Posted on February 01, 2021 in Child Support

When a couple getting divorced relied on one high-income breadwinner, it is often a priority for the other spouse to receive enough marital property to maintain the lifestyle they enjoyed during the marriage. Alternatively, spousal maintenance can help a divorced person continue to enjoy the same comforts they did during the marriage.

While divorce will affect their children’s lives, most Naperville parents would want to minimize the impact — both emotionally and economically. Child support is how divorced and unmarried parents in Illinois make sure that their children’s basic needs are met. But for high-income families, child support can also have the purpose of maintaining the children’s lifestyle after their parents split up.

Child support can be different for high earner parents

State law includes a formula for calculating child support based on several factors, including each parent’s income. But family court judges can deviate above the calculated level of support when the noncustodial parent’s income is high. Depending on that parent’s income and financial resources, the court might order them to pay thousands of dollars a month in child support. Besides the basics like food and shelter, the custodial parent can use this money to pay for things like sports, private tutors, designer clothes and vehicles.

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 Posted on December 01, 2020 in Alimony

Though permanent spousal maintenance is rare in Chicago-area divorces, it does happen. Spousal maintenance, commonly known as alimony, is meant to provide financial support to one spouse. The purpose is to give the spouse time to develop the job skills necessary to be financially independent or maintain the spouse’s lifestyle during the marriage but cannot afford to keep up on their own.

Most of the time, spousal maintenance is temporary. The spouses either agree to alimony for a set number of years, or the judge presiding over the divorce awards maintenance with a certain end date. But indefinite alimony is allowed in Illinois. When permanent spousal support is part of a divorce order, it is usually because one of the exes gave up working to support the other ex’s career. They agreed to be the primary homemaker and child-rearer to allow their spouse to focus on achieving their work goals. Now, after many years of depending on their spouse for income, they have few, if any, job skills.

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 Posted on December 01, 2020 in Child Custody

As in other states, Illinois law now uses the term “parenting time” in lieu of “physical custody”. This reflects the fact that family courts prioritize thebest interests of the childwhen determining whether he or she lives with one parent or alternates between households.

In general, the court favors an arrangement that fosters a close relationship with both parents. However, even when parents share physical custody, the time that the child spends with each parent may not be evenly split. Additionally, if one parent has demonstrated that he or she is unfit, the court may award sole custody to the other ex-spouse.

Physical custody and parenting plans

Even when parents share physical custody, it is unlikely that the child will spend precisely half of his or her time with each parent. Rather, divorcing individuals must submit adetailed parenting planthat specifies which days of the week the child will spend with each parent, including holidays and school breaks.

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 Posted on October 01, 2020 in Divorce

When you are facing divorce, especially if you are a parent, you may worry about how your split will impact you financially. Often, women facing divorce are surprised when they realize they end up with fewer assets than they thought or spousal support that ends sooner than expected.

Five challenges women experience during divorce include the following:

1. Not having a strong understanding of their marital debts vs. assets. Many women underestimate how much mortgage debt they and their spouse share on the family home or in credit card debt. These debts will negate other assets the couple shares in a divorce.
2. Not earning enough money to afford to live without their spouse. In 2020, women earn, on average, 19% less than men their age. That gap may be even higher if you took time off from your career to raise your children.

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 Posted on October 01, 2020 in Child Custody

When you and your spouse are unable to come to an agreement about parenting time and parenting responsibility, you may ask Illinois’ family court system to make such decisions for you. When tasked with doing so, the court system typically refers to the same set of factors.

While how much weight the court system gives each factor may depend on your child’s age, among other variables, understanding what these variables are may give you a better sense of your custody chances. What are some of the areas Illinois family courts consider when allocating parenting responsibilities?

Your child’s preferences

If your child is an infant or toddler, his or her own wishes with regard to where to live may not carry much weight. Older children may have strong opinions about where they want to live. If your son or daughter is old and mature enough to voice an opinion, the court may take it into account.

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 Posted on August 01, 2020 in Divorce

When the Illinois Tollway began offering drivers a way to pay their tolls electronically, few drivers thought that the new system might impact their case if they ever got a divorce. But thanks to an unusual legal loophole, your ex might be able to find out information collected by the Tollway about your movements and use that data against you.

Most people in the Naperville area will remember when the Illinois Tollway began issuing I-Pass transponders to drivers. These devices attach to your vehicle, and whenever you drive through a gate, you pay the toll automatically. Besides the convenience of not having to stop to toss your change into the dish, I-Pass users get a discount on tolls.

Driving data used in divorce proceedings

What you may not know is that I-Pass collects data on users’ travels on the Tollway. While that information generally is kept private, I-Pass will disclose that information when the party to a legal action — such as a divorce — gets the judge to issue a subpoena.

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 Posted on August 01, 2020 in Divorce

If you decide to file for divorce, now is the time to think about items to gather before you start the process. Make a list of everything you will need in terms of paperwork, but also include outcomes you would like to see during the divorce and after it is final. Here are three things to add to your list.

1. Financial and legal documents

Getting together all yourlegal and financial documentsmay support your claims for spousal support and property division. Legal and financial information includes:

• Marriage certificate
• Prenuptial and post-nuptial agreements
• Copies of trusts and wills
• Bank accounts
• Credit cards
• Bank statements
• Balances

Consider opening a bank account and credit card in your name. This is to protect you if your spouse takes money out of your joint account or maxes out the credit cards.

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 Posted on June 01, 2020 in Divorce

Raising children is much more than a full-time job. Their needs dictate the day-to-day goings-on in a household for 18 years, sometimes longer. It is a responsibility that takes up much of the space in a parent’s life.

When those children leave home, it creates a vacuum. This center of gravity, around which life revolved for so long, is simply gone. It is of little surprise this new normal leads some spouses to contemplate divorce.

Divorce and an empty nest

The relationship between divorce and an empty nest is not perfectly clear. There are too many factors to draw a definitive line between the two events. However, there are some clues that suggest it may be applicable to some marriages.

For one, we know there has been a recent uptick in the divorce rate among older adults. There is speculation this could be tied to empty nest syndrome, as the ages generally line up. But it is clear there are other factors at play.

Psychology Today discusses some of these considerations. When the kids leave, it’s not uncommon for one or both spouses to realize:

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 Posted on June 01, 2020 in Divorce

Like other small business owners, you are proud of the progress your venture has made in recent years. Thanks to your hard work, financial investment and business acumen, you have turned your startup into a well-oiled machine. If you are thinking aboutending your marriage, though, you may have some uncertainty about what happens to your company.

In Illinois, judges use anequitable distribution approachwhen dividing marital assets. Therefore, if you and your spouse cannot reach an agreement, a judge is apt to give you a fair share of everything the two of you jointly own. You can probably keep everything that is exclusively yours, however. To plan for your future, you must identify whether your business is part of the marital estate.

Separate vs. marital property

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 Posted on April 01, 2020 in Divorce

Updated April 3, 2020.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service are currently working to provide Americans with an economic impact payment as part of the $2.2 trillion economic relief package recently signed into law.

The IRS announced that the majority of people who have a bank account on file would receive their payment via direct deposit starting in the next few weeks. The amount you receive depends on your AGI on your 2019 tax returns. If you did not finish filing your 2019 tax return, the IRS would use your 2018 tax return.

What Happens If I Don’t Have Access To The Bank Account On File?

Individuals who recently divorced may have a bank account on file that now belongs to their ex-spouse. Alternatively, the bank account the IRS has on file may be a martial account that you no longer can access.

The Treasury Department is developing a web-based portal for people to update their bank account information. However, the exact details for how to ensure that you receive your payment, instead of your ex-spouse, is unknown. If your ex-spouse receives your payment, the resolution of that issue may fall under the jurisdiction of the domestic relations court.

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