“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein.
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
If law was easy, anyone could just read the law and say, “this is what this means for my case.” Everyone knows that is NOT how the law works. Instead, two sides who cannot negotiate a resolution to their dispute take their dispute to a judge who then applies the law with the help of
Child support in Illinois is determined by the two parents’ incomes. The two incomes go into a formula which “reflects the percentage of combined net income that parents living in the same household in this State ordinarily spend on their child.” 750 ILCS 5/505(a)(1) This formula is called the “child support guidelines.” Unless the “court
Most people’s exposure to the legal system is usually in the form of crime movies where the alleged criminal says “I plead the fifth” in order to avoid testifying to something. The movie judge, inevitably, shrugs their shoulders and the alleged criminal doesn’t have to testify. Does this happen in real life? Specifically, can you
A marriage is when society recognizes the emotional bond a couple has and imbues mutual obligations on the couple so that they might better function as a unit. Divorce is the dissolution of those mutual obligations…but there’s usually still leftover obligations like child support, division of debts and assets, etc. Marriage is entered into based
Every divorce or custody order typically includes a line saying “pursuant to this state’s laws.” People don’t live in one state forever. What happens when a party to a divorce or custody action moves and they need to enforce the terms of their divorce or custody agreement in Illinois? Does that party have to re-open
Parents are parents. Moms are moms and dads are dads. But when people get divorced or separated, some parents try to become the better parent, parent # 1, super parent, or something like that. In reality, there is no official legal label for the primary parent in an Illinois divorce or custody matter. But, Illinois