimes awarded compensation through lawsuits, personal injury settlements, disability, or workers’ compensation. It may come as a shock to learn that all of these types of compensation can be divided during an Illinois divorce if they were awarded during the course of the marriage. Whether you are the injured spouse or the non-injured spouse, an experienced Hinsdale divorce attorney can help you determine what is and what is not a marital asset, and how those assets should be divided or kept separate.

Equitable Division of Property

Illinois follows the doctrine of equitable division of property, which most other states also do. As such, marital property is divided equitably, or ‘fairly,’ though not necessarily equally. Marital property includes all assets and debt acquired during the course of the marriage except for gifts, inheritance, and other assets specifically given to one spouse and not the other. Pre and postnuptial agreements can also determine what is and what is not marital property.

Is Dividing Injury Compensation Fair?

Victims of serious injuries suffer pain and suffering, lost mobility, cognitive disorders, mental illnesses such as depression and PTSD, loss of quality of life, and much more. A study found that for each day of bed rest in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), patients had decreased muscle strength by three to 11 percent for up to two years. According to the study, “Even a single day of bed rest in the ICU has a lasting impact on weakness, which impacts patients’ physical functioning and quality of life.” As such, how do courts justify divvying up the compensation from a workers’ compensation, personal injury settlement, or disability award when the other spouse has not suffered in the same way? After all, according to the IWCC workers’ compensation maximum weekly benefits top out at just a little over $1,500—not enough for many people to survive without selling their home and making huge sacrifices.

Division of marital assets, or marital property, is a big part of divorce. Illinois is an equitable property division state, which means that all marital property is divided fairly, though not necessarily equally. Income, real property, small business ownership or growth, stocks, and pensions are all examples of property that can be divided equitably between spouses if acquired during the marriage. However, a few types of property do not follow the normal procedure of equitable division. One of these types of property is money from a personal injury settlement or lawsuit.

When Did the Injury Occur?

Usually, all property acquired during an Illinois marriage is considered marital property. Lawsuit verdicts and even out of court settlements for personal injury cases can take multiple years to be awarded or agreed upon, respectively. As such, a settlement check may arrive during a marriage for an injury that occurred before the marriage began. In this case, the court would typically award all of the personal injury settlement money to the spouse who was injured because the money would not be considered marital property. If the accident did occur during the course of the marriage, whenever the verdict is reached or the settlement distributed, it could be considered marital property. This is not always the case, however.

Other types of civil settlements have been considered marital property even when the incident in question occurred before the course of the marriage, such as the Marriage of Rivera, 2016 IL App (1st) 160552, in which the court decided that a wrongful conviction settlement was considered marital property because the lawsuit occurred during the marriage. Yet, the forced coercion that leads to the wrongful conviction occurred before the marriage.