“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein.
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
Illinois has 102 counties. Each county has its own court system for resolving divorce and other family law matters. The county wherein a divorce litigant files for divorce will determine who will decide the terms of that divorce. Therefore, this first step of picking a county to file for divorce in Illinois, called “venue,” is
Many people don’t wait for the divorce process to officially end before dating. The wisdom of dating during a divorce in Illinois is debatable. If you or your spouse are actively dating other people while unwinding your relationship through an Illinois divorce there are things both parties to an Illinois divorce need to know. Is
Before a child is in kindergarten, they love you completely no matter what you’ve done. The child will barely even know you’re divorced or separated from the other parent. It’s a very special time to be a parent but most of us have to work and we miss a lot of that of that time.
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