Is Illinois a community property state?
No. Illinois courts give each spouse their non-marital property and divide marital property in just proportions, without regard to marital misconduct, after considering relevant factors. Gifts, inheritances and property from before the marriage are generally non-marital.[1]
What Illinois’s statutes say
Dividing property at divorce
Each spouse keeps their non-marital property, and the court divides marital property in just proportions, without regard to marital misconduct, after considering all relevant factors.[1]
“It also shall divide the marital property without regard to marital misconduct in just proportions considering all relevant factors”[1]
750 ILCS 5/503(d) · checked October 26, 2026
Marital property
Marital property is all property, including debts, acquired by either spouse after the marriage, except listed non-marital property.[1]
“‘marital property’ means all property, including debts and other obligations, acquired by either spouse subsequent to the marriage, except the following, which is known as ‘non-marital property’ …”[1]
750 ILCS 5/503(a) · checked October 26, 2026
Nonmarital property
Non-marital property includes gifts, legacies and inheritances (and property exchanged for them), property acquired before marriage, property excluded by agreement, and the increase in value of non-marital property.[1]
“(1) property acquired by gift, legacy or descent or property acquired in exchange for such property …”[1]
750 ILCS 5/503(a)(1) · checked October 26, 2026
Not legal advice. Plain-English summaries of Illinois’s statutes as of the date shown on each, with the text quoted. Whether a particular asset is marital, community or separate depends on the facts, and courts apply the law case by case. Read the linked source or ask a lawyer licensed in Illinois.
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Sources
Illinois’s statutes, read on the official site (or an official court source where the line says so), with the date we checked them.