Russell Knight
In an Illinois hearing or trial, the point of asking questions of a witness is to elicit relevant facts from that witness. It’s tempting to just “cut to the chase” and presume certain facts in advance without asking about them…
Read More
When someone is giving testimony in an Illinois divorce hearing or trial, the point of the questions is for the finder of fact, the judge, to come to a legal conclusion. The questions, however, cannot call for a conclusive answer.…
Read More
After an Illinois divorce is settled or a trial order is issued, the divorce is not over. Both parties must still comply with the terms of the Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage and the incorporated Marital Settlement Agreement and Allocation…
Read More
Presenting evidence in an Illinois divorce is complicated. You must establish foundation, authenticate the evidence and be sure the evidence doesn’t violate one of the numerous evidentiary rules. Even after all of that is done, your evidence must still be…
Read More
The Illinois divorce court system seems very intimidating. You have to put on paper the most fundamental and intimate details of your life: you and your spouse’s break up, your kids, all of your finances. Then those papers get stamped,…
Read More
Divorce is not pleasant. Divorce requires you to disclose your entire financial life and have your ability and even right to be a parent questioned. Worst of all, you can be directly confronted about your personal foibles and failings by…
Read More
“In Limine” is a latin term for “on or at the threshold; at the very beginning; preliminarily.” Specifically, in an Illinois divorce, a motion in limine is a motion made before trial. Trial is where evidence is offered to the…
Read More
An Illinois divorce is the process by which two married people unwind their joint lives into two separate rights and obligations. The parties to an Illinois divorce will come to an agreement regarding the various conclusions of their divorce: division…
Read More
Parents often come to me and ask if the other parent can simply “sign away their rights” and essentially have no further responsibility or right to their child. I’m not sure why they think a signature is all it takes…
Read More
401(k)s and other retirement accounts get divided in a divorce based on the contributions made to those accounts during the marriage. When those accounts get consolidated into a rollover IRA, the mathematics required to accurately divide the retirement account becomes…
Read More