Category: Marital Property

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein.

Throw away valuables in a divorce
Illinois Law

Can A Spouse Throw Out My Belongings In Illinois?

We’ve all seen the trope in movies on TV where an angry wife throws her husband’s things out the bedroom window onto the front lawn. Some movies take it even further and a spouse will burn the other spouse’s things in an effort to “get her groove back.” In real life, however, this doesn’t happen

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Degrees and licenses in an Illinois divorce
Alimony

Degrees And Licenses In An Illinois Divorce

Having a professional degree and license is often very lucrative (take it from me). A degree makes a person eligible for certain professional positions and a license makes a license holder an exclusive provider of some regulated service. These restrictions in supply almost always create a higher price for the services of a degree or

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Loan from parents during divorce
Child Support

Loans From Parents During An Illinois Divorce

Divorce is difficult and it is important to have the support of family. When a couple gets divorced it is very common for their parents to be supportive financially as well as emotionally. The nature of this support is often characterized as “a loan” so that the money doesn’t appear to be marital property or

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Withdrawal of 401(k) during divorce
Divorce

Cashing Out 401(k)s And Other Retirement Accounts During An Illinois Divorce

Divorce attorney see their clients and their client’s spouse’s true finances. The truth is that most people have little in the way of assets outside of their marital home and their retirement accounts. When a divorcing couple’s assets are tied up in a home and retirement accounts, the divorcing the parties must pay for their

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Capital Gains And Taxes in An Illinois Divorce
Marital Property

1031 Exchanges And Divorce In Illinois

When a couple owns real estate together and gets divorced one of three things will happen to that house. Under both of scenarios, nothing will be owed to the IRS because the transfer was to a spouse or to a former spouse pursuant to a divorce decree. “No gain or loss shall be recognized on

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rollover 401k divorce
Marital Property

Rollover IRAs and Divorce In Illinois

401(k)s and other retirement accounts get divided in a divorce based on the contributions made to those accounts during the marriage. When those accounts get consolidated into a rollover IRA, the mathematics required to accurately divide the retirement account becomes much more difficult. How do you divide a rollover IRA in an Illinois divorce? What

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Res Judicata Illinois Divorce
Child Support

What is NOT Modifiable in an Illinois Divorce

Divorce cases are about finally terminating a long-dying relationship and finally unwinding the the married parties’ joint affairs. Eventually, a final hearing is performed which awards all assets to each party, determines maintenance and child support and allocates parenting time and parental responsibilities to each parent (if applicable). Those final orders are memorialized in writing

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Disinherited Spouse
Divorce

How To Disinherit Your Spouse In Illinois

When you’re getting married you hear the words “’Til Death Do Us Part.” When you contemplate divorce, you don’t want your current spouse to have anything after you die. So, how do you disinherit a spouse in Illinois? A Divorce Automatically Disinherits A Former Spouse After a divorce, a spouse is automatically written out of

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Tax Refund
Marital Property

What Happens To A Tax Refund In An Illinois Divorce?

Tax refunds can be afterthought in an Illinois divorce. Maintenance, child support and the division of assets and debts will dwarf the money the at the U.S. government owes one or both parties to an Illinois divorce. Still, money is money and someone is going to get that last tax refund. So, who gets the

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QILDRO Divorce
Divorce

What is a QILDRO in an Illinois Divorce?

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

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