Background

• Petitioner Kenneth W. Mathis and Terri D. Mathis married in 1977 and have three children; dissolution proceedings began in 2000.
• A dissolution judgment on grounds was entered for the parties in 2004, while ancillary issues were reserved for later resolution.
• A valuation-date dispute arose in 2005–2006 with the court initially setting January 1, 2006 as the valuation date under section 503(f).
• The ancillary issues hearing was repeatedly continued, with substantial delays, and the case involved a bifurcated proceeding where the grounds judgment preceded the property-distribution hearing.
• In 2010–2011 the court continued to address valuation and ultimately set December 31, 2010 as the valuation date and certified the question under Rule 308, which this court accepted and remanded the matter.
• The court held that the appropriate valuation date in this bifurcated context is the date of trial on the property-distribution matter or some date as close to that trial as practicable, remanding for further proceedings.

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• In re Rossi, 113 Ill. App. 3d 55 (1983) (discusses valuation date in nonbifurcated context; supports earliest standard elsewhere in analysis)
• In re Cutler, 334 Ill. App. 3d 731 (2002) (capitalized returns method improper for postdissolution work; addresses postdissolution value changes)
• In re Donovan, 361 Ill. App. 3d 1059 (2005) (cites section 503(f) in valuing a 401(k) in nonbifurcated context)
• In re Schinelli, 406 Ill. App. 3d 991 (2011) (dissolution judgment distribution concerns where values may change post-judgment)
• In re Awan, 388 Ill. App. 3d 204 (2009) (discusses application of section 503(f) in bifurcated proceedings)