In Re Marriage of Miller

424 N.E.2d 1342, 98 Ill. App. 3d 1084, 54 Ill. Dec. 439, 1981 Ill. App. LEXIS 3107
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 7, 1981
Docket16918
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 424 N.E.2d 1342 (In Re Marriage of Miller) 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 Miller, 424 N.E.2d 1342, 98 Ill. App. 3d 1084, 54 Ill. Dec. 439, 1981 Ill. App. LEXIS 3107 (Ill. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE LONDRIGAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

This appeal involves the effect of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (Act) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 40, par. 101 et seq.) upon a separation agreement.

The parties, petitioner Clara Belle Miller and respondent Delmar Keith Miller, were married on September 10, 1950. On December 18, 1980, thé final judgment dissolving the parties’ marriage was filed. This judgment of dissolution incorporated by reference a separation agreement signed by the parties. The judgment stated that under section 502(b) of the Act “the separation agreement presented to the court is not unconscionable and therefore is binding on the court.”

On appeal, the respondent contends that: (1) the trial court used an improper standard when it determined that the parties’ separation agreement was not unconscionable, and (2) the trial court erred by not finding that the parties’ separation agreement was unconscionable.

In relevant part, section 502 of the Act states:

“Separation agreement.
(a) To promote amicable settlement of disputes between parties to a marriage attendant upon the dissolution of their marriage, the parties may enter into a written or oral separation agreement containing provisions for disposition of any property owned by either of them, maintenance of either of them and support, custody and visitation of their children.
(b) The terms of the separation agreement, except those providing for the support, custody and visitation of children, are binding upon the court unless it finds, after considering the economic circumstances of the parties and any other relevant evidence produced by the parties, on their own motion or on request of the court, that the separation agreement is unconscionable.
(c) If the court finds the separation agreement unconscionable, it may request the parties to submit a revised separation agreement or upon hearing, may make orders for the disposition of property, maintenance, child support and other matters.” Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 40, par. 502(a), (b), (c).

The effective date of the “new” act was October 1, 1977. (In re Marriage of Olsher (1979), 78 Ill. App. 3d 627, 397 N.E.2d 488.) Oddly enough there are few Illinois appellate court cases that cite to section 502 of the Act when reviewing the propriety of a separation agreement. For example, in In re Marriage of De Frates (1980), 91 Ill. App. 3d 607, 414 N.E.2d 1188, the petition for dissolution was filed in 1978, and, on appeal, one of the issues was whether the trial court erred by failing to set aside the separation agreement; but the court did not mention section 502(b) of the Act. (Also see Olsher.) Perhaps, as the petitioner suggests, the reason these and other cases have not applied the unconscionability standard of section 502(b) of the Act is because the parties have not contested the separation agreements on unconscionability grounds in the trial courts.

Nevertheless, as the Historical and Practice Notes to section 502(b) of the Act point out, it is clear that section 502(b) has changed Illinois law with respect to determining the validity of separation agreements.

“Subsection (b), which derives from section 306(b) of the Uniform Act, provides that the terms of the separation agreement, * * 0 are binding on the court unless the agreement is found to be unconscionable. This is intended to encourage party autonomy, « * 0
Under prior Illinois law there was a different standard for court approval. Settlement agreements were approved by the court if found to be fair and reasonable. Zupancic v. Zupancic, 48 Ill. App. 3d 256, 362 N.E.2d 1124, 6 Ill. Dec. 302 (3d Dist. 1977). But the court was not bound by the terms of a proposed settlement agreement and could in its discretion adopt it or reject it ‘as seems consistent and proper from the situation of the parties’. [Citations.] « « «
This section does not eliminate many of the traditional grounds for setting aside settlement agreements, including grounds of fraud, coercion, and violation of any rule of law, public policy or morals. See Reininger v. Reininger, 67 Ill. App. 3d 21, 384 N.E.2d 546, 23 Ill. Dec. 752 (4th Dist. 1978). However, ‘fairness’ and other similar standards for setting aside settlement agreements have been replaced by the standard of unconscionability. See Held v. Held, 73 Ill. App. 3d 561, 392 N.E.2d 169, 29 Ill. Dec. 612 (5th Dist. 1979).
The purpose of subsection (b) is summarized in the Commissioners’ Note: ‘Subsection (b) undergirds the freedom allowed the parties by making clear that the terms of the agreement respecting maintenance and property disposition are binding upon the court unless those terms are found to be unconscionable.’ Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act (9A U.L.A.) §306, Commissioners’ Note at 136-137. This provision also serves to reduce continuing litigation between the parties. [Citation.]
The standard of unconscionability introduced by this section is used in commercial law, where its meaning includes protection against onesidedness, oppression, or unfair surprise. Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act (9A U.L.A.) §306, Commissioners’ Note at 137. Although the standard of unconscionability is new to the area of Illinois matrimonial law, it is an established doctrine in other areas of Illinois law. See, e.g., Ill. Rev. Stat. ch. 26, §2 — 302. The standard as it relates to separation agreements includes ‘protection against overreaching, concealment of assets, and sharp dealing not consistent with the obligations of marital partners to deal fairly with each other.’ Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act (9A U.L.A.) §306, Commissioners’ Note at 137.” Ill. Ann. Stat., ch. 40, par. 502, Historical & Practice Notes, at 400-01 (Smith-Hurd 1980).

As the Historical and Practice Notes indicate, the standard of uncon-scionability is new to the area of Illinois matrimonial law. Even so, we do not understand why the respondent in this case contends that the trial court did not consider proper factors in determining the question of unconscionability. Ostensibly, the crux of the respondent’s complaint is that the trial court did not consider “the economic circumstances of the parties resulting from the agreement,” and limited its consideration to “the perceived circumstances at the time of the execution.”

From the outset it was clear that the trial court was not restricting its determination of unconscionability to the circumstances at the time the separation agreement was executed.

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Bluebook (online)
424 N.E.2d 1342, 98 Ill. App. 3d 1084, 54 Ill. Dec. 439, 1981 Ill. App. LEXIS 3107, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-marriage-of-miller-illappct-1981.