Posted on February 13, 2018 in Divorce

In the past couple of months, the media has increased its attention towards sexual harassment allegations brought against male celebrities. Careers – and presumably marriages – have been ruined. However, most sexual harassment cases involve people who are not famous. If you believe the claims made against your spouse, it may be enough reason for you to want a divorce. You may feel:

• Shocked that your spouse is capable of such action; and
• Hurt that your spouse is seeking the admiration of someone else.

Because Illinois is a no-fault divorce state, you cannot cite the sexual harassment as a reason for your divorce or expected to be compensated for it. However, your spouse’s involvement in a sexual harassment case can still affect your divorce.

Lawsuits and Debts

When a victim publicly accuses someone of sexual harassment, he or she often files a lawsuit against the perpetrator, seeking a monetary award. A verdict against your spouse or settlement may affect your divorce finances by:

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 Posted on February 03, 2018 in Prenuptial Agreements

Creating a prenuptial agreement is helpful in settling financial issues that will come up during a divorce. The agreement lays out a plan for how premarital properties will be treated and what level of spousal maintenance will be provided. However, spouses should consider it a living document that may need to be updated. Financial circumstances in the marriage can change in ways that make the agreement obsolete or unfair to one party. It will be easier for both parties to renegotiate the prenuptial agreement while still married than during the divorce.

Spousal Maintenance

Parties in a prenuptial agreement may choose to establish the value and duration of spousal support payments after divorce, especially when one party has a significantly greater income than the other. However, the balance of financial power can change in a marriage:

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 Posted on January 30, 2018 in Divorce

Evidence of an immature romantic relationship can be seen in how a couple breaks up with each other. To avoid the pain of the breakup, one person may avoid talking to the other or place all of the blame for the breakup on that person. As important as a marriage is, you would like to believe that a married couple would be more mature than that when getting a divorce. However, some spouses follow the same behavior patterns as immature couples that break up. The difference is that behaving poorly during a divorce can have more serious consequences. If you both behave like adults, you will increase the chance of having amicable divorce negotiations.

Avoidance

The most immature example of avoidance in a dating relationship is called “ghosting,” when one person suddenly stops communicating in hopes of ending a relationship without having to confront the other person. You cannot ghost your spouse unless you decide to run away. However, you can avoid having necessary conversations, such as:

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 Posted on January 23, 2018 in Child Custody / Allocation of Parental Responsibilities

There are some details in your marriage and divorce that your children do not need to know. Children already have a hard time adjusting to their broken family after a divorce. Telling them about their other parent’s faults that led to the divorce will hurt them more. Your most important job as a parent after your divorce to protect your children. That means shielding them from the infighting that often accompanies a divorce.

Too Much Information

Dragging your children into your divorce-related drama is unfair to them. Despite what you may think of your former spouse, your children likely look up to him or her as a parent. Children see their parents as infallible role models, even though no parent is perfect. By exposing your children to your grievances from the divorce, you are:

• Eroding their respect for that parent or yourself;
• Pressuring them to pick sides;

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 Posted on January 15, 2018 in Division of Assets

Getting a divorce can hurt you financially as much as it does emotionally. As part of the divorce negotiations, you will need to surrender several marital properties and other monetary assets. Afterwards, you will be left with fewer resources but many of the same financial obligations. Knowing the monetary consequences, some spouses choose to delay their divorce. By doing so, they may hope to:

• Accumulate greater financial assets to support themselves after divorce;
• Continue to take advantage of their marital status when filing taxes; or
• Repair their marriage so as to avoid divorce.

While there are some potential advantages to delaying your divorce, the disadvantages are often greater. There are several reasons why postponing a divorce hurts spouses more than it helps them:

1. Reconciliation Is Unlikely: Once you have concluded that you want to divorce, you have reached a point of virtually no return. In many cases, divorce is the correct decision, even if it is difficult to admit. You have accepted that your marriage is beyond repair, which can be the biggest obstacle to deciding to divorce.

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 Posted on January 04, 2018 in Paternity

You do not need to plan on marriage in order for family law to be useful. Cohabiting couples share their lives in many of the same ways as those who marry. This includes having children, which will tie the two people together even if they separate. A co-parent who never married is responsible for child support payments if the couple lives apart. However, there are benefits to being married parents that unmarried parents do not automatically receive. Unmarried couples must proactively use family law to gain equal rights as parents.

Establishing Parentage

When a married woman has a child, her husband is assumed to be the father. A biological father who is not married to the mother must identify himself as the father in order to have paternal rights. The father can sign a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity form immediately after the child’s birth. In some situations, only one person is the biological parent. The other partner can apply for adoption to become a legal parent. Establishing parentage grants several rights regarding the child, including:

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 Posted on December 27, 2017 in High Asset Divorce

Divorcees with high-value assets follow the same laws as everyone else getting a divorce. The difference is that wealthy individuals have more at stake in terms of finances. The process of dividing up their assets is often more complicated because the assets are numerous and diverse. Whether because of miscalculation or emotion, making a mistake can cost thousands or millions of dollars. Individuals in a high asset divorce must take care to avoid these mistakes when dividing up their marital properties:

1. Hiding Assets: With the prospect of losing several valuable marital properties, a divorcee may try to protect them by purposely hiding them or failing to disclose them. Common tactics include creating hidden accounts or temporarily transferring properties to a friend. A divorce court may penalize a party who has been caught trying to deceive a spouse. The guilty party may be forced to compensate the other spouse by giving up marital assets or money.

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 Posted on December 21, 2017 in Divorce

When you begin the divorce process, you are entering a prolonged working relationship with your divorce attorney. Your attorney is your go-to person for discussing all of the technical aspects of divorce, including property division and allocation of parental responsibilities. You select an attorney based on his or her ability to help you obtain a favorable outcome from divorce. However, a good attorney is at his or her best when the client is helpful. Here are four tips for being a good client during your divorce:

1. Showing Interest: Your attorney has extensive knowledge about divorce, but you are the expert on all matters concerning your life and your marriage. You must be willing to be an active part of the divorce by being available to answer questions and provide information. Anticipate that your attorney will need to know detailed information about your finances and property. Try to promptly answer any questions he or she asks.

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 Posted on December 14, 2017 in Divorce

It is understandable and in many cases expected that you will date new people after your divorce. The tricky part is when and how to introduce your new romantic interest to your family – most significantly your children. You want to include your significant other in all aspects of your life, but you also must consider how others will react. This conflict becomes heightened during the holiday season. You can spend time with your new partner, but including him or her in family events may create uncomfortable situations. There are circumstances in which it is a bad idea to invite a new significant other to a family holiday gathering.

During the Divorce

Openly dating someone while your divorce is ongoing can be damaging to your case. Besides making you look selfish, your divorcing spouse may bring up legal questions of whether:

• You have been spending marital assets on your new romantic partner;

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 Posted on December 05, 2017 in Child Support

The amount of money needed to raise a child is neither static nor uniform. Different children have different needs, and any of those needs can change as they get older. Yet, child support payments created during a divorce only reflect the financial needs at that time. They cannot predict what the future child support needs will be or any emergency expenses in the present. Divorced parents must be willing to re-examine their child support payments to determine whether the payments are still meeting their children’s needs. They should also have an understanding of how they will pay for unusual expenses that occur.

Child Support Model

Determining the required amount that one parent must pay for child support starts with calculating the parents’ combined financial obligation to the children. The initial amount is based on the parents’ combined incomes and the number of children. Illinois has a table that uses both factors to suggest a combined monthly child support amount from both parents. Parents can add other regular child-related expenses to that monthly total, such as:

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