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Recent Blog Posts
Do I Need a Divorce Attorney if My Divorce is Uncontested?
An uncontested divorce in Illinois is one where both parties agree on all aspects of their separation, including property division, child custody, and spousal maintenance. It might seem straightforward, but hiring a divorce attorney can still make a significant difference in navigating the legal complexities and ensuring your best interests are protected. Today, we will discuss why you should still hire an attorney regardless of whether your divorce is uncontested.
Reasons to Hire an Attorney During an Uncontested Divorce
The following are reasons why it is a best practice to hire a lawyer for an uncontested divorce, including:
- While an uncontested divorce may appear simple, it still requires a thorough understanding of Illinois divorce laws. A divorce attorney is well-versed in the legal intricacies of Illinois laws and can guide you through the process to ensure your rights do not become infringed. They can also help you avoid the common pitfalls and ensure that you comply with all necessary requirements, ultimately saving you time and stress.
Common Complexities of High Asset Divorces in Illinois
The process of divorce in Illinois is a complicated one, but it becomes even more complex when high-value assets are involved. High-asset divorce cases require the knowledge and skills of an experienced attorney who understands the unique challenges and complexities of such cases.
Equitable Division of Property
The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) governs high-asset divorce cases in Illinois, providing guidelines for property division, spousal maintenance, and child support.
Under the IMDMA, marital property is divided equitably or fairly, but this does not necessarily mean that it is divided equally. Such a division can be a complex process, as it requires determining which assets are considered marital property and which are separate property.
Marital property includes any property acquired by either spouse during the marriage, regardless of whose name is on the title. This can include real estate, investments, retirement accounts, and businesses. Separate property, on the other hand, includes any property that was acquired by either spouse prior to the marriage or by gift or inheritance during the marriage.
What Happens if Someone Does Not Pay Child Support?
Child support helps parents cover child-related costs including housing, education costs, daycare, and much more. In Illinois, child support is considered the child’s right. The court will typically require the parent with less parenting time to pay child support payments to the parent with the majority of the parenting time. This support helps distribute child-related costs between the parents. But what happens if a parent fails to pay child support?
In this blog, we will discuss the consequences of child support nonpayment and what parents should do if they are not receiving child support.
Penalties for Not Making Child Support Payments
It should be noted that Illinois courts only have the authority to enforce formal child support orders. If your child’s other parent had a causal agreement and the other parent has suddenly stopped paying, there is little the court can do to enforce the agreement. You need to have an official child support order through the court or the Illinois Health and Family Services Division of Child Support Services. For some parents, this will require establishing parentage or paternity first.
Red Flags That Could Mean Your Spouse Is Hiding Assets or Income During Your Divorce
Financial issues are often the main source of conflict in a relationship, and that conflict can intensify during a divorce. Divorcing spouses are required to disclose their assets, all sources of income, and other financial information during a divorce. Financial disclosure is needed to ensure that any settlements or verdicts are based on accurate financial information. However, some spouses lie about their income and property during the divorce process. If you are considering or going through a divorce, it's important to be aware of the signs that your spouse may be hiding assets or income.
Common Ways Spouses Fabricate or Falsify Financial Information During a Divorce
Some spouses try to sway the division of marital property in their favor by lying about their assets and debts. They may also lie about income in order to increase the amount of child support or spousal support they receive or decrease their support obligations. Spouses may hide income or falsify income by:
Mediation for Child Relocation Disputes
When divorced or unmarried parents share custody of a child, moving to a new residence can present a significant challenge. Courts typically approve parental relocations if both parents agree to the move and the move is in the child's best interests. However, the situation becomes much more complicated legally and personally if one of the parents disagrees with the move.
If you or your child's other parent intend to move and you disagree with their intention, family law mediation may help you and the other parent negotiate a mutually-agreeable arrangement.
Illinois Law Regarding Child Relocation
"Relocation" describes moving to a new residence that is a significant distance away from the old residence. For parents in the collar counties of Illinois, a move is considered a relocation if the new residence is 25 miles away or more. For Illinois residents outside the collar counties, the cut-off is 50 miles.
How Does Fault Impact an Illinois Divorce?
Typically, blame for a marital breakdown is not black and white. Rarely is one spouse purely at fault and while the other spouse shares no part of the blame. Human relationships are much more complicated than this. There are usually countless factors that lead to a divorce.
That being said, it is important for anyone getting divorced to understand how the legal concept of fault may influence their case. In this blog, we will explore the ground for divorce in Illinois, the meaning of “no-fault divorce,” and how marital misconduct like cheating can impact a divorce case.
Illinois Grounds for Divorce in 2023
Illinois used to have fault-based grounds for divorce. However, Illinois is presently a no-fault divorce state. "Irreconcilable differences" is the only ground for divorce accepted by state courts in Illinois. This means that a spouse does not need to prove fault on the part of their soon-to-be ex-partner in order to obtain a divorce.
Tips for Business Owners Getting Divorced
If you own a restaurant, retail store, tech start-up, or another type of business, getting divorced can be especially complicated. As you navigate the emotional and personal challenges of ending your marriage, you will also need to consider the legal and financial implications of divorce on your business. In this blog, we will describe the steps you should take to protect your business when getting divorced. However, each case is different, and business owners are encouraged to work with an experienced divorce lawyer to ensure their legal and financial interests are protected.
Understand the Value of Your Business
One of the first steps you should take during a divorce involving business assets is to get an accurate and comprehensive appraisal of your company. Whether you own a small business you run out of your own home, or a large corporation, it is only possible to properly account for the business's value during divorce with an accurate valuation. Work with a professional business appraiser to develop a thorough report of your business's assets, liabilities, and current value.
What Are the Benefits of Establishing Parentage for an Unmarried Parent?
Parentage refers to the legal relationship between a child and a parent. Typically, a mother’s parentage is easily established because she gives birth to the child. However, establishing parentage, or paternity as it was previously called, can be much harder for fathers.
Establishing parentage can help both the parent and the child in many ways. The legal recognition of a parent-child relationship provides a host of financial, emotional, and logistical benefits to both parties. If you are an unmarried parent, establishing parentage can provide financial stability, legal protection, and emotional security for your child.
Establishing Parentage is the First Step in Getting Child Support
When a parent is legally recognized, they can be required to make child support payments. This financial assistance helps ensure that the needs of the child are met. If a woman has a child and paternity is not established, she cannot ask the court for a child support order until the father's paternity is legally recognized. In some cases, this may necessitate DNA paternity testing. In other cases, establishing paternity is as simple as signing a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity at the hospital when the baby is born.
Divorced Illinois Parents May Need to Get Court Permission to Move
Anything from a new job to a new relationship may prompt a change in residence. If you are a divorced parent currently sharing custody of your child with an ex, it is important to understand Illinois laws regarding child relocations.
Co-parents have certain rights and responsibilities regarding child relocations, previously called child removals. In some situations, a parent must get permission from the other parent as well as the court before relocating with his or her child to a new residence.
Relocation Requirements Depend on the Distance Between the Two Homes
Illinois laws prioritize a child’s best interests above all other factors when it comes to child custody or other child-related legal matters. Taking a child away from one of his or her parents can be quite stressful for the child (and the parent). Consequently, courts require parents to meet certain criteria before moving with a child.
Key Issues to Include in Your Kane County Parenting Parenting Plan
In 2016, Illinois updated the language describing child custody. Today, the state recognizes “parenting time” and "parental responsibilities," which refer to physical custody and decision-making authority respectively. Divorcing parents will need to determine how they will make decisions about their child's education, involvement in church or other religious activities, medical care, and more. They must also determine how they will share responsibility for supervising the child and meeting his or her day-to-day needs. A parenting plan provides an agreement between two parents regarding who has what rights or responsibilities related to the children. Developing a mutually-agreeable parenting plan is rarely a simple task, so it is important to start thinking about these issues early in the divorce process.
Parenting Time, Parental Responsibilities, and Other Crucial Matters in Your Parenting Plan
Whenever possible, parents are encouraged to create their own parenting plans as opposed to letting the court determine the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time for them. Sometimes, this requires help from their respective attorneys or a divorce mediator.
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