Posted on August 25, 2021 in Alimony / Maintenance

There are a variety of reasons why either spouse may wish to modify the terms of their divorce. Both parties may experience changes in their lives that affect their finances, their living arrangements, and their ability to meet their ongoing obligations or provide for themselves. Based on these changes, a person may believe that the decisions made about spousal support during the divorce process no longer apply to their situation. If a person believes that a modification of spousal maintenance is needed, they will want to understand their options and the procedures that will be followed.

Requesting a Modification of Spousal Maintenance

As with other types of post-divorce modifications, requests to make changes to spousal support obligations will need to be based on significant changes in the circumstances of either or both parties. These requests will usually be based on changes to the income and financial resources available to the parties. For example, if a person paying support loses their job, they may ask for maintenance payments to be reduced or terminated. Similarly, if the person receiving support experiences a decrease in income or an increase in their financial needs, they may ask that support payments be increased.

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 Posted on August 19, 2021 in Child Support

Parents who get divorced will need to address a variety of issues related to financial support for their children. While both parents are expected to contribute financially to their children’s needs, understanding exactly what is covered by child support can sometimes be a complex matter. By working with an attorney to understand how the law applies in their situation, parents can ensure that their children will have the necessary financial resources, while also making sure they will have the means to support themselves.

Basic Child Support and Additional Child-Related Expenses

In Illinois, parents’ child support obligations are determined using a method that takes both parents’ incomes into consideration. The law details a method of calculating what is known as the “basic child support obligation.” This amount is meant to represent the regular, ongoing expenses that parents would have paid for their children if they were still married.

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 Posted on August 16, 2021 in Family Law

Domestic violence affects the lives of millions of people every day in the United States, and Illinois residents are no exception. If you or a loved one has experienced domestic violence or abuse, you may have questions about protection orders. In Illinois, an Emergency Order of Protection is often issued on the same day that it was requested. It prohibits the subject of the order from contacting or coming near the petitioner and may also contain other provisions such as a provision requiring the subject to surrender his or her firearms. An order of protection also helps to create an official record of the abusive person’s behavior. However, many abuse victims fail to get this important and potentially life-saving protection because they do not know if what they experienced was technically abuse under the law.

Can I Get an Order of Protection If the Abuser Never Physically Harmed Me?

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 Posted on August 13, 2021 in Paternity

Originally published: May 16, 2016 -- Updated: August 12, 2021

UPDATE: It is important for fathers to understand that attempting to avoid responsibility for a child by refusing to sign the birth certificate or acknowledge fatherhood is usually not a good strategy. Even if a person did not want to have a child and does not want to be involved in the child’s life, they may still bear some responsibility for ensuring that the child’s needs will be met.

While a father may choose not to voluntarily acknowledge paternity, the child’s mother or other parties, such as a child support agency, may take legal action to establish paternity for the child. In these cases, a court will usually order DNA testing to be performed, and if a test shows that a man is the child’s biological father, he will be recognized as the legal father. Even if a father will not be sharing in parental responsibilities or spending any parenting time with the child, he will most likely still be required to pay ongoing child support. Typically, a father’s responsibilities toward a child will only be terminated if the child is adopted by another party, such as a step-parent or a relative. In these cases, the father may voluntarily relinquish parental rights and responsibilities, and the adoptive parent will be named the child’s legal parent.

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 Posted on August 12, 2021 in Divorce

We typically think of marriage as a romantic partnership. However, marriage is also a legal relationship. When a married couple divorces, they will need to follow certain procedures to dissolve the legal marital relationship. If you are thinking about getting divorced in Illinois, you may wonder what the process entails. For example, you may wonder what the legal grounds for divorce are in Illinois, or whether there is a waiting period before you can file for divorce. The better educated you are about the divorce process in Illinois, the better prepared you will be to end your marriage on your terms.

Illinois is a "No-Fault" Divorce State

Sometimes, well-meaning friends and family members give inaccurate and outdated divorce advice. One reason that this happens is that laws are always changing. Prior to January 1, 2016, Illinois had two options for divorce: fault-based divorce and no-fault divorce. Fault-based grounds were things like infidelity or abuse. However, Public Act 99-90 eliminated all of the fault-based grounds for divorce in the state of Illinois.

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 Posted on July 27, 2021 in Child Support

Although the most commonly known method of collecting child support is through a court order as part of the Illinois divorce process, there are actually two ways of petitioning to collect child support. The first, as previously mentioned, is through an Illinois court. The second is by filing with the Illinois Division of Child Support Services (DCSS).

If you are a parent of a child and you are attempting to collect child support, read on to learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of using DCSS to assist you, as well as how hiring a skilled child support attorney can help.

How Can DCSS Help Me Collect Child Support?

One major advantage of DCSS is that its services are free. These services include, but are not limited to:

• Establishing paternity in order to determine who is responsible for paying child support

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 Posted on July 23, 2021 in Property Division

So much of the conversation when we talk about divorce centers around the allocation of assets–property, money, investments. But a couple’s allocation of debt is often just as important, especially in an age where so many people carry the burden of enormous student loans.

Here, we will discuss different types of debt, the factors that can affect debt division, and the process by which debt is divided in an Illinois divorce.

Types of Debt

Marital assets and debts follow a similar pattern in a divorce. Debt that was owned by spouses prior to the marriage will generally be owned by that same spouse after a divorce. Debt that was taken on during the marriage is generally considered marital debt and will be divided between the spouses.

This is especially true when the debt is held under the name of both spouses, such as mortgages and home equity loans. Credit card debt can also be considered marital debt when it was taken out by only one spouse during the marriage if it was spent on items jointly used by the couple. For example, if a spouse used a credit card in their name alone to buy groceries for the entire family, the court may rule that both spouses are responsible for paying off that debt.

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 Posted on July 15, 2021 in Child Custody

Although some parents will act aggressively to get full parental responsibilities for their children, others feel differently. You may not want full or even partial custody of your child for a number of reasons. Your job, your children from a previous relationship, your desire for privacy, or your feelings that you are not equipped to provide the care your child needs are all possible reasons for wanting your child’s other parent to have the majority of the childcare responsibilities.

What is Best for the Child?

Whether during divorce proceedings or when establishing parental responsibilities between unmarried parents, the court will make decisions according to what is in the best interests of the child. The court also takes the preferences of the parents and the child into account. If you do not want custody of your child at all, the court will most likely award full custody to the child’s other parent.

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 Posted on July 13, 2021 in Asset Division

Retirement funds, such as pensions and 401(k) accounts, are often a substantial issue in an Illinois divorce. For a couple who have earned average incomes throughout the duration of their marriage, retirement accounts can make up the majority of their accumulated wealth. As such, spouses are often concerned with the impact of a division of retirement savings as a consequence of their divorce.

In our last post, we discussed the impact of divorce on Social Security benefits. Here, we will examine the way that retirement accounts are handled in a divorce.

401(k) and Contribution Plans 

Unless spouses signed a valid prenuptial agreement stating otherwise, 401(k) plans with contributions during the marriage are considered marital property and may be subject to division. Though contributions from before the marriage may remain non-marital assets, contributions during the marriage belong to the marital estate.

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 Posted on July 12, 2021 in Property Division

Everyone knows that when a couple divorces, they split everything they own 50/50. Right? Wrong! Property division in divorce is actually much more complex than just throwing everything into a big pot and then splitting it down the middle.

In this blog, we will address some of the most common types of property that must be divided in a divorce, and how Illinois divorce courts tend to divide property. Keep in mind that Illinois is an “equitable distribution” state, meaning that rather than dividing assets 50/50, assets will be divided fairly according to a number of factors that the court will consider.

Homes and Land

The marital home is often the most valuable asset a couple owns together. Depending on whether the couple has children and one of the spouses wishes to stay in the home, the couple may choose to have one spouse buy out the other spouse’s value in the home, or sell the home and split the proceeds.

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