Divorce is a touchy subject. Each party to a divorce knows a great deal of the other party’s secrets. The divorcing parties, armed with those secrets, are now trying to resolve their differences in a public forum: family court. The reality is that divorcing couples really don’t know everything about each other. That’s part of why they are getting divorced. Therefore, public, written accusations about the other party may often be speculative with only a presumption that the accuser knows the facts with certainty. For example, a spouse may accuse their spouse of “hiding unknown quantities of cash” or “grooming a child.” These are serious accusations…without much detail. More common in a divorce pleading is the factual basis “upon information and belief.” This common refrain in divorce pleadings does NOT tell you anything. The point of a pleading is to adequately inform the court and the opposing side of the controversy that needs to be resolved. “No pleading is bad in substance which contains such information as reasonably informs the opposite party of the nature of the claim or defense which he or she is called upon to meet.” 735 ILCS 5/2-612(b) The intimate and emotional nature of divorce cases often allows for pleadings with presumptions and conclusions like “I have suffered abuse for years” or “Respondent is a narcissist.” While these types of accusations may be true, the courts require more information to properly understand the issues before it. “Conclusions of fact will not suffice to state a cause of action regardless of whether they generally inform the defendant of the nature of the claim against him.” Grund v. Donegan, 298 Ill. App. 3d 1034, 1039 (Ill. App. Ct. 1998) Insufficiently detailed accusations are not allowed in Illinois pleadings. “Illinois is a fact-pleading jurisdiction.” Marshall v. Burger King Corp., 856 NE 2d 1048 – Ill: Supreme Court 2006 Fact pleading is “a procedural system requiring that the pleader allege merely the facts of the case giving rise to the claim or defense, not the legal conclusions necessary to sustain the claim or establish the defense.” Black’s Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019) An Illinois pleading-filer “is required to set forth a legally recognized claim and plead facts in support of each element that bring the claim within the cause of action alleged.” Rodriguez v. Illinois Prisoner Review Board, 376 Ill. App. 3d 429, 434 (2007) This does not mean that you have […]
