Your Rights as a Putative Spouse in Illinois On rare occasions, couples who move forward with plans to divorce find that their marriages were never valid marriages in Illinois, placing them in the category of “putative marriage.” A putative marriage creates a number of legal concerns in the divorce proceedings, because the marriage agreement was never valid to begin with and another legal spouse may exist. Those who find themselves in the role of putative spouse need to understand their rights and how to protect them as they move forward. What Is a Putative Spouse? Under Illinois marriage law , a putative spouse is defined as a spouse that went through a marriage ceremony and believed they were legally married, but due to a technicality, was not actually in a legal marriage. This special legal designation allows the courts to give the putative spouse legal rights, even though the marriage was never a legal one. It is an important protection for people who are unaware of the probl...