Q: If I purchased investment properties in Illinois before I was married does my wife have any rights to the properties?
A: Unfortunately, without more information, the law is not so black and white. Like many other legal questions, the answer is maybe. Did you buy the properties outright or did you obtain a mortgage? If you bought them outright, did you ever add your wife to the title? If you had a mortgage, did you use marital funds to make mortgage, tax and other payments on the properties? Did you have a pre-marital agreement? Depending on the answers to these and other questions, your wife "may" have some interest in the properties. Your divorce attorney, should you go that route, should be able to give you more specific guidance based upon the facts.
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