money question for illinois foolmeonce: am i entitled to half of the money my wife made during our marriage?
Re: money question for illinois PennyLane: yes and she is yours
Re: money question for illinois tara: Illinois is an "equitable" distribution state -- that doesn't necessarily mean "equal," but it often does end up that way. "Equitable" does mean "fair." Sometimes a 50/50 split isn't what's fairest.
Keep in mind you usually can agree to whatever settlement you want, as long as it's not grossly unfair to one party.
Generally, though, iyou're not entitled to half the money she earned, because presumably a lot of that money got spent on household expenses. You are entitled to an equitable distribution of your joint assets (including savings, retirement accounts or investments paid for out of her salary) as well as your joint debts. Property division in Illinois is also done WITHOUT respect to marital misconduct (although in some cases, you can recoup money that your spouse used to conduct an affair and so forth). Gifts, inheritances and pre-marital separate assets aren't divisible .
