Posted on April 11, 2018 in Child Custody

When a married couple starts to consider divorce, often one of their main concerns is that the divorce will negatively affect the children. This worry is understandable considering divorce will dramatically change the family dynamics and living arrangements. The good news is that you do not have to go into a post-divorce life blind. There are many resources to help you and your soon-to-be-ex-spouse create a parenting agreement or plan which will keep you on the same page about raising your children as divorcees.

Parenting Plans Allow Divorcing Parents to Agree on Child-Rearing Decisions Proactively

In Illinois, divorcing parents who wish to share custody of their children are required to create and submit a parenting plan to the court. The state-mandated requirements for this plan are minimal and experts suggest including more in the agreement than just the bare minimum. Every divorced couple’s parenting agreement will look differently because every family has different needs and challenges. Some couples feel comfortable outlining only a few aspects of how their children will be parented, while others include thorough information about specifics in their parenting plan.

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 Posted on April 09, 2018 in Division of Assets

If you are like many, you have only recently heard of the term “cryptocurrency” and may be unfamiliar as to what it actually is. Cryptocurrency simply refers to a digital asset which is used as a medium of exchange. The “crypt” part of the word refers to the encryption techniques used to secure the transaction. Cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly popular because they are difficult to counterfeit and use peer-to-peer, decentralized networks for transactions. Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency but hundreds more, including Litecoin and Ethereum, exist. One of cryptocurrencies’ main appeals is that they can be purchased and sold online. Cryptocurrencies can also be moved offline to a hardware device.

Cryptocurrency Can Be Hard to Value and Track

If you are getting divorced and you or your spouse have invested in cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, you should know that cryptocurrency is treated like any other asset acquired by spouses during marriage. In Illinois, property accumulated during the marriage is subject to division through equitable distribution. The increase in popularity of cryptocurrencies represents a challenge to divorce attorneys and judges presiding over divorce cases. Unlike other forms of property, there can be serious difficulties tracking and valuing cryptocurrency.

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 Posted on April 06, 2018 in Child Custody

Parents who recently gotten divorced or broken up are often left facing difficult decisions when it comes to how to make arrangements for raising their children. In recent years, changes to the law in Illinois have led to a more intense focus on cooperative parenting plans. Cooperative parenting—or co-parenting—may work perfectly fine in most situations, but there may be cases where one parent feels that he or she should have sole authority for making important decisions regarding their child. While the law no longer uses the term “sole custody,” Illinois courts do have the authority to give one parent sole decision-making responsibility if necessary.

Updated Language

Prior to 2016, Illinois law provided for two different types of child custody arrangements: joint custody and sole custody. Both of these referred to “legal custody,” which was the authority to make choices regarding the life of the child and his or her upbringing. Parents who shared joint custody were responsible for making important decisions together, while a parent with sole custody could make decisions without consulting the non-custodial parent.

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 Posted on April 04, 2018 in Division of Assets

In some states, divorcing spouses are entitled to an equal share of their “community property.” This, however, is not the case in Illinois. Illinois and 40 other states are considered “equitable distribution” states, which means that the marital property of a divorcing couple must be divided fairly between the spouses, not necessarily equally. While determining what is fair can be quite complicated, the process begins with identifying what property is considered marital and what is considered non-marital for the purposes of the divorce.

Illinois Law

Most of the statutes that govern the divorce process in Illinois are contained in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA). The IMDMA expressly defines marital property as “all property, including debts and other obligations, acquired by either spouse subsequent to the marriage” with several important exceptions. These exceptions include but are not limited to:

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 Posted on March 28, 2018 in Child Custody

If you are a parent who is considering divorce, you are most likely concerned about how the divorce will affect your child. While divorce can be a difficult concept for a child to understand and accept, there is nothing that says a child living with divorced parents will automatically be less fulfilled or content in life than a child whose parents are still married. There are several methods that parents can use to share custody of their children after a divorce which do not decrease the quality of the parent-child relationship.

Traditional Two-House Arrangement

The most common arrangement after parents divorce is for one parent to stay in the family home and the other to move out. Sometimes both parents move out of the family home and establish themselves as a single people elsewhere. Parents can share parental responsibilities (formerly called custody) and parenting time (visitation) by creating a schedule which works with their particular circumstances. Some families find that an every-other weekend visitation schedule is best while others prefer closer to fifty-fifty when it comes to parenting time.

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 Posted on March 26, 2018 in Child Support

When it comes to issues involving children, the top priority of Illinois courts is doing what is in the best interest of the child. Children whose parents split up should not have to experience a decrease in their quality of life due to a lack of funds. To mitigate the financial consequences of divorce, courts require the parent with less parental responsibility to make child support payments to the parent with more parental responsibility.

Income Shares Model for Calculating Child Support

If you are a parent getting divorced in Illinois, it is likely that you will either receive or be required to pay child support. As of July 1 2017, Illinois courts calculate child support using the “income shares” model. Parents’ individual income and the amount of parenting time each parent is responsible for are considered. First, the total cost of raising the child or children in question is estimated. Next, this cost is equitably divided between the parents. Equitable division does not mean that each parent pays 50 percent of the cost. To determine the amount of child support a parent will pay, the courts consider each parent’s financial circumstances including their income, career, employability, property, debt and other factors. The most significant factor, however, is the parent’s income as a percentage of the total combined income. The parent with more parental responsibility, formerly called custody, will receive the support payments.

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 Posted on March 22, 2018 in Mediation and Collaborative Law

Many individuals getting a divorce want the process to run as smoothly and quickly as possible. For some, this means that they want to avoid court. Litigation in a courtroom can be expensive, time-consuming, and stressful. Collaborative law is a method of problem-solving which is available to some divorcing couples. Through the collaborative law process, divorcing couples have the opportunity to exert much more control over the final divorce decree than they would have otherwise.

How Does Collaborative Law Work?

Collaborative law is one way to resolve disagreements between divorcing individuals outside of the courtroom. Those engaging in a collaborative law divorce should be focused on working with their soon-to-be-ex-spouse instead of fighting against him or her. Collaborative law is not without its requirements and rules. In order to proceed with a collaborative divorce, each spouse must retain his or her own attorney, who must be trained and certified in collaborative law. The attorneys help the parties understand their options and choose the best course of action for their unique circumstance. Another rule for collaborative law is that neither spouse may go to court. If the couple finds it necessary to go through traditional courtroom litigation, the collaborative law process ends and the attorneys involved in the collaboration are disallowed from further involvement in the case.

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 Posted on March 19, 2018 in Prenuptial Agreements

The idea of creating and signing a prenuptial agreement, or “prenup” before getting married is an idea which has been gaining popularity in recent years. Although prenuptial agreements have been long associated with frivolous celebrity weddings, the truth is that prenuptial agreements, or premarital agreements, are very valuable legal tools from which any couple can benefit.

How a Prenup Can Help You and Your Fiancé

If you have just gotten engaged, probably the last thing you want to think about is the possibility that your relationship may not last forever. It is true that prenuptial agreements are largely created to protect each spouse’s financial interests in the event the marriage ends in divorce, but that is far from the only benefit prenuptial agreements can offer a new couple. Prenuptial agreements have many purposes including:

• Outlining the way a family business will be managed and divided if the marriage ends;

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 Posted on March 15, 2018 in Domestic Violence

Home is the one place everyone should feel safe. Sadly, for those people who are victims of domestic violence, home is often the last place they want to be. Intimate partner violence affects one out of every three women and one in four men. Fortunately, there are legal steps a person in an abusive relationship can take to secure their safety and that of their children. An order of protection, sometimes referred to colloquially as a restraining order, is one of these steps.

Who Should Get an Order of Protection?

If you fear for your safety or the safety of your children because a romantic partner or other close family member is threatening or actively abusing you, an order of protection may be the right first step in escaping that toxic relationship. Domestic violence can look different from case to case but some of the most common tactics abusers use include:

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 Posted on March 09, 2018 in Divorce

A divorce is never easy. If your marriage is ending, you are likely to feel angry and hurt, as well as betrayed by the very person with whom you once wanted to spend the rest of your life. Emotions such as these may make you want to dig in your heels and fight against your partner over every little issue. Unfortunately, doing so will probably cost much more than you are prepared to spend on your divorce. There are, however, some things you can do to keep the cost of your divorce to manageable levels.

Where Costs Add Up

Some of the expenses related to your divorce are simply unavoidable, such as court fees. You may also experience additional costs in setting up a new place to live apart from your spouse. The bulk of your expenses, however, will come in the form of attorneys’ fees and fees charged by other professionals involved in your case. The more complex and contentious your case is, the more you will need to pay.

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