Posted on February 22, 2016 in Child Custody

In your family law case, you and your child's other parent will be expected to complete and submit a temporary parenting plan to the court. The parenting plan will often affect your life and the life of your family on a day-to-day basis.

The Judge Wants Parents to Agree

Judges want parents to agree on a parenting plan. The reason that a family law case starts out with both sides submitting a temporary parenting plan is because judges understand that children need stability. The faster parents can come to an agreement on at least a temporary plan, the smoother life will usually go for the children.

However, if you and the other parent cannot agree on a temporary plan, then you will have to go through mediation to try and work out a plan. A judge does not want have to impose a parenting plan on the parties because judges understand these plans often create more conflict between the two parents.

Parents Can be Creative With Their Parenting Plan

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 Posted on February 17, 2016 in Divorce

Several kinds of assets are easy to divide between the spouses in a divorce. However, determining out how to divide a business is complicated. Most businesses cannot simply be divided up without damaging or destroying their value.

How Much of the Business is Marital Property?

Illinois requires judges to divide marital property equitably. Therefore, given all the factors, a judge must split all of the marital property fairly. There are two questions that must be answered about every asset before the marital property can be divided:

1. Is the asset marital property?
2. What is the value of the asset?

An asset is considered marital property if it was acquired after the marriage, with a few exceptions. In the case of a business, if the business was started after the marriage, the entire value of the business is marital property. However, if the business was started by one of the spouses prior to the marriage, then only part of the value of the business will usually be considered marital property.

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 Posted on February 15, 2016 in Child Custody

In every family law case involving children, the judge is required to make decisions that are in the best interest of the child. The phrase "best interests of the child" can seem vague and difficult to understand. However, when judges are evaluating parenting time and allocation of parental rights options, there are many factors that are always considered.

Factors Judges Consider

The law requires judges examine all the relevant factors when deciding what is in a child's best interest. This gives judges the power to consider almost anything related to the child. Major factors that judges consider when deciding what is in the best interest of the child include:

• The wishes of the parents;
• The wishes of the child;
• The physical health of the child;
• The mental health of the child;
• The academic performance of the child;
• Any special needs of the child;
• The child's interactions and relationships with the parents;

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 Posted on February 10, 2016 in Hidden Assets

When an individual believes that a divorce is unavoidable, he or she may panic. As a result, he or she may try to hide money or assets to avoid losing them in the divorce. If your spouse is playing games with your family finances, it then puts you at a disadvantage. However, there are teams of experts who are trained to detect fraudulent financial activity in a divorce, and to find missing assets.

How Spouses Try and Hide Money and Assets

There is no end to the creativity of people looking to try and hide money from their spouse and their spouse's attorney. Sometimes they spend months withdrawing money from checking and savings accounts and depositing the money into secret accounts. A spouse may also try and buy expensive items such as jewelry or art that can easily be transported and hidden, hoping to cash in those assets later after the divorce is final.

Another common technique is to transfer assets, even property, into the name of someone else before the divorce. The plan is for the person to then "give" the assets or property back after the divorce. Other times a spouse may just try and lie about the value of property, assets, income or accounts.

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 Posted on February 08, 2016 in Child Custody

A contentious divorce can be hard on everyone involved. However, children are especially vulnerable. If there is a dispute over the allocation of parental responsibilities in a divorce, the parents need to work hard to protect their children from feeling like they are pawns, or that they have to choose between their parents.

Keep the Routine Stable

A divorce or custody dispute often causes a lot of upheaval for everyone. The more stable you can make your child's daily routine, the more secure the child will feel about the new changes. The child should continue to attend the same school, participate in the same activities, and associate with the same friends as much as possible.

One of the factors court appointed custody evaluators often look at is which parent provides the child with the most stability. The more you can keep your child's routine the same, the better you will look to the evaluator.

Do Not Speak Negatively About the Other Parent

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 Posted on February 03, 2016 in Alimony

As part of a final divorce decree a judge may award spousal maintenance. However, that order may not be the final word on the matter. Both sides may be able to come back to the court to ask for a modification of the original order.

When Do Maintenance Payments End?

Illinois law sets out a formula for judges to use when determining how long maintenance payments will last depending on the length of the marriage. However, in most cases, the payments may also end if the spouse receiving the payments remarries or lives with an intimate partner. Because maintenance is a court ordered payment, the spouse making the payments may need to file a motion in court to have the payments officially terminated.

When Can You Request a Modification?

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 Posted on February 01, 2016 in Divorce

In the early stages of a divorce there is often a lot of positioning to see who will be awarded the marital residence. However, the fight regarding who gets the house is about much more than just the house itself. Possession of the house is also linked to almost every other area of the divorce.

Areas of Conflict in a Divorce

In most divorces there are three main areas of conflict:

• Division of property;
• Allocation of parental responsibilities (custody); and
• Support.

Often, the decisions about the division of the marital property, allocation of parental responsibilities, child support, and spousal maintenance are thought of as separate. However, they are all connected. For example, when a judge decides if spousal maintenance is appropriate in a case, he or she will also look to see if child support has been awarded, how the marital property has been divided, and where the children live, among other factors. Similarly, when the court awards possession of the primary residence a variety of factors are in play.

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 Posted on January 29, 2016 in Divorce

A lot can be at stake financially during a divorce.

If you are worried about your spouse taking any actions that could harm your property or your financial future, you can seek a financial restraining order.

What is a Financial Restraining Order?

A financial restraining order is a type of temporary restraining order that freezes much of the marital assets. A financial restraining order has nothing to do with domestic violence. Moreover, these orders are not automatically granted when you file for a divorce.

If you believe that your spouse is acting irresponsibly with the marital property with extravagant spending, or by damaging assets, you can petition the court to issue a restraining order. You can also petition the court for a restraining order to block the sale of a property or asset.

What Gets Frozen and For How Long?

A financial temporary restraining order freezes the marital assets, and it freezes assets for both sides. Just as your spouse will be blocked from selling any of the property off, you will also be blocked from selling any of the property without first retaining the permission of the court.

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 Posted on January 27, 2016 in Family Law

Some of the basic laws which govern what makes a marriage valid differ significantly from state to state. While Illinois does not recognize common law marriage, many states do. What happens if you have a common law marriage in another state, move to Illinois, and want a divorce?

What is Common Law Marriage?

According to state law, common law marriage is when a couple becomes married, even though they never went through any of the formalities such as retaining a marriage license or having an authorized person perform a marriage ceremony. Moreover, states that recognize common law marriages each have their own requirements, and these requirements must be met in order for a common law marriage to be recognized.

Getting an Illinois Divorce After Having a Common Law Marriage in Another State

If you lived in a state that has a provision for common law marriage, and you met all of the requirements, you are legally married. If you later move to Illinois and want a divorce, so long as you or your spouse meets the 90-day residency requirement, you can petition for a dissolution of marriage in Illinois state courts.

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 Posted on January 22, 2016 in Child Custody

Even though same-sex marriage is legal throughout the United States, there are still unique issues facing same-sex couples in Illinois family law courts. When there is a case involving the allocation of parental responsibilities, formerly known as custody cases, same-sex couples may face challenges in getting the parenting time they deserve.

The Legal Rights of Biological Parents

In most instances, the biological parents are presumed to be the legal parents of a child. If someone is not a legal parent, he or she has very few rights regarding a child. He or she may not even be awarded court ordered parenting time.

If a same-sex couple has not taken the proper steps to ensure that they are both the legal parents of a child, then it could open the door for a biological parent to try and claim some rights to parental responsibilities or parenting time. If the same-sex couple splits up, then this situation can leave one of the partners in jeopardy of not having any court mandated time with his or her child.

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