“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein.
“The rules of court we have promulgated are not aspirational. They are not suggestions. They have the force of law, and the presumption must be that they will be obeyed and enforced as written.” Bright v. Dicke, 652 N.E.2d 275 (1995)
“[E]veryone is presumed to know the law and ignorance of the law excuses no one” Jones v. Board of Education of the City of Chicago, 2013 IL App (1st) 122437
“[A]ll citizens are charged with knowledge of the law.” People v. Lander, 215 Ill. 2d 577, 588, 831 N.E.2d 596, 603 (2005)
“Mere contentions, without argument or citation of authority, do not merit consideration…and are waived” First National Bank of LaGrange v. Lowrey, 375 Ill. App. 3d 181, 207, 872 N.E.2d 447, 473 (2007)
“If a party does not offer any argument or meaningful authority in support of an argument, the argument is forfeited. ” Abbinanti v. Presence Cent. & Suburban Hosps. Network, No. 2-21-0763, 8 (Ill. App. Ct. 2021)
“Without legal authority, respondent’s argument is unconvincing.” Thomas v. Thomas, 2024 IL App (4th) 240289-U
“It is a common maxim that ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Clark v. Lay, 2022 IL App (4th) 220101, ¶ 45 2
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Some things are illegal but everyone seems to get away with them: littering, jay walking, and not paying child support or maintenance. There are laws against the failure to pay support but they are rarely enforced in criminal courts. Therefore, the support-receiver must exhaust all efforts in divorce court before invoking the State or Federal
Owning a business is challenging, extremely validating and, hopefully, very lucrative. A business owner’s divorce is, by far, the most difficult kind of divorce because the value of the marital portion of the business must be valued and divided. The people that ultimately determine the value of your business, judges, have never owned a business.
In the lead up to a marriage there is much thought given to how to build a life together but very little thought as to how those intertwined lives would be unwound if there was a divorce. People entering into a marriage with significant assets always think about how to unwind the marriage…with all their
While questioning a witness in an Illinois divorce hearing or trial, the witness may provide an answer…that is not the answer to your question. When that happens, a Chicago divorce attorney can help keep the examination focused by recognizing when an objection may be appropriate. Answering a question with an evasive or equivocal answer is
Most people have two big assets: their home and their retirement savings. The retirement savings are usually kept in a tax-deferred account like a 401(k). 401(k)s are a great tool for savers. 401(k)s are automatically funded from employees’ paychecks. Employers can also match 401(k) savings. 401(k) funds are not taxed until they are withdrawn (which
A lot of strategy in a divorce is about timing. For most people, they want to get divorced as quickly as possible. The sooner a divorce is over, the sooner your obligations to the marriage end. Still, a Chicago divorce lawyer can help you understand how timing affects financial, parenting, and other unresolved issues in the case.
Dividing an accounting firm in an Illinois divorce begins with a difficult question: What is the firm actually worth, and how much of that value belongs to the business rather than the individual accountant? An accounting firm may not own substantial physical assets, but it may still generate substantial income. Often, its value lies in
As you approach a Cook County Domestic Relations Courtroom, you’ll notice a numbered list hung beside the courtroom door. That list will contain your case number, your name, your spouse’s name, and the names of a hundred other people whose cases are before the judge that day. And almost all of these cases will be
A petition for dissolution of marriage requests that a court resolve issues of property division, support and parenting matters. Believe it or not, an Illinois court can resolve one of those issues while leaving a court of another state or country to resolve the rest. Litigating separate parts of a divorce in different jurisdictions happens
If you are a business owner preparing to go through a divorce, one of your biggest concerns may be what happens to your business. One of the first things a court will do is work to place a value on your business. Many different factors go into determing business valuation. These formulas for business valuation
For years, Illinois statutes referred to decision-making for the children of separated parents as “custody” and the time spent with the children by the non-primary parent as “visitation”. As of January 1, 2016, the Illinois state legislature changed all the terminology presumably so that parents would no longer feel unequal with emotionally charged terms like
***Note: The numbers in this article reflect prices and my experience in 2018. A lot has changed since then $$$*** After the anxiety of “what will happen to me and my kids in my divorce?” the question of “how much will my divorce cost?” can be the next most worrisome question. After all, you will
When a divorce begins, it feels like you didn’t know your spouse at all. Do you even know your spouse’s finances? What do you not know about your spouse’s income and assets? How will you find out what assets your spouse owns…that you may have a right to divide in your Illinois divorce? If there
A divorce is the end of a relationship. For some people, the relationship is never over. The continuous contact with an ex-spouse can be described as stalking. What is stalking in an Illinois divorce? Our Chicago divorce lawyer explains how Illinois law treats stalking issues and allegations during an Illinois divorce. Technically, There Is No
When two people aren’t married to each other, their expenses are not a mutual responsibility. When they have a baby together, the expenses of the child become a mutual responsibility. This includes any expenses that occur during and after the birth of the child. The party who incurred the expenses for the child’s birth (almost
Child support in Illinois is calculated based on a complicated formula where both parents’ incomes are used to calculate the non-custodial parent’s obligation to the custodial parent. This amount of money is then ordered to be paid by the non-custodial parent to the custodial parent. This calculated child support is usually deducted from the obligor’s paycheck,
A divorce in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois can take as little as two weeks and as long as three years. A divorce lawyer in Chicago can help you understand which issues may affect the timeline. It all depends on the circumstances, so let’s examine what can cause the divorce process to take longer. A Divorce
I prepare dozens of prenuptial agreements every year. I tell my clients “Put this in a drawer or safe deposit box. I hope you never have to look at it again.” I also keep an electronic copy of the prenuptial agreement and hope that I never have to look at the prenuptial agreement again, either.
What looks like a big corporation is often a privately held business in the form of a franchise. Franchises are all over. Restaurants, hotels, auto dealerships, gyms, real estate brokerages, home-services companies, and so many other businesses operate under franchise systems. These franchisees own the franchised business (under a lot of conditions) and that business
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