CHICAGO DIVORCE LAWYER ARTICLES
"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
Search our extensive library of family law articles written for lawyers and non-lawyers alike:
When you get divorced two parties no longer have any obligations to each other that are not enshrined in their marital settlement agreement. There is no obligation to insure your spouse or your former spouse under the Illinois Marriage And Dissolution Of Marriage Act. But, in Illinois an insurance company cannot offer health insurance without also offering to insure a policy holder’s spouse and children. “No policy of…health insurance, nor…
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Once a petition for dissolution of marriage or a petition for parentage is filed in an Illinois court, that petition and its summons must be served upon the other party promptly. “After the filing of the petition, the party filing the same shall, within 2 days, serve a copy thereof upon the other party, in the manner provided by rule of the Supreme Court for service of notices in other…
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A child needs both parents in their life. If one parent has a drug problem or a personality disorder, it may be in the child’s best interest that they have limited or no contact whatsoever with the offending parent. Normally in an Illinois divorce court, “liberal visitation [(parenting time)] is the rule and restricted visitation [(parenting time)] is the exception.” Heldebrandt v. Heldebrandt, 251 Ill. App. 3d 950, 957, 623…
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Children are expensive. You have to feed them, clothe them, give them shelter and keep them healthy. Keeping children healthy means having your children insured both during and after your Illinois divorce. “The duty to provide health insurance is an integral part of a parent’s current and future support obligations.” In re Marriage of Seitzinger, 775 NE 2d 282 – Ill: Appellate Court, 4th Dist. 2002 Health Insurance For Children…
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You cannot just show up in an Illinois divorce court with a bunch of documents for a judge to review. Documents are an “out of court statement to prove the truth of the matter asserted.” Therefore, documents are hearsay and inadmissible in an Illinois court of law. The theory is that anyone could have written the document and you cannot cross-examine a document. So, a document, by itself, is inherently…
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