Posted on July 07, 2025 in Property Division

Student loan debt has become a central issue in many divorces, especially when one or both spouses pursued advanced degrees or took out large loans before or during the marriage. For divorcing couples in DuPage County, the question of who pays for student loans after divorce is not always straightforward. It depends on a range of factors, including when the loans were taken out, how they were used, and how property is divided during the divorce process.

Whether you are the spouse who earned the degree or the one who supported your partner’s education, it is important to understand how Illinois divorce courts treat student loan debt. An experienced Wheaton, IL divorce attorney can help you develop a clear financial strategy as you prepare for settlement negotiations or litigation.

Are Student Loans Considered Marital Debt in Illinois?

Under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, property and debts are classified as either marital or non-marital. Only marital property and marital debt are divided during divorce. Non-marital assets and debts typically remain with the spouse who owns them.

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 Posted on June 27, 2025 in Child Support

Following a separation or divorce, child support payments are essential to ensuring that a child’s needs are met. Unfortunately, not all parents will comply with these court-ordered obligations, and some will deliberately try to avoid paying child support by quitting a job or taking a lower-paying job. Unpaid child support can lead to serious financial hardships for the receiving parent and the child.

Thankfully, Illinois law (Chapter 40, 750 ILCS 5/505) provides a range of enforcement tools to help parents obtain the child support to which they are legally entitled. If you are dealing with partial child support payments, late payments, or deliberate, willful noncompliance, speaking to an experienced Wheaton, IL child support lawyer can make a difference.  

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 Posted on June 25, 2025 in Divorce

Some people may believe that choosing a divorce attorney is as simple as typing in "divorce attorney in my area" on Google and choosing the first one that pops up. After all, one divorce attorney is much like the next, right? While it would make choosing a divorce attorney easier if this were true, in fact, it is not.

Having a divorce attorney who fully understands your needs, communicates clearly, and advocates fiercely on your behalf can make a difference in the outcome of your divorce. Not every divorce attorney will be a good fit for you and your unique situation. Recognizing the signs that a divorce attorney may not be the right fit for you early in the process can save you time and stress.

It can also save you from dealing with unfavorable results. If you are facing the uncertainty of divorce, it can be very beneficial to speak to an experienced Wheaton, IL divorce attorney from The Stogsdill Law Firm, P.C. to discuss your divorce goals.

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 Posted on June 12, 2025 in Divorce

According to a recent article, many Americans who want to get divorced are putting it off, thanks to the current economic environment. A full 62 percent of Americans say they live paycheck to paycheck, which leaves little extra money for a divorce. More than 37 percent of married people say they stayed in their marriage at least a year longer than they wanted to because of the cost.

Major breadwinners in a marriage may be unwilling to divorce a spouse and hand over a significant amount of their income for child support and alimony. At the same time, stay-at-home parents can be hesitant to leave the financial safety of their marriage, no matter how untenable the relationship may be. In an effort to save money on the divorce, some couples will decide that a DIY divorce using internet forms will work just fine.

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 Posted on May 30, 2025 in Divorce

Selling a home, particularly one you have spent a considerable amount of time living in or raising your children in, can be difficult. Going through a divorce can also be difficult and emotional. When you are forced to do both these things at the same time, you may end up feeling emotionally exhausted. There are many different scenarios in a situation like this. The court may have ordered the sale of the marital home, with the proceeds from the sale to be split in a specific manner.

One spouse may be allowed to remain in the house with the understanding that he or she will manage the sale, or both spouses may move out and work together to sell the house. In most cases, the Marital Settlement Agreement will set forth the details of the home sale and may even include a specific time limit for the sale.

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 Posted on May 27, 2025 in Child Custody

Disputes regarding visitation ("parenting time" in Illinois) can be frustrating and emotionally draining for all involved. During a divorce, if the parents are unable to work out the allocation of parental responsibilities, parenting time, and a parenting plan on their own, the court will do it for them. Once those decisions are made and the terms are outlined in the parenting plan, both parents are legally required to follow those terms.

When one parent refuses to allow the other his or her assigned parenting time, the parent-child relationship can be damaged, plus the noncompliant parent may be violating Illinois law. To be clear, there are very few instances where a parent can legally deny parenting time to the other, absent a court order. If your ex prevents you from having your court-ordered parenting time, speaking to an experienced Wheaton, IL family law attorney is important.

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 Posted on May 16, 2025 in Child Custody

Parents who have gone through a divorce have likely heard the phrase "in the child’s best interests." Across the nation, every family court in every state makes custody decisions (the allocation of parental responsibilities in Illinois) based on the child’s best interests. But what does that actually mean? Is breaking up a family through divorce actually in the child’s best interests?

The answer to that question depends on a number of factors, not the least of which is whether parents who are unhappy in their marriage are the best parents they can be. Deciding to divorce is rarely an easy decision or one that is made on the spur of the moment without considering how it will affect the children.

That said, your decisions regarding your child’s best interests could be significantly different from what the court has in mind. If you are considering divorce and want an attorney who will take your wishes into consideration while also understanding how the court views your child’s best interests, it is time to speak to an experienced Wheaton, IL family law attorney.

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 Posted on May 05, 2025 in Family Law

The idea of spending any time with your children under someone else's supervision can feel humiliating and unfair, especially if the social worker is a supervisor and you are paying for their services. Yet some parents in Illinois are ordered to live with supervised parenting time every day.

Understanding why this happens and what the court wants to see is essential for getting through this tough time. It is important to remember that supervised parenting time is not necessarily indicative of your skills as a parent and that, with the help of a Wheaton, Illinois parenting time attorney, it is possible to move beyond this stage.

Why Would a Judge Order Supervised Parenting Time?

Supervised parenting time means one parent is not allowed to be with his or her child alone. If supervised parenting time is ordered and the court finds out the parent was with the child without supervision, it could potentially end the parenting time altogether. Parenting time is not supervised unless the judge believes the parent could endanger the child.

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 Posted on April 28, 2025 in Property Division

Going through a divorce is rarely easy. Challenges can still arise even when both spouses want the divorce and agree on most aspects. When both spouses cannot see eye-to-eye on virtually anything, those challenges increase, and the stress can be overwhelming. If your divorce is one of those relatively rare cases where everything appears to be going amicably, you will no doubt still have questions and concerns regarding how marital assets will be divided.   

Getting a handle on the marital assets to be divided and understanding the difference between marital and non-marital assets can make the process much easier. Separate, or non-marital assets, are those that one spouse had prior to the marriage and gifts or inheritances given to one spouse before or after the marriage. This is true unless those separate assets are commingled with marital assets or marital funds are used to make improvements or repairs.

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 Posted on April 23, 2025 in Divorce

Couples who are over the age of 65 are seeing a significant increase in the rate of divorce. Since the 1990s, the divorce rate for those over the age of 65 has tripled, while for those over the age of 55, the divorce rate has doubled. When you consider that one in 10 people who are divorcing in 2025 are over the age of 65, it is a phenomenon that psychologists struggle to make sense of.

Divorce for those over the age of 55 is known as "gray divorce." The increase in divorce among older Americans leaves a growing number of aging adults alone – and often financially insecure – in their "golden" years. Experts have had difficulty pinpointing the exact reasons for gray divorce, but typically attribute it to our increased longevity and the fact that people are less willing to endure unhappy marriages.

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