Posted on June 10, 2022 in Divorce

 Separation before a divorce can be confusing for many reasons. While you are still legally married, you and your partner may live apart. Your partnership may feel more like a series of legal obligations to sort through before your divorce is finalized. While being separated allows couples to begin independent lives as single individuals, spouses still have legal obligations to one another. Partners must make many decisions during separation, including how to remain financially afloat. 

Who Pays the Bills?

Illinois courts will attempt to maintain the status quo when deciding who pays which bills throughout the divorce process. Essentially, this means that whatever the strategy was for paying the bills before separation will be maintained. For example, if your spouse would typically pay the mortgage payments, and you would pay for the cars, this payment schedule is expected to be maintained throughout the separation. 

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 Posted on June 03, 2022 in Divorce

The divorce process opens the door to new discussions for partners. It can be challenging to know how to navigate the many gray areas uncovered throughout a divorce, such as how much spousal support will be awarded, who will stay living in the shared family home, and which financial assets belong to each respective spouse. One common question posed during a divorce is how to pay bills during the marriage dissolution process. In short, the answer to this question is that it depends. There are a few key distinctions to consider when deciding how to pay family bills during the divorce process. 

Consideration One — Joint and Separate Assets  

In Illinois, whoever owns the financial asset, whether a mortgage or other payment, is responsible for maintaining that payment, even throughout a divorce. If you and your partner share the deed to the house, you are both responsible for paying the mortgage until the divorce is finalized. Couples should consider which assets are individually owned and which are shared to create a plan for maintaining those bills throughout a divorce. 

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 Posted on May 27, 2022 in Divorce

Choosing to divorce your spouse is a difficult decision. There are various reasons that couples make the final decision to dissolve their marriage, from infidelity to unmatched values. Illinois is a no-fault divorce state, which means that spouses do not need to express the reasoning behind the divorce. In a no-fault divorce, the only grounds for divorce are irreconcilable differences. 

Defining Irreconcilable Differences

When things are irreconcilable, they are unable to be made compatible. In divorce terms, irreconcilable differences refer to couples being completely incompatible and unable to resolve their differences. This is an overarching term used to describe the many reasons that couples argue, leading to a divorce. For example, in a state with fault-based divorce, infidelity may be listed as the grounds for divorce. However, infidelity and other marital miscouduct usually has little bearing on the outcome of an Illinois divorce.

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 Posted on May 19, 2022 in Property Division

Throughout a marriage, couples wind up sharing virtually everything from a house to bank accounts. When spouses decide to make the difficult decision to file for divorce and dissolve their marriage, they must discuss how to divide this shared marital property. They may consult a divorce attorney to discuss who will remain in the family home, which spouse will receive most parenting time or custody of the children, and how debt payments will be divided and paid off. Most people focus on these big-ticket items. However, many other types of overlooked shared marital property are essential to consider when filing for divorce. 

Pets

Spouses may overlook pets when considering how to divide shared marital property during a divorce. Although pets may feel like family members, pets are considered property in Illinois. Before 2018, when deciding who gets what during a divorce, pets were treated the same as any other type of property. The court did not award joint ownership or make “pet custody” arrangements. New provisions enacted after 2018 allow spouses to create joint ownership agreements for pets and consider the pets’ best interests.

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 Posted on May 13, 2022 in Divorce

Most people believe that a divorce attorney is only necessary for a contested, highly volatile divorce. This theory is often portrayed in the media, from high-profile celebrity divorce cases to movies that depict lawyers fighting for their clients in court. Although attorneys can be used in contested situations or to help provide mediation between parties, divorce law can cover a variety of situations, including uncontested divorces. Even when both spouses agree about divorce issues like property division and parental responsibilities, a lawyer can help facilitate the process, file the correct documents with the court, and ensure the marriage dissolution is completed correctly. 

What Can a Divorce Attorney Do For Me? 

Many life-changing decisions are made during a divorce. While these choices may be challenging for some couples, some spouses can agree quickly. In an uncontested divorce, spouses can agree on issues such as who will remain in the shared family home, how financial assets will be divided, and who gets the majority of parenting time if the couple shares children. Even if there are no negotiations or mediation necessary between spouses, an attorney is helpful. A divorce lawyer can:

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 Posted on May 06, 2022 in Uncategorized

Every divorce is different and unique to the family undergoing marriage dissolution. When spouses cannot agree upon these decisions together, there are many different routes that families can take to complete a divorce, such as mediation between spouses. During a divorce, litigation is usually seen as a last resort. Litigation can be intimidating, time-consuming, and expensive. If a settlement is not reached, litigation will move to trial.   

The Reason Why Divorce Cases Move to Trial

The main reason divorces move to trial is because spouses are unable to reach an agreement about one or more divorce issues. A trial will leave the decision-making to the court, not the spouses themselves. Many decisions made during a divorce are problematic because they drastically change the family dynamic moving forward. For example, many couples will disagree regarding child custody and visitation arrangements or ownership of shared marital property. Firm disagreement over divorce issues results in a contested divorce. 

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 Posted on April 29, 2022 in Uncategorized

It can seem like a nightmare scenario when your ex-spouse withholds visitation or parenting time with your children. However, there are many legal avenues that a parent can take to ensure they receive their fair share of parenting time with their children. Typically, the allocation of parenting responsibilities and parenting time is detailed in the divorce agreement — a legally binding document. Since the divorce decree is a court order, spouses must uphold it. If either spouse or parent chooses to breach the terms in a divorce decree, they can face significant consequences. 

Option 1: Mediation

Sometimes, parents need to reevaluate the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time and make modifications to their Parenting Plan. Parents may be able to reach an agreement about parenting time and parental responsibilities through mediation. Alternative dispute resolution methods like mediation offer ways to handle legal issues without going directly to a court judge. Mediation involves a neutral third party to assist parents in resolving legal matters. 

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 Posted on April 22, 2022 in Child Support

When couples that have children together decide to file for a divorce, many challenging questions arise regarding how to continue raising and supporting the children. These questions include who will retain the majority of parenting time, where the children will live, how parents will divide custody and visitation time, and which parent will be required to pay child support. Child support is the amount of financial assistance that the parent with less parenting time will pay to the parent with the greater amount of parenting time. These payments are usually a part of a divorced couple's divorce agreement, and they are calculated using the Income Shares Model to ensure both parents' financial situations are being considered. 

Using the Income Shares Method for Child Support Calculation 

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 Posted on April 15, 2022 in Collaborative Law

Many elements of the divorce process are complicated and stressful. When spouses choose to dissolve their marriage, they must make many decisions regarding children, shared property, and finances. These agreements made between spouses during the divorce process can be life-changing, leading to contention between families. Suppose both spouses are looking to work together during the divorce process. In that case, there are Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) options to help facilitate a smooth divorce and transition into a new phase of life, one being collaborative divorce between spouses. 

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 Posted on April 08, 2022 in Divorce

 Legal separation from a spouse is a legal term that refers to spouses who choose to place their relationship on pause. Separating from your partner does not mean that your marriage is over. Often, spouses will decide to separate to maintain their marriage but place some distance between each other to work through marital issues. Other times, religious or cultural beliefs prohibit a divorce, so separation is the best option. A legal separation will require spouses to follow a few key steps to ensure both partners receive equal treatment regardless of a couple's reasons behind separating. 

Divorce Versus Separation — The Difference 

Filing for and completing the divorce process includes dissolving the marriage and ending the relationship entirely. Separation does not end the marriage. There are a few main differences between how the court handles divorce and separation. In a divorce, the court may divide shared marital assets if the spouses cannot reach an agreement. There is no division of shared assets during a separation unless both partners explicitly ask the court to do so and agree to property division terms. 

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