“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein.
There are so many acronyms in Illinois family law: HFS, MSA, OC, QDRO, QILDRO. It’s hard to keep track of terms that are only relevant in an Illinois divorce…while you’re in the middle of an Illinois divorce. What is a QILDRO? “”Qualified Illinois Domestic Relations Order” or “QILDRO” means an Illinois court order that creates
Update: Illinois may be passing the the Uniform Cohabitants’ Economic Remedies Act, which would render all of the below wrong/irrelevant. People are getting married a lot less but they’re living together as couples without being married. How can these couples memorialize their living arrangement? How can couples buy property together and later divide those purchases
Social media; Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, etc., has changed everything. Like a giant wall of public graffiti, social media has exposed everyone’s inner most thoughts (if they cared to share them) to the world. These thoughts can later be screenshot, printed and presented as evidence in any kind of court case…and they come up
Married couples drift apart. Some married couples literally drift oceans apart to the point where they are no longer in the same country. When the member of the couple that is an Illinois resident files for divorce, that person needs to serve their overseas spouse in order in order for the Illinois court to have
When faced with divorce there are lots of big financial questions like “who gets the house” and “how much alimony will I get?” In addition to the big issues, there is the entire lifetime of items that a couple will have accumulated over the years. What happens to all these household and personal items during
In almost every Illinois divorce financial documents will be exchanged between the parties. This exchange always includes the parties’ taxes, which may have been filed together. The tax return usually tells 90% of a divorcing party’s financial story in regards to income. Understanding a spouse’s income may not be possible by reviewing their income tax
People get divorced but the marriage is rarely their last relationship. I will joke with my clients that “love is waiting for you” during the darkest hours of the divorce process. A year later, I’ll see them on the street with their new boyfriend or girlfriend. Getting into a new relationship either during or after
Children are a blessing…but sometimes their timing is way off. When you’re getting divorced in Illinois and you get pregnant or your spouse gets pregnant, your divorce gets a lot more complicated. Still, that baby is coming and can be dealt with in your Illinois divorce. In Illinois, the law doesn’t say much about pregnancy
They say you should never talk about politics, sex or religion in polite company. Debating some issues only lead to disagreements and hurt feelings. Well, when you’re getting divorced, you already disagree while your feelings are hurt so you might as well discuss uncomfortable issues while you’re at it. So, what happens with religious issues
After the initial Petition For Dissolution Of Marriage is filed, the other party is served but before the final trial or prove-up is a long period, called “Discovery” that constitutes the majority of the work in an Illinois divorce. Discovery is the request of and exchange of relevant documents and testimony that may allow the