Bill Text: IL SB2777 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act, the Conveyances Act, the Joint Tenancy Act, and the Rights of Married Persons Act. Inserts gender neutral descriptions showing marital status.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-17 - Referred to Assignments [SB2777 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB2777-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 SB2777 Introduced 1/17/2024, by Sen. Natalie Toro SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
750 ILCS 65/1 from Ch. 40, par. 1001
750 ILCS 65/2 from Ch. 40, par. 1002
750 ILCS 65/5 from Ch. 40, par. 1005
750 ILCS 65/9 from Ch. 40, par. 1009
750 ILCS 65/10 from Ch. 40, par. 1010
750 ILCS 65/11 from Ch. 40, par. 1011
750 ILCS 65/12 from Ch. 40, par. 1012
750 ILCS 65/13 from Ch. 40, par. 1013
750 ILCS 65/14 from Ch. 40, par. 1014
750 ILCS 65/15 from Ch. 40, par. 1015
750 ILCS 65/16 from Ch. 40, par. 1016
750 ILCS 65/17 from Ch. 40, par. 1017
750 ILCS 65/22 from Ch. 40, par. 1022
750 ILCS 75/10
765 ILCS 5/19 from Ch. 30, par. 18
765 ILCS 5/27 from Ch. 30, par. 26
765 ILCS 1005/1 from Ch. 76, par. 1
765 ILCS 1005/1c from Ch. 76, par. 1c
Amends the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act, the Conveyances Act, the Joint Tenancy Act, and the Rights of Married Persons Act. Inserts gender neutral descriptions showing marital status.
LRB103 36549 JRC 66656 b
A BILL FOR
SB2777 LRB103 36549 JRC 66656 b
AN ACT concerning property.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Rights of Married Persons Act is amended by
changing Sections 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
and 22 as follows:
(750 ILCS 65/1) (from Ch. 40, par. 1001)
Sec. 1. Rights to sue and be sued. A married person may, in
all cases, sue and be sued without joining his or her spouse as
if unmarried. Either spouse A husband or wife 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 be admissible or be used as
prima facie evidence of a tort in any civil action brought
under this Act. An attachment or judgment in an action may be
enforced by or against a married person as if unmarried.
(Source: P.A. 87-286.)
(750 ILCS 65/2) (from Ch. 40, par. 1002)
Sec. 2. Defending in own right or for other. If a married
couple husband and wife are sued together, either may defend
for his or her own right and, if either neglects to defend, the
other may defend for both.

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(Source: P.A. 87-286.)
(750 ILCS 65/5) (from Ch. 40, par. 1005)
Sec. 5. Neither spouse in a marriage husband or wife 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 liable for the separate
debts of the other.
(Source: R.S. 1874, p. 576.)
(750 ILCS 65/9) (from Ch. 40, par. 1009)
Sec. 9. Property. A married person may own in his or her
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 husband and wife live
together, however, no transfer or conveyance of goods and
chattels between the spouses husband and wife shall be valid
as against the rights and interests of any third person unless
the transfer or conveyance is in writing and filed in the same
manner as security interests are required to be filed by the
laws of this State in cases where the possession of the
property is to remain with the person giving the security.
(Source: P.A. 87-286.)

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(750 ILCS 65/10) (from Ch. 40, par. 1010)
Sec. 10. Should either spouse the husband or wife
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: R.S. 1874, p. 576.)
(750 ILCS 65/11) (from Ch. 40, par. 1011)
Sec. 11. In case one spouse the husband or wife abandons
the other and leaves the state, and is absent therefrom for one
year, without providing for the maintenance and support of his
or her family, or is imprisoned in the penitentiary, the
circuit court in the county where the abandoned spouse or the
spouse who is the husband or wife so abandoned or, not
confined, resides, may, on application by petition, setting
forth fully the facts, if the court is satisfied of the
necessity by the evidence, authorize him or her to manage,
control, sell or incumber the property of the other, as shall
be necessary, in the judgment of the court, for the support and
maintenance of the family, and for the purpose of paying debts
of the other, or debts contracted for the support of the
family. Notice of such proceedings shall be given as in other
civil actions, and anything done under or by virtue of the

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order or judgment of the court, shall be valid to the same
extent as if the same were done by the party owning the
property.
(Source: P.A. 84-1308.)
(750 ILCS 65/12) (from Ch. 40, par. 1012)
Sec. 12. All contracts, sales or incumbrances made by one
spouse to a marriage either the husband or wife, 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 liable, and
execution may be levied or attachment issued accordingly. No
suit or proceeding shall abate, or be in anywise affected, by
the return or release of the person absent or confined, but he
or she shall be permitted to prosecute or defend jointly with
the other.
(Source: R.S. 1874, p. 576.)
(750 ILCS 65/13) (from Ch. 40, par. 1013)
Sec. 13. The spouse husband or wife 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 order shall in nowise

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affect any act done thereunder.
(Source: P.A. 84-1308.)
(750 ILCS 65/14) (from Ch. 40, par. 1014)
Sec. 14. Either spouse A husband or wife may constitute
the other as his or her attorney in fact, to control and
dispose of his or her 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: R.S. 1874, p. 576.)
(750 ILCS 65/15) (from Ch. 40, par. 1015)
Sec. 15. (a)(1) The expenses of the family and of the
education of the children shall be chargeable upon the
property of both spouses husband and wife, 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 expense incurred by that spouse or former spouse
which is not a family expense, shall maintain an action
against the other spouse or former spouse for that expense
except:
(A) an expense for which the other spouse or former
spouse agreed, in writing, to be liable; or
(B) an expense for goods or merchandise purchased by
or in the possession of the other spouse or former spouse,

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or for services ordered by the other spouse or former
spouse.
(3) Any creditor who maintains an action in violation of
this subsection (a) for an expense other than a family expense
against a spouse or former spouse other than the spouse or
former spouse who incurred the expense, shall be liable to the
other spouse or former spouse for his or her costs, expenses
and attorney's fees incurred in defending the action.
(4) No creditor shall, with respect to any claim against a
spouse or former spouse for which the creditor is prohibited
under this subsection (a) from maintaining an action against
the other spouse or former spouse, engage in any collection
efforts against the other spouse or former spouse, including,
but not limited to, informal or formal collection attempts,
referral of the claim to a collector or collection agency for
collection from the other spouse or former spouse, or making
any representation to a credit reporting agency that the other
spouse or former spouse is any way liable for payment of the
claim.
(b) (Blank).
(c) (Blank).
(Source: P.A. 101-13, eff. 6-12-19.)
(750 ILCS 65/16) (from Ch. 40, par. 1016)
Sec. 16. Neither spouse the husband nor wife can remove
the other or their children from their homestead without the

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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 he abandons her, she is entitled
to the custody of their minor children, unless a court of
competent jurisdiction, upon application for that purpose,
shall otherwise direct.
(Source: R.S. 1874, p. 576.)
(750 ILCS 65/17) (from Ch. 40, par. 1017)
Sec. 17. When one spouse the husband or wife is under legal
disability and therefore incapable of executing a deed or
mortgage, and relinquishing or conveying his or her right to
homestead in the real property of the other, such other person
may present his or her petition to the circuit court in the
county where the petitioner resides, or where the real estate
to be affected is situated, setting forth the facts, and
particularly describing the real estate sought to be conveyed
or mortgaged, and asking for an order authorizing the
petitioner, or some other person, to execute a deed or
mortgage for the person who is under legal disability, and
thereby relinquish his or her right of homestead in the real
estate.
(Source: P.A. 83-706.)
(750 ILCS 65/22) (from Ch. 40, par. 1022)

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Sec. 22. 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 both spouses married to each other together
during marriage
husband and wife during coverture made or
executed on or after October 1, 1990.
This amendatory Act of 1995 is declarative of existing
law.
(Source: P.A. 89-88, eff. 6-30-95; 89-438, eff. 12-15-95.)
Section 10. The Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and
Civil Union Act is amended by changing Section 10 as follows:
(750 ILCS 75/10)
Sec. 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Certificate" means a document that certifies that the
persons named on the certificate have established a civil
union in this State in compliance with this Act.
"Civil union" means a legal relationship between 2
persons, of either the same or opposite sex, established
pursuant to this Act.
"Department" means the Department of Public Health.
"Officiant" means the person authorized to certify a civil
union in accordance with Section 40.

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"Party to a civil union" means a person who has
established a civil union pursuant to this Act. "Party to a
civil union" means, and shall be included in, any definition
or use of the terms "spouse", "family", "immediate family",
"dependent", "next of kin", "marriage", "married", "married to
each other", "husband", "wife", "bride", "groom", "wedlock",
and other terms that refer to or denote the spousal
relationship, as those terms are used throughout the law,
regardless of whether the parties to a civil union are of the
same sex or different sexes.
(Source: P.A. 96-1513, eff. 6-1-11.)
Section 15. The Conveyances Act is amended by changing
Sections 19 and 27 as follows:
(765 ILCS 5/19) (from Ch. 30, par. 18)
Sec. 19. The acknowledgment or proof of any deed,
mortgage, conveyance, power of attorney, or other writing of
or relating to the sale, conveyance, or other disposition of
lands or real estate, or any interest therein, by a married
person woman, may be made and certified the same as if that
person was unmarried she were a feme sole, and shall have the
same effect.
(Source: P.A. 77-435.)
(765 ILCS 5/27) (from Ch. 30, par. 26)

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Sec. 27.
No deed or other instrument shall be construed as
releasing or waiving the right of homestead, unless the same
shall contain a clause expressly releasing or waiving such
right. And no release or waiver of the right of homestead by
one spouse the husband or wife shall bind the other spouse
unless such other spouse joins in such release or waiver.
(Source: P.A. 80-346.)
Section 20. The Joint Tenancy Act is amended by changing
Sections 1 and 1c as follows:
(765 ILCS 1005/1) (from Ch. 76, par. 1)
Sec. 1. No estate in joint tenancy in any lands, tenements
or hereditaments, or in any parts thereof or interest therein,
shall be held or claimed under any grant, legacy or conveyance
whatsoever heretofore or hereafter made, other than to
executors and trustees, unless the premises therein mentioned
shall expressly be thereby declared to pass not in tenancy in
common but in joint tenancy; and every such estate other than
to executors and trustees (unless otherwise expressly declared
as aforesaid, or unless, as to a devise or conveyance of
homestead property, expressly declared to pass to individuals
married to each other a husband and wife as tenants by the
entirety in the manner provided by Section 1c), shall be
deemed to be in tenancy in common and all conveyances
heretofore made, or which hereafter may be made, wherein the

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premises therein mentioned were or shall be expressly declared
to pass not in tenancy in common but in joint tenancy, are
hereby declared to have created an estate in joint tenancy
with the accompanying right of survivorship the same as it
existed prior to the passage of "An Act to amend Section 1 of
an Act entitled: 'An Act to revise the law in relation to joint
rights and obligations,' approved February 25, 1874, in force
July 1, 1874," approved June 26, 1917.
(Source: P.A. 86-966.)
(765 ILCS 1005/1c) (from Ch. 76, par. 1c)
Sec. 1c. Whenever a devise, conveyance, assignment, or
other transfer of property, including a beneficial interest in
a land trust, maintained or intended for maintenance as a
homestead shall be made by both spouses during marriage or a
civil union husband and wife together during coverture shall
be made and the instrument of devise, conveyance, assignment,
or transfer expressly declares that the devise or conveyance
is made to tenants by the entirety, or if the beneficial
interest in a land trust is to be held as tenants by the
entirety, the estate created shall be deemed to be in tenancy
by the entirety. Where the homestead is held in the name or
names of a trustee or trustees of a revocable inter vivos trust
or of revocable inter vivos trusts made by the settlors of such
trust or trusts who are married to each other or in a civil
union husband and wife, and the spouses husband and wife are

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the primary beneficiaries of one or both of the trusts so
created, and the deed or deeds conveying title to the
homestead to the trustee or trustees of the trust or trusts
specifically state that the interests of both spouses the
husband and wife to the homestead property are to be held as
tenants by the entirety, the estate created shall be deemed to
be a tenancy by the entirety. Subject to the provisions of
paragraph (d) of Section 2 and unless otherwise assented to in
writing by both tenants by the entirety, the estate in tenancy
by the entirety so created shall exist only if, and as long as,
the tenants are and remain married to each other, and upon the
death of either such tenant the survivor shall retain the
entire estate; provided that, upon a judgment of dissolution
of marriage or of declaration of invalidity of marriage, the
estate shall, by operation of law, become a tenancy in common
until and unless the court directs otherwise; provided further
that the estate shall, by operation of law, become a joint
tenancy upon the creation and maintenance by both spouses
together of other property as a homestead. A devise,
conveyance, assignment, or other transfer to 2 grantees who
are not in fact married to each other or in a civil union
husband and wife that purports to create an estate by the
entirety shall be construed as having created an estate in
joint tenancy. An estate in tenancy by the entirety may be
created notwithstanding the fact that a grantor is or the
grantors are also named as a grantee or the grantees in a deed.

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