A paramour is a person who is a love or romantic interest of a married person who is engaging in adultery with the paramour. Spouses engaged in adulterous affairs with paramours sometimes give gifts to their paramours, and often spend marital or community property on such gifts. The non-cheating spouse may pursue a reimbursement claim and ask the court to order the spouse who spent marital assets on a paramour to reimburse the marital or community estate—by returning the gift if it retains its value (jewelry) or replacing the funds with the cheating spouse’s separate property funds.

In Illinois, adultery is not a criminal offense, but it can have legal implications in divorce proceedings. Illinois is a no-fault divorce state, which means that a spouse does not need to prove wrongdoing, such as adultery, to obtain a divorce. However, if a spouse has spent marital assets on a paramour, the other spouse may have a claim for dissipation of assets. Dissipation refers to the use of marital property for the sole benefit of one spouse for a purpose unrelated to the marriage at a time when the marriage is undergoing an irretrievable breakdown. If the court finds that a spouse has dissipated marital assets, it can order reimbursement to the marital estate. This can include returning gifts of value, such as jewelry, or compensating the marital estate with separate funds of the spouse who committed the dissipation. It is important for the non-cheating spouse to provide evidence of the dissipation and to file a claim for reimbursement within the appropriate time frame as dictated by Illinois law.