Calculating the Marital Portion of a Pension Benefit

In Illinois, the generally accepted method for calculating the marital portion of a pension annuity is the proportionality rule, commonly referred to as the “Hunt formula.”  Basically speaking, the proportionality rule is the ratio of (a) the time a couple was married while the principal was accruing a pension benefit to (b) the time the principal was accruing the pension benefit, whether before the marriage began or after it dissolved.

The Hunt formula is systematically unfair to spouses who marry late in the career of the principal or to principals who earn a significant bump in benefits after the marriage has ended.  We have developed an alternative technique to the archaic and unyielding Hunt formula, which complies with the specifications of the Wisniewski Court.