In re Marriage of Clark

2020 IL App (5th) 190145-U
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 23, 2020
Docket5-19-0145
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2020 IL App (5th) 190145-U (In re Marriage of Clark) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Marriage of Clark, 2020 IL App (5th) 190145-U (Ill. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

NOTICE 2020 IL App (5th) 190145-U NOTICE Decision filed 01/23/20. The This order was filed under text of this decision may be NO. 5-19-0145 Supreme Court Rule 23 and changed or corrected prior to may not be cited as precedent the filing of a Petition for by any party except in the Rehearing or the disposition of IN THE limited circumstances allowed the same. under Rule 23(e)(1).

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

FIFTH DISTRICT ________________________________________________________________________

In re MARRIAGE OF ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of GARRY W. CLARK, ) St. Clair County. ) Petitioner-Appellant, ) ) and ) No. 14-D-842 ) TIFFANY M. LACY CLARK, ) Honorable ) Patricia H. Kievlan, Respondent-Appellee. ) Judge, presiding. ________________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE OVERSTREET delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Cates and Boie concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: Order vacating judgment of dissolution of marriage vacated as void for lack of jurisdiction. Cause remanded with directions to enter order nunc pro tunc to correct clerical errors in judgment of dissolution and to consider and rule on outstanding motions of record.

¶2 The petitioner, Garry W. Clark (Garry), appeals the March 25, 2019, order of the

circuit court of St. Clair County that vacated the judgment of dissolution of marriage that

was entered on February 3, 2015, and set aside the joint parenting order appended to the

judgment. For the following reasons, we vacate the order and remand with directions.

1 ¶3 BACKGROUND

¶4 The parties were married on September 3, 2006. Two children were born to or

adopted by the parties during the marriage. On November 3, 2014, Garry filed, pro se, a

petition for dissolution of marriage. The petition alleged that the parties had already

divided the marital property. Accordingly, the petition requested the circuit court to

award the parties all property currently in their respective possessions and to order the

parties to pay all debts incurred solely in their respective names. The petition requested

the circuit court to award the parties joint custody of the children, 1 with Garry as the

residential parent. The petition further requested the circuit court to forever bar the

respondent, Tiffany M. Lacy Clark (Tiffany), from requesting maintenance from Garry.

On December 5, 2014, Tiffany filed, pro se, a pleading in which she requested, inter alia,

sole custody of the children, child support, and maintenance.

¶5 A hearing was conducted on February 3, 2015, at which the following evidence

was presented. The parties indicated that they had been separated for six months, during

which they had shared physical custody of the children. They testified that they were

able to cooperate and make joint decisions regarding the children’s best interests. The

parties stated that they entered into a joint parenting agreement that reflected their

consent and desire for each to spend approximately 50% of the time with the children.

The circuit court recognized that the joint parenting agreement failed to specify which

1 The petition was filed prior to the 2016 amendment to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, which changed “custody” to “allocation of parental responsibilities.” See 750 ILCS 5/600(d) (West 2016).

2 days of the week either party would have the children, and the parties explained that their

work schedules prevented them from establishing a consistent schedule. Accordingly,

the parties decided to negotiate time with the children on a day-to-day basis.

¶6 The parties further agreed that each was waiving child support due to the equal

time spent with the children and due to the parties’ incomes being relatively equal. Garry

agreed to provide health insurance for the children, and the parties planned for each to

claim one child as an income tax exemption each year. The joint parenting order

indicates that if any future conflict arises regarding any provisions in or implementation

of the order, the parties are ordered to make reasonable attempts to negotiate a settlement

of the conflict. The joint parenting order further orders the parties to first participate in

mediation if they are unable to resolve the conflict on their own, and where mediation is

unsuccessful, the parties are then permitted to seek judicial resolution.

¶7 After reviewing and establishing the terms of the joint parenting order at the

hearing, the circuit court proceeded to set forth the terms of the judgment of dissolution.

To that regard, both parties waived any request for present or future maintenance, stating

that they were both employed and able to meet their own needs as well as the needs of the

children when they were in their respective care. The parties further stipulated that each

would assume their own debts.

¶8 The circuit court itemized the following three parcels of real estate owned by the

parties as marital property: two rental properties in East St. Louis and the marital home in

Belleville. The circuit court stated—and Tiffany acknowledged and agreed—that she

was being awarded all three parcels of real estate. The circuit court further ordered 3 Tiffany to assume responsibility for all debts and expenses associated therewith,

including the “[m]ortgage, real estate taxes, all of those things.” Tiffany acknowledged

and agreed to the same. The circuit court stated—and Garry agreed—that he was

voluntarily relinquishing any rights in all said real estate and was absolved of all liability

for any future debts and expenses associated with the real estate.

¶9 The circuit court awarded Garry the Dodge Durango and assigned to him the

associated debt and awarded Tiffany the Nissan Altima and assigned to her the associated

debt. The parties acknowledged and agreed to the same. At the conclusion of the

hearing, the circuit court noted that it had reviewed “the terms of the marital settlement

agreement and [had] gone over *** those terms with the parties pretty much paragraph by

paragraph.” The circuit court concluded that the judgment of dissolution was entered

freely and voluntarily by both, and that it was fair and equitable to both. After the

hearing on February 3, 2015, the circuit court entered the written judgment of dissolution

of marriage 2 and the joint parenting order.

¶ 10 As noted, evidence at the hearing established that the parties owned three parcels

of real estate as marital property, namely two parcels of rental property in East St. Louis

and the marital home in Belleville, all of which Tiffany was awarded at the hearing and

ordered to assume all debts and expenses associated therewith. The circuit court

identified and awarded the property at the hearing, there were no objections by either

party, nor was any confusion expressed regarding the awards of the property or the

assignments of associated debts and expenses. The written judgment of dissolution

2 The written judgment of dissolution is a fill-in-the-blank form, allegedly handwritten by Tiffany. 4 identifies the marital property as follows: “22 Lindorf Drive Belleville, IL[;] 802 N. 22nd

St. E. St. Louis[;] 2009 Nissan Altima[;] E. St. Louis.” 3

¶ 11 Consistent with the circuit court’s order at the hearing, the written judgment of

dissolution ordered Tiffany to assume full responsibility for all the following legal debts

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Bluebook (online)
2020 IL App (5th) 190145-U, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-marriage-of-clark-illappct-2020.