In an Illinois divorce all of the property you have at the time of the divorce can be classified as either marital or non-marital for the purpose of division of assets. In short, marital property get divided and non-marital property stays with the original owner. Marital property is broadly described as any property that you…
Divorces can take years and there is always the possibility that a party in a divorce case may pass away during the divorce. This means the divorce will not be finalized and then the marital estate remains unsettled and undistributed. In Illinois, when a party in a divorce dies, the case is dismissed at the…
Life insurance is an insurance against a person’s life in that it pays out money upon the death of the person. People typically purchase life insurance to support their family if, God forbid, they are no longer able to support their family due to death. What happens if you get divorced? You probably no longer…
This is part 2 in my series, Parenting Alone In Chicago. Whether you’re divorced, separated, or just have the kids for the weekend. I hope that I can help you plan some quality time that your kids and you will always remember as you learn to parent alone. Doing stuff with the kids in Chicago…
Social Security is the United States’ federal government’s system for making regular payments to people if they are disabled and/or elderly. People who are getting divorced and also receiving a social security benefit (or their spouse is receiving it) need to know how a divorce will impact that benefit. The law does not treat social…
I’m 6’2” and all my ancestors are from Great Britain. When I start speaking Spanish with a good accent (rolling Rs) people are often confused. The best compliment I ever received was when someone complimented my English after I was done speaking Spanish. So, here’s the explanation on why I speak Spanish and if I…
While there’s no actual law regarding this, in Chicago, Illinois as long as you’re married, you have the right to stay on the policy of your insured spouse. Conversely, as long as you’re married, you must maintain health insurance for your spouse if you had been covering your spouse on your insurance prior to the…
In Chicago, Illinois, the general rule is that courts have the exclusive authority to modify child support and are not bound by the parties’ agreements concerning child support. Blisset v. Blisset, 123 Ill. 2d 161, 167 (1988). In Blisset, Illinois’ supreme court held an out of court agreement to waive child support in exchange for…
In short, it depends how the family home was held. If the family home was held in your name exclusively and you used those non-marital funds (usually an inheritance) to pay the mortgage of the home, then you could have reasonable chain of title showing that this property was non-marital and remained non-marital because the…
Often, during the pendency of a divorce the couple find themselves supporting two households and trying to maintain the standard of living for both of the households while having just one income. In the absence of assets to live off, typically, this means the lower-earning spouse is relying on support from family. This support may…
