Court Opinion

ID: 9730165
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 15:03:23.455652+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:04.627108
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE ALLOY, specially concurring: I concur in the result in the above case but not in the portion of the opinion which states that we are compelled by the decision in In re Marriage of Lee (1980), 88 Ill. App. 3d 1044, 410 N.E.2d 1183, to conclude that commingling of nonmarital property with later acquired marital property results in a “transmutation” of the entire property into marital property. I believe that the application of equitable apportionment is, as stated by Justice Stengel in his special concurrence in In re Marriage of Lee, a sound basis for establishing property rights in dissolution of marriage cases. The Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act makes no provision for the transmutation theory. We should not adopt a legal fiction, so long as equity and justice can be achieved by other means. As Justice Stengel stated, the same result could be reached by apportioning the property so as to allow credit for the contribution of each party to the improvement of the nonmarital property. I have also expressed my view on this issue in my special concurring opinion in the case of In re Marriage of Crouch (1980), 88 Ill. App. 3d 426, 410 N.E.2d 580.1 will not repeat the special concurrence in Crouch in its entirety. I noted that, as I read the Illinois statute, it was not contemplated that the courts should surrender the basic equitable power vested in the courts in making equitable distributions of property in the event of dissolution of marriage. I pointed out that it was notably clear from the provisions of section 503(c) of the Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act that the courts are directed to divide property in just proportions considering all relevant factors, including the contribution of each party in the acquisition, preservation, or depreciation or appreciation in value of the marital and nonmarital property. I reiterate that there is no lack of authority in the court to do justice in cases such as we are now considering, without indulging in any procedure which would “transmute” property simply by virtue of commingling of any such property. I also repeat that the power of our courts to do equity in all cases is not, and should not, be rigidly limited by classification of the property as marital or nonmarital. Consequently, I concur in the result in the instant case, but not in the application of the transmutation theory. Mr. Justice Heiple joins in the special concurrence of Mr. Justice Alloy.