Posted on March 06, 2023 in Divorce

If one thing is certain in life, it is change. People change jobs, get divorced, remarry, and move to new residences. As life events unfold, the circumstances that gave rise to certain court orders may also change. Consequently, some individuals find themselves in need of changes to their divorce decree. When it comes to making modifications after a divorce, modifications are possible in many situations—but not all.

Modifying Child Custody After a Divorce

Your parenting plan outlines each parent's rights and responsibilities regarding the care of your children. When it comes to changing a parenting plan after a divorce, Illinois law allows modifications if it is in the best interests of the child. However, Illinois courts do not want parents changing the parenting plan frequently because this can be hard for children to adjust to. If it has been less than two years since you got divorced or last modified the allocation of parental responsibilities, you can only modify parental responsibilities if the child is in serious risk of harm.

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 Posted on February 28, 2023 in Divorce

Some of the major benefits of marriage are the federal tax benefits that come along with being able to file married jointly. When a married couple shares children, the tax credits and exemptions they can claim are usually even higher and are often enough to make a significant difference in a couple’s financial situation in any given year. When a couple gets divorced, however, several questions about taxes and children arise. Unlike most questions about taxes, getting the answers to these questions is not always a simple matter of consulting an accountant because certain issues require making decisions in advance and with the approval of a court.

Which Parent Can Claim a Child as a Dependent?

Only one parent can claim a child as a tax dependent in any given year and wrongfully claiming a child as a dependent can land a parent in serious trouble with the IRS. This means it is important to proactively make an agreement with your ex during the divorce process and it is equally important to stick to the agreement, even if you dislike it. Parents may decide to switch off years during which one parent can claim all children as dependents, divide the children between themselves so each parent claims a child or two every year, or simply have one parent claim all the children every year.

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 Posted on February 22, 2023 in Property Division

Getting divorced is a complex process with many moving parts. Each of these parts - such as child custody, alimony, and asset division - has subsequent pieces of its own that require careful attention and management throughout the divorce process. Of all the things that must be decided during divorce, asset division has the potential to have the most long-term consequences, as the financial future of a divorcing couple can be highly influenced by the outcome of their property division agreement. This means assessing the correct value of assets is essential, and, because the family home is often the most valuable asset a couple owns together, an accurate home appraisal is necessary.

How Do We Get Ready to Have Our House Appraised?

A professional appraiser will come to your house, look at its interior and exterior, compare it to other homes in the area that have recently sold or are up for sale, and estimate the value of your home accordingly. You can influence the value of your home by preparing for the appraisal process by:

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 Posted on February 21, 2023 in Property Division

For many married couples, student loans are an inevitable part of life. Getting an education is an incredibly expensive investment, and when a couple gets married before or during one or both spouses’ years in school, student loans may be taken on during the marriage. But what happens to such a significant amount of debt when a couple decides to get divorced? While the spouse whose education was paid for using student loans may seem like the natural person to take on responsibility for the loans, allocating student debt actually depends on a number of factors.

Who is Responsible for Student Loans in a Divorce?

Illinois law requires divorcing spouses to fairly divide their assets and debts. Fairly does not necessarily mean equally, however, and this is where the details really matter when it comes to student loans. Illinois courts prefer couples to create an asset and debt division agreement without intervention from a judge, but this is not always possible. Even when it is possible, both spouses need to make sure they understand the law, because a judge will need to review any proposed asset and debt division for fairness and equity. Some factors that will need to be considered include:

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 Posted on February 16, 2023 in Child Support

For most parents in Illinois, paying child support is an obligation that ends once a child turns 18 or graduates from high school. However, for other parents, child support can continue for several years or even indefinitely. It is important to know when child support can be ordered after a child reaches legal adulthood so you can financially prepare yourself for any obligations you may have, as well as ensure that your child’s needs are met throughout their life.

Child Support for an Adult Child in College

Illinois is one of the few states that allows judges to order divorced parents to help their children pay for college or trade school. Married parents cannot be ordered to do this, but divorced parents can because of the idea that a child should continue to enjoy the standard of living she would have expected had her parents stayed married. For some families, this includes assistance with college tuition, although judges are not obligated to order parents to pay their child’s educational expenses.

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 Posted on February 09, 2023 in Divorce

Few people get married with the expectation that they will eventually get divorced. However, even after several decades of marriage, life can bring insurmountable challenges that completely change our expectations of what we thought the future would hold.

This is especially true for people who suffer from degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer’s or Pick’s Disease. Even if a marriage was rock solid before signs of dementia began setting in, the way that the brain’s essential functions break down with neurodegenerative diseases can quickly make a quality relationship impossible. People who have degenerative brain disease can become very difficult to live with because they may get lost, become aggressive, or even forget how to do simple things like get out of bed and dress themselves. When a degenerative brain disease progresses to the point where a couple can no longer function as a whole, the healthy partner may consider divorce.

Brain Disease Can End a Marriage

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 Posted on February 02, 2023 in Property Division

On average, people are putting off getting married and having children until their late twenties and early thirties. In addition to giving people more time to accumulate assets of their own, those who wait until later to get married may be more likely to have pets when they enter the relationship. Other times, a couple who is already married might test their ability to keep a helpless creature alive by getting a pet before they commit to trying to have a baby.

However you come to pet ownership, one thing is certain: If you and your spouse end up getting divorced, you do not want your divorce to impact your ability to spend time with your beloved pet. Savvy couples are finding ways to protect their pets from divorce by signing a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement that details pet custody after divorce. How can a prenup or postnup manage a pet? Read on to find out, and then contact an Illinois family lawyer who can help you create an enforceable premarital agreement of your own.

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 Posted on January 31, 2023 in Divorce

A compromise leaves everyone unhappy, as the old saying goes, and nowhere is this more true than with a divorce decree. The hallmark of a good divorce decree seems to be that both spouses are left wishing they had more control over the outcome and that the terms of the decree benefitted them more personally.

Although certain parts of a divorce decree can only be changed in very rare circumstances, other parts can be modified to better suit your circumstances. However, it is important to know when a divorce decree modification petition is likely to be approved so you do not waste time or money on unsuccessful petitions.

Which Parts of a Divorce Decree Can Be Appealed?

The least likely part of your divorce decree to be appealed successfully is the property division part. This is because it tends to be the most unforgiving when it comes to modifications; after all, modifying a property division would require transferring money, investments, or real estate between spouses, all of which can be very expensive and time-consuming. The only time that a property division agreement has a chance of being modified is if the appeal is filed within 30 days of the original divorce decree being handed down, and only then if there was a serious error of fact or application of the law.

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 Posted on January 26, 2023 in Divorce and Finances

One of the most challenging aspects of divorce is the need to divide assets and debts that a couple has accumulated during a marriage. A divorcee’s long-term financial stability can feel threatened by this process, as a typical divorce leaves both partners with less in asset ownership and cash savings than they had before the divorce. Naturally, this can have implications for retirement.

Those interested in getting divorced can rest easy, however, knowing that certain things are not changed by divorce. One of these is Social Security benefits, a major piece of one’s overall financial picture. Understanding what your benefits are likely to be can help you plan for the future and engage in wise financial negotiations.

Can My Former Spouse Draw On My Benefits?

If you have made substantially more money than your spouse throughout your marriage, you may be wondering whether your spouse can get their own benefits based on yours - and, more importantly, whether that will reduce the amount of benefits available to you. Whether your spouse can benefit from your work history will depend on a number of factors, but the most important thing to know is that, no matter what your spouse does, your personal benefits will not change. You cannot do anything to deny your spouse benefitting from your Social Security contributions, but their actions will not impact your benefits in any way.

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 Posted on January 25, 2023 in Divorce

No matter what your marital arrangements look like, parenting involves making significant sacrifices for your children. Unfortunately, some parents end up making major economic sacrifices to raise their children by staying home to provide childcare and then are left in a vulnerable position when they need to file for divorce. If you are in this situation, understanding your options for getting divorced is an important part of protecting yourself now and in the future.

Temporary Spousal Support

When only one spouse works outside the home, that spouse often ends up controlling most or all of a couple’s finances. That can make it very difficult for the stay-at-home spouse to know the family’s financial situation, to get money to move out or otherwise protect themself, or to feel empowered to hire an attorney to file for divorce.

Recognizing this, Illinois law does allow for the provision of temporary spousal support orders. However, these orders are not automatic and are not granted to every spouse filing for divorce; instead, a spouse needs to petition for temporary support and a judge will determine whether the circumstances merit an award. Some things the judge will consider include:

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