If you are contemplating or currently going through a divorce in Illinois, you probably have a whole team of friends and family willing to help get you through tough times. Unfortunately, when this assistance comes in the form of legal advice on property division in divorce, misconceptions abound. You may hear that a “friend of a friend” recently got everything in a dissolution of marriage case, while someone else might relate how their cousin lost it all. It can be difficult to separate valid, credible details from conjecture.
One of your first priorities, when confounded by misconceptions, is to reach out to a Lombard property division attorney right away. Bad information can have a profound impact on your rights in a divorce case, and you put your interests at risk by attempting to address the complicated legal issues on your own. Still, it may help to debunk some of the myths about property division that do more harm than good.
Myth 1: Marital property is split equally between divorcing couples.
Illinois follows the law of equitable distribution when dividing assets acquired during the marriage, with the language of the property division statute requiring the court to divide items “in just proportions.” As such, the principles of equity and fairness apply when distributing assets, so the split may not be exactly 50-50.
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