Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 65 — Rights of Married Persons Act.

Short title

Short title. This Act may be cited as the Rights of Married Persons Act. (Source: P.A. 86-1324; 87-286.)

Rights to sue and be sued

Rights to sue and be sued. A married person may, in all cases, sue and be sued without joining the married person's spouse as if unmarried. Either spouse may sue the other for a tort committed during the marriage. No finding by any court under Section 401 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act shall b…

Defending in own right or for other

Defending in own right or for other. If a married couple are sued together, either may defend individually and, if either neglects to defend, the other may defend for both.(Source: P.A. 104-40, eff. 1-1-26.)

When the husband has deserted his family, the wife may prosecute or defend, in his name, any action which he might have prosecuted or defended, and, under like circumstances, the same right shall apply to the husband upon the desertion of the wife. (Source: R.S. 1874, p. 576.)

Recovery of damages

Recovery of damages. For all civil injuries committed by a married person, damages may be recovered from that person alone, and his or her spouse shall not be responsible for those damages, except in cases where he or she would be jointly responsible with that person if the marriage did not exist. (Source: P.A. 87-286.…

Neither spouse in a marriage shall be liable for the debts or liabilities of the other incurred before marriage, and (except as herein otherwise provided) they shall not be liable for the separate debts of each other, nor shall the wages, earnings or property of either, nor the rent or income of such property, be liabl…

Contracts

Contracts. Contracts may be made and liabilities incurred by any married person and may be enforced against that person to the same extent and in the same manner as if unmarried. (Source: P.A. 87-286.)

Earnings

Earnings. A married person may receive, use, and possess his or her own earnings and sue for those earnings in his or her own name, free from the interference of his or her spouse or the creditors of his or her spouse. (Source: P.A. 87-286.)

Property

Property. A married person may own in the married person's own right real and personal property obtained by descent, gift, or purchase and may manage, sell, and convey that property to the same extent and in the same manner as an unmarried person. When the spouses live together, however, no transfer or conveyance of go…

Should either spouse unlawfully obtain or retain possession or control of property belonging to the other, either before or after marriage, the owner of the property may maintain an action therefor, or for any right growing out of the same, in the same manner and to the same extent as if they were unmarried.(Source: P.…

In case one spouse abandons the other and leaves the state, and is absent therefrom for one year, without providing for the maintenance and support of the absent spouse's family, or is imprisoned in the penitentiary, the circuit court in the county where the abandoned spouse or the spouse who is not confined resides, m…

All contracts, sales or incumbrances made by one spouse to a marriage, by virtue of the power contemplated in the preceding section, shall be binding on both, and during such absence or confinement, the person acting under such power may sue and be sued thereon; and for all acts done the property of both shall be liabl…

The spouse affected by the proceedings contemplated in the 2 preceding sections may have the order or judgment of the court set aside or annulled, by filing a petition therefor and serving a notice on the person in whose favor the same was granted, as in other civil actions. But the setting aside of such judgment or or…

Either spouse may constitute the other spouse's attorney in fact, to control and dispose of property for their mutual benefit or otherwise, and may revoke the same to the same extent and in the same manner as other persons.(Source: P.A. 104-40, eff. 1-1-26.)

(a)(1) The expenses of the family and of the education of the children shall be chargeable upon the property of both spouses, or of either of them, in favor of creditors therefor, and in relation thereto they may be sued jointly or separately. (2) No creditor, who has a claim against a spouse or former spouse for an ex…

Neither spouse can remove the other or their children from their homestead without the consent of the other, unless the owner of the property shall, in good faith, provide another homestead suitable to the condition in life of the family; and if one spouse abandons the other, the abandoned spouse is entitled to the cus…

When one spouse is under legal disability and therefore incapable of executing a deed or mortgage, and relinquishing or conveying the incapable spouse's right to homestead in the real property of the other, such other person may present the other person's petition to the circuit court in the county where the petitioner…

The petition shall be verified by the oath of the petitioner, and shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court

The petition shall be verified by the oath of the petitioner, and shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court. Notice of the filing of such petition shall be given to such person who is under disability, by service of summons or by publication, as provided in other civil cases. The court shall appoin…

If the court is satisfied upon the hearing that the petition was made in good faith, and the prayer thereof ought to be granted, then the court shall enter a judgment granting such prayer, and authorizing some discreet and proper person to make, execute, acknowledge and deliver jointly with said petitioner all such con…

The court shall require of the petitioner, at the time and as one of the conditions of entering the judgment, such security for the protection of the interests, and for the proper support of such person under legal disability, as the court deems satisfactory, and may from time to time renew or change the same, or requi…

All deeds or mortgages authorized by and executed under the order of any court, made as hereinbefore provided, shall be valid and shall convey all the homestead interest of such person under legal disability in and to the real estate so conveyed or mortgaged, as fully as if such person had been under no legal disabilit…

Nothing in this Act abolishes or prevents the creation and enjoyment of the estate of tenancy by the entirety with respect to any devise, conveyance, assignment, or other transfer of property, including a beneficial interest in a land trust, maintained or intended for maintenance as a homestead by spouses married to ea…