A celebrity divorce is still a divorce. Illinois courts are not applying a special statute simply because a spouse is recognizable, followed online, or famous. The courts dissolve marriages, allocate parental responsibilities, determine child support, consider maintenance, and divide property under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act just like any other ordinary case. Before entering a judgment of dissolution, a court must consider, approve, reserve, or make provision for issues such as parental responsibilities, child support, maintenance, and disposition of property. 750 ILCS 5/401(b). So, the question becomes what actually changes in a celebrity divorce. Typically, the law is not changing, but the level of exposure is. A routine pleading turns into a headline. A parenting dispute exposes a child’s location or schedule. In fact, a public appearance or social media post may affect the case even before the first status date. Consequently, a divorce lawyer representing a celebrity in Illinois must handle the case on two tracks. The first track is the ordinary divorce case: property, support, maintenance, parenting time, allocation of parental responsibilities, discovery, settlement, and trial. The second track is the celebrity-specific case: privacy, public filings, media attention, security, third-party advisors, confidentiality, social media, and the client’s public reputation. Fame does not equal wealth. Some celebrities are quite wealthy. Some are not. A celebrity divorce is not necessarily defined by the balance sheet. It is defined more by the risk that the client’s private life will turn into public content. Your job as the lawyer is not to make the divorce seem glamorous, dramatic, or secret at all costs. Instead, your job is to ensure the case does not turn into a public spectacle. A Celebrity Divorce Is Still An Illinois Divorce Illinois divorce law applies to celebrities the same way it applies to everyone else. A court may enter a judgment of dissolution when “[i]rreconcilable differences have caused the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage” and the other statutory requirements are met. 750 ILCS 5/401(a). Before judgment is entered, the court must have “considered, approved, reserved or made provision for” parental responsibilities, child support, maintenance, and property. 750 ILCS 5/401(b). The court “shall assign each spouse’s non-marital property to that spouse” and divide marital property “in just proportions.” 750 ILCS 5/503(d). The court may award maintenance “in amounts and for periods of time as the court deems just,” after considering the statutory factors. 750 ILCS […]
