Posted on May 21,2024 in Child Custody

The idea of having your children move far away from you might be terrifying. Living a plane ride or a road trip away from the most important people in your could make it very difficult to maintain a strong relationship. Your parental instinct to protect and be there for your children might be screaming for you to stop the move if at all possible. Fortunately, you have the right to contest the other parent’s plan to relocate with your children. A court will not allow your soon-to-be ex-spouse to move far away with the children unless she can prove that relocating would be in the children’s best interest. A DuPage County, IL child relocation lawyer can help you work to prevent a move that might harm your children or your relationship with them.

Showing That Relocating is Not in Your Children’s Interest

The best way to prevent your spouse from moving halfway across the country with your children is to show the court that moving would not be in your children’s best interest based on the factors Illinois law requires courts to consider in child relocation cases. Some tips and strategies for doing this include:

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 Posted on May 10,2024 in Divorce

Spouses who do not want to live together anymore and need legal agreements regarding their marital property and children can choose between legal separation and divorce. Divorce is the more decidedly permanent option. Legal separation is more easily undone if the spouses choose to rekindle their relationship and start living together again in the future. Most of the decisions spouses would make during the divorce process will also need to be made during the legal separation process. If you choose legal separation, you will need to determine who should take possession of different types of marital property and create a parenting plan, much like you would if you got divorced. A Will County, IL legal separation lawyer can help you decide whether it is better for you and your spouse to divorce or to legally separate.

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 Posted on May 06,2024 in Child Support

In Illinois, parenting time and a parent’s duty to support his or her children are two completely separate issues. Every parent who has not formally lost his or her legal status as a parent has an obligation to provide financial support to his or her children. Child support is proportional to the parent’s income and financial means and can be awarded whether or not the parent owing child support gets parenting time. Illinois courts have one goal - to do what is in the best interests of the child in accordance with the law. If your child is owed child support but also needs to be protected from your co-parent, you need to speak with a Will County, IL child custody and child support attorney.

Who is Obligated to Pay Child Support? 

All parents have a legal duty to financially support their children. Normally, it is the parent who has less parenting time - or no parenting time at all - who pays child support. You can file a legal demand for child support as soon as you have legally established your child’s parentage. Legally establishing parentage means proving to the court who your child’s parents are.

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 Posted on April 25,2024 in Child Custody

When Illinois courts are deciding on a parenting time calendar, they strive to create the arrangement that is best for the child. One of the factors the court will consider is any temporary or existing arrangements the parents have made regarding childcare. Since most parents stop living together while their divorce or child custody case is in court, most parents have some type of temporary arrangement. These temporary arrangements might be formal and in writing, or they might be casual agreements between the parents. Sometimes the parents even have temporary court orders.

Parents should know that their temporary arrangements might impact the permanent schedule the court creates. If you are involved in a child custody case, you need to be represented by an experienced Will County, IL, child custody attorney.

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 Posted on April 18,2024 in Divorce

When there is a lot of conflict in your marriage, and you and your spouse do not have a civil relationship, getting through your divorce will be difficult. If you and your spouse are furious with each other, neither of you is likely to be willing to compromise on which marital assets you keep or how often you each see the children. Uncontested divorce may still be possible, but there is also a chance that you will need to go through divorce litigation to get a fair outcome. If your divorce is filled with conflict, you must be represented by an aggressive Will County, IL divorce lawyer. You will need strong representation to protect your interests.

Dealing With a High-Conflict Divorce 

Some tips for coping with a contentious divorce include:

• Avoid direct communication - If at all possible, avoid communicating directly with your spouse. Let your attorneys handle any necessary communication between you. During child custody handoffs, consider having a neutral party bring the children back and forth so you do not have to see each other. 

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 Posted on April 11,2024 in Divorce

When you are getting divorced, you certainly need a DuPage County, IL divorce attorney. Your attorney is the one who can make sure your legal rights are being respected and fight for you to receive a fair and favorable outcome. However, there may be other professionals your attorney might recommend bringing in depending on the situation. For example, if you have a complex marital property situation, you may need financial professionals to help untangle your finances. These types of professionals can assist your attorney in helping you through collaborative divorce or litigation.

Types of Professionals Who Could Help With Divorce 

While your lawyer knows the law, your rights, and how to navigate the divorce process, other professionals can assist with certain complicated situations. Professionals your attorney might suggest involving include:

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 Posted on April 04,2024 in Property Division

Divorce can be complicated if one spouse entered the marriage with significant assets while the other came into the marriage largely empty-handed. If you had built up wealth before you got married, you likely have a strong interest in protecting what was yours before the marriage. Fortunately, in Illinois, assets you owned before you were married are considered your separate property. However, your spouse could argue that you voluntarily contributed your premarital property to the marriage, which could entitle him or her to a share of those assets. If you had personal wealth before your marriage began, it is important to speak to a skilled DuPage County, IL divorce attorney about how you can protect what is rightfully yours during the asset division process.

Common Types of Premarital Assets and Their Legal Status

Common types of premarital assets people seek to protect during divorce include:

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 Posted on March 27,2024 in Child Custody

Once you have a finalized parenting plan, you have every right to expect your co-parent to follow it. These plans, once ordered or approved by a court, essentially have the force of law. Your co-parent could face serious repercussions if they choose not to follow the parenting plan or honor your parenting time. Co-parents can violate parenting plans in a number of ways, from failing to show up for custody hand-offs to making decisions they did not have the right to make on their own. If your co-parent is refusing to abide by your parenting plan, an experienced Will County, IL child custody enforcement attorney can help you force them into compliance. 

Common Types of Parenting Plan Violations 

Common ways a co-parent might violate their parenting plan include: 

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 Posted on March 20,2024 in Child Custody

Creating a parenting time schedule that meets the needs of the child and provides both parents with the opportunity to spend quality time with their children can be difficult for anyone. When one or both parents serve in the military, making the right parenting plan can be even more challenging. Military parents will often need to build flexibility into their parenting plan if there is a chance that a parent will be deployed before the child turns 18 years old. Most people who serve in the military do not remain stationed in the same place for more than a few years at a time, so if your children are younger than about 16 years old, it is likely that parental relocation will become an issue during your proceedings. An experienced Naperville, IL, child custody lawyer can help you create a plan that works for you and your children.

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 Posted on March 13,2024 in Divorce

DUI is one of the most common criminal charges people have on their records. It is very easy to not think you are too intoxicated to drive and then to be proven wrong after a routine traffic stop. If you are getting divorced with children, your spouse might be threatening to use your DUI against you to get full custody of your children or to otherwise make you look bad. In many cases, this is an empty threat. Having a minor criminal record does not somehow make you entitled to less than your fair share of the marital assets or automatically make you an unfit parent. However, it is important to be represented by an aggressive Naperville, IL, divorce and child custody lawyer who can fight back against your spouse’s accusations.

How a DUI Can and Cannot Impact Your Divorce and Child Custody Proceedings

A few factors the court might consider when determining whether your DUI should have any impact on your divorce proceedings include:

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