Posted on May 22, 2023 in Family Law

Leaving a spouse who has physically harmed you, threatened violence against you or your children, or otherwise abused you is a frightening and complicated process. Having a safety plan in place is essential. As you develop your plan, keep the following considerations in mind. If you are ever in immediate danger, call 911 right away.

Consider an Emergency Order of Protection

In Illinois, emergency orders of protection are granted based solely on the testimony of the petitioner, or person requesting protection. In other words, your spouse does not need to be present or even be aware of the fact that you are asking for an order of protection.

An emergency protection order can be customized to your specific needs. Most of the time, a protection order prohibits an abusive person from coming within a certain distance of the victim, contacting the victim through phone, e-mail, or social media, following the victim, or coming to the victim’s workplace or school. An emergency order of protection can also be used to temporarily evict a spouse from the marital residence. Setting up this legal protection creates a formal record of the abuse and gives you the right to call the police if your spouse violates any of the provisions of the order.

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 Posted on May 17, 2023 in Divorce

For working adults, retirement offers a much-needed break from the hustle and grind of their jobs. Unsurprisingly, what happens to retirement funds during a divorce is a top concern for many individuals planning to end their marriage. 

Every case is different. However, it is not uncommon for a divorcing spouse to be entitled to part of the other spouse’s retirement assets.

If you are getting divorced and you have questions about how retirement assets or Social Security retirement benefits are handled during a divorce, make sure to work with an experienced divorce attorney who can give you personalized guidance.

401(k)s, IRAs, Pensions, and Other Retirement Accounts

Money saved in a retirement account is treated like other assets during an Illinois divorce. Unless retirement assets are excluded from the marital state through a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, any retirement funds a spouse acquired during a marriage are considered marital property.

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 Posted on May 12, 2023 in Family Law

The end of a relationship or marriage often brings out the worst sides of people. Sadly, children from the relationship often get caught in the middle. Parental alienation is a form of emotional abuse in which a parent intentionally turns his or her child against the other parent. The parent may tell the child lies about the other parent, punish the child for showing love or affection toward the other parent, or refuse to let the other parent spend time with the child.

Illinois courts do not specifically use the term “parental alienation” when referring to this type of behavior. However, a parent’s behavior toward their child can certainly affect the court’s decision regarding child custody issues, including the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time.

Parents Are Expected to Foster a Positive Relationship Between the Child and the Other Parent

As we have discussed several times in previous blogs, Illinois courts always want to do what is best for the children in any child-related family law dispute. When a parent engages in a campaign of denigration against the targeted parent, this can be extremely damaging to the child. The child may feel confused, guilty, angry, and depressed. Using a child as a pawn to get back at the other parent is extremely harmful and unethical.

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 Posted on May 09, 2023 in Family Law

For many young people, May is a month filled with graduation parties, ceremonies, and making plans for the future. If you are a parent of a high school or college-aged child, it is important to understand how Illinois law handles college expenses when parents are divorced. Illinois is unique in that divorced parents are sometimes legally required to contribute to their child's college education. Read on to learn more.

Splitting the Cost of Tuition, Books, Fees, Housing, and Other College Costs

Child support obligations typically end once a child becomes an adult. However, in Illinois, a parent may still be required to provide financial assistance to a college-aged child. Illinois courts have the authority to allocate college expenses between two divorced parents. College expenses include the cost of tuition, fees, textbook rental, supplies, housing, and food. The court considers both parents’ financial circumstances when determining how to split college expenses between them. The college student’s own financial resources, including money from scholarships or work-study programs, may also be considered. Sometimes, the student is also required to contribute to college expenses.

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 Posted on May 03, 2023 in Family Law

As any parent can confirm, raising a child is costly. Tuition and other educational expenses, childcare, extracurricular activities, clothing, housing, and groceries are just some of the many expenses a parent will need to cover. Child support payments help distribute the cost of raising a child between the two parents.

Unfortunately, some parents try to pay less than their fair share of financial support. If your child's parent receives cash income “under the table,” you may worry about how this will influence child support payments. In this blog, we will discuss how child support is calculated in Illinois and what you can do if your parent is trying to manipulate the child support order by failing to disclose all sources of income.

Basics of Child Support Orders in Illinois

When the court determines the amount of child support to be paid, the court begins by gathering financial information from both parents. Each parent's net income is calculated by taking their gross income and subtracting taxes, other support obligations, and certain other expenses. The parents’ combined income determines the total amount of support owed by both parents. The total support obligation is then distributed between the parents. The parent with less parenting time pays his or her share through child support.

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 Posted on April 20, 2023 in Family Law

There is a good deal of confusion and misinformation surrounding the concept of legal separation in Illinois. Many people use the word “separated” to refer to a temporary break from a spouse. Others use the word to refer to a permanent situation in which the spouses live separately. However, neither of these situations necessarily constitutes a legal separation.

A married couple who has legally separated benefits from specific legal protections under Illinois law. Being separated does not end a marriage, but it does allow the spouses to address many of the same types of issues that they would address during a divorce.

What is a Legal Separation?

A legal separation is a binding agreement between two spouses. The spouses agree to live apart from each other and to separate their finances and everyday lives. Couples who are legally separated are still married and still enjoy certain benefits that come with a marriage relationship, such as inheritance rights. They cannot marry somebody else. Unlike a divorce, a legal separation is not necessarily permanent. If a legally separated couple reconciles, they are able to vacate the separation and resume their married lives together.

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 Posted on April 17, 2023 in Divorce

When two people get married, they combine their lives as well as their possessions. “Yours” and “mine” becomes “ours.” This can make it very difficult to determine who owns what during a divorce. If you or your spouse own jewelry, you may wonder how this particular type of asset is dealt with during an Illinois divorce. Jewelry can not only have great financial value, it often has tremendous sentimental value as well. Asset division can be tricky and determining ownership of a piece of jewelry is not always easy. Read on to learn more.

Marital and Non-Marital Property

In an Illinois divorce, marital property typically includes property that was obtained between the start of the marriage and the separation or divorce. However, it is not always this straightforward. If a spouse acquired a piece of jewelry through an inheritance, it does not matter when he or she inherited the asset, it is a non-marital asset. For example, if your mother passed away and you inherited her wedding rings, the rings belong solely to you.

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 Posted on April 13, 2023 in Divorce

It is hard to even comprehend how much our society has changed in the past few decades. For example, a phone used to be something attached to a cord in your home which was capable of little more than making and receiving phone calls. Now, phones are devices we use to shop, browse the internet, manage financial affairs, and navigate the world around us. The technological advancements made in recent years have been a great benefit to society, but they can also be used as tools for abuse.

If your spouse is using technology to stalk you during your divorce, it can be incredibly frightening and unsettling. However, there are some steps that you can take to protect yourself and stand up for your rights.

Spying and Stalking During an Illinois Divorce

A huge part of any abusive relationship is control. When an abuser is losing control over his or her spouse, he or she may use various methods to continue the abusive behavior during a divorce. Stalking or spying on a spouse using technology is one of those methods. Spouses may use spyware on phones or computers, track GPS locations, or even use hidden cameras in order to follow their spouse’s every move.

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 Posted on April 10, 2023 in Divorce

When someone begins to consider divorce, well-meaning family and friends may give them outdated or inaccurate advice. Divorce laws vary from state to state. Furthermore, the laws change frequently. So, if someone got divorced in 2015, they may have divorced under a completely different set of laws than someone in 2023. It is important for anyone contemplating divorce to educate themselves about the current divorce laws. Consult an experienced divorce attorney for help.

Grounds for Divorce in Illinois in 2023

Grounds are the legal justification for a divorce. Illinois used to have fault-based grounds for divorce. For example, a spouse could assert mental cruelty or adultery as a basis for the divorce. Fault-based divorces are no longer available in Illinois. The only grounds for divorce is irreconcilable differences between the parties, which means that there are two people who no longer want to be married and cannot work out their problems. This is called “no-fault” divorce.

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 Posted on April 06, 2023 in Family Law

Technology has become an integrated part of our everyday lives. It is not uncommon to see children using smartphones, laptops, tablets, and other electronic devices as well. When divorcing parents set up their parenting plan, it is a good idea to ensure that the parents are on the same page about child-related issues. Increasingly, technology has become a source of contention for parents. Some parents allow their children to use electronic devices at any time. Others strictly monitor their child's “screen time.”

To reduce the possibility of conflict in the future, parents are encouraged to discuss issues like these and work out a plan in advance. As you develop your parenting plan, make sure to consider the following technology concerns.

When Is a Child Old Enough to Have A Smartphone?

Unlike cell phones from previous decades, today's cell phones are capable of accessing the Internet, buying products online, making video calls, and much more. Parents should ensure that they are on the same page about smartphones. Serious conflict can arise when one parent buys the child a smartphone without the other parent's knowledge or consent. Whether your children are toddlers or teenagers, it is important for parents to discuss when their child will have a smartphone, who will pay for the smartphone, and any rules regarding the use of the phone.

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