Posted on May 01, 2015 in Divorce

Divorce impacts most, if not all, aspects of your life. Divorcing spouses particularly feel such an impact in their finances. As a couple separates and goes through divorce, there are many financial questions that will be raised. One common financial issue in Illinois divorces relates to alimony, or spousal support. There are many considerations that will affect whether and how much alimony is paid in any given case.

Factors Affecting Spousal Support

In 2014, Governor Pat Quinn signed a sweepingalimony reform law that drastically changed how alimony payments are calculated throughout Illinois. The law, which took effect on January 1, 2015, created statutory calculation guidelines based in part on each spouse’s income and the length of the marriage.

Before the law changed, the judge in a divorce case could consider any number of factors, and make a subjective ruling on the issue of alimony. Now, state law actually lists factors that the judge must consider to determine whether alimony is appropriate in a case. These factors are:

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 Posted on May 01, 2015 in Divorce

Child custody disputes are often very contentious matters. Whether your custody dispute is part of your divorce case, or is a separate matter entirely, these issues can be quite complex. Parents often stress about the complications that may arise during a custody case. While each family law matter is different, there are important legal factors that impact each custody case. In particular, the type of custody granted in your case will affect both you and your child.

Physical Custody

When most think about child custody, what they imagine is the definition of physical custody. Basically, physical custody describes the child’s primary living situation. That is, the custodial parent is the one with whom the child primarily lives. In some cases, parents share this responsibility. Such a custody arrangement is termed joint custody. Other times, one parent will receive physical custody, which is known as sole custody. In cases where sole custody is granted, the non-custodial parent is rarely completed removed from the child’s life. Usually, he or she will have visitation access to the child. This visitation may be supervised in some cases, or unsupervised in others.

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 Posted on May 01, 2015 in Divorce

When a child is scheduled to have visitation with a non-custodial parent (that, is a parent who does not have primary custody of his or her child), it is not unusual for a court to insist that the visitation time be supervised by an outside party. This is done whenever a court feels it is necessary in order to protect a child’s safety. A supervisor is intended to be a “fly on the wall,” who is there to ensure the child’s well-being, and not otherwise interfere with the visitation.

Supervised visitation is often ordered due to concerns that the non-custodial parent may not be able to provide a safe environment for his or her child during the visitation period. However, this is not always the reason for it. It is also common for courts to insist on supervision during the period of time when children are transferred from one parent to another (that is, when the kids are picked up or dropped off.) This is typically done when there is animosity between the parents, and there are concerns about what kinds of interactions they could have during the transfer period.

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 Posted on April 01, 2015 in Divorce

Let’s say John Smith and Jane Doe are dating. They break up…and then Jane realizes she’s pregnant. She gives birth, but John doesn’t believe the child is his – he wants nothing to do with Jane, or their baby. After raising the baby on her own for a year, Jane applies for child support. John is reluctant to pay, but a paternity test proves that he’s the father, and now a judge has to determine how much child support John owes.

Can the judge force John to pay child support retroactively – that is, to pay child support for the time that has already passed? If John and Jane live in Illinois, the answer is yes.

At the very least, John will have to pay child support going back to when he was first notified that Jane had applied for child support. But the judge also has the option of requiring John to pay child support going back as far as the day the baby was born.

The Parentage Act

Illinois’sParentage Act deals with situations (such as the one described above), in which the parentage of a child is under dispute. It also lays out how child support will be handled. It states, “The court shall order all child support payments…to commence with the date summons is served.” (The summons in question is the notification a parent gets, informing them that their child’s other parent is seeking child support payments.) The statute goes on to say, “The court may order any child support payments to be made for a period prior to the commencement of the action.

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 Posted on April 01, 2015 in Divorce

If you are going through a divorce, it can be difficult just to be in the presence of your spouse – let alone to meet with them, and attempt to work out an agreement via mediation. It can be even more difficult when children are involved, especially if child custody is the subject that you disagree on. As difficult as it may sound, though, participating in a mediation is often your best chance of arriving at an agreement that you both can live with.

How a Child Custody Mediation Works

Mediation is a process in which the parties in a dispute meet, and attempt to resolve their differences with the help of a mediator. The mediator is an impartial third party. The process is confidential, regardless of whether the parties reach an agreement.

In a child custody case in Illinois, mediation may be ordered by a court if the parents are unable to reach an agreement on their own. For example, in the courts in Dupage County, Illinois, there is aMediation Referral Program. (Mediation is also mentioned in theIllinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, which states that courts may order mediation to determine whether joint custody is appropriate.)

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 Posted on April 01, 2015 in Divorce

Joint custody agreements aren’t just for children anymore. It is becomingmore and more common for divorcing couples to seek joint custody arrangements for their pets. After all, for many married couples, their pets are part of their family. Deciding who gets a beloved pet can make forquite a contentious struggle – one that could potentially hold up the process of your divorce.

In Illinois, there are laws that deal specifically with custody of children, how courts should determine who gets custody, how visitation should work, and so on. With pets, it is quite different. There are no state laws that deal specifically with pet custody. Coming to an agreement with your spouse over joint custody may be the only way for joint custody to be possible.

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 Posted on April 01, 2015 in Divorce

Many people get married with fears that their spouse won’t live up to their expectations once the wedding is over. “What if my spouse cheats on me?” would certainly be a common concern. Other worries might be financial in nature (“What if my spouse quits his/her job?”) or even aesthetic (“What if my spouse gains a lot of weight?”)

More and more, these kinds of concerns are finding their way into prenuptial agreements. That’s right – before saying “I do,” there are many couples who sign agreements with clauses such as, “If the husband has an extramarital affair, he will have to pay the wife $500,000.” (In fact, that particular clause iswidely rumored to be part of the prenuptial agreement that Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel signed before getting married.)

Do Courts Uphold These Clauses?

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 Posted on March 01, 2015 in Divorce

When a marriage ends very quickly, it is not unusual for the spouses to assume that their best option is to have the marriageannulled. Annulment is seen as a superior alternative to divorce – an inexpensive, quick, and easy way for the spouses to go their separate ways.

However, the reality is that the process is quite difficult. TheIllinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act lays out the rules for getting a declaration of invalidity of marriage (which is the legal term in Illinois for an annulment.) The standards are quite strict.

There are only four ways that a marriage can be declared invalid in Illinois:

1. If, at the time the marriage was performed, one of the parties lacked the capacity to consent to it – due to mental incapacity or infirmity, or intoxication, or because they were induced to enter into the marriage because of force, duress, or fraud;

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 Posted on March 01, 2015 in Divorce

Illinois has alaw that lays out the guidelines for the minimum amount that a non-custodial parent mustpay in child support. (A non-custodial parent is a parent who does not have physical and/or legal custody of his or her child.) The guidelines take into account two factors – income and number of children.

According to the guidelines, the minimum percentage of the non-custodial parent’s net income that should go to child support is as follows:

• 1 Child = 20%
• 2 Children = 28%
• 3 Children = 32%
• 4 Children = 40%
• 5 Children = 45%
• 6 Or More Children = 50%

The term “net income” refers to the non-custodial parent’s total income, after subtracting the following deductions:

• Federal and state income tax;

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 Posted on March 01, 2015 in Divorce

There are two different types of divorces in Illinois – those in which there is a finding of fault, and those based on irreconcilable differences (which are sometimes called no-fault divorces). One of the recognized grounds for a “fault” divorce is mental cruelty. If someone can prove to a court that they have been subjected to mental cruelty in their marriage, then they will be allowed to get out of the marriage more quickly than if their divorce was not based on fault.

Fault vs. No Fault

If a divorce is to be granted for irreconcilable differences, the spouses must live their lives separate and apart from each other. The divorce will only be granted after they have lived this way for two years. (It is possible, though, for the divorce to be granted after six months, if both spouses agree to sign a waiver of the two-year requirement.) When a divorce is based on “fault” grounds, it can be dissolved more quickly – but those grounds are not always present.

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