“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein.
There are a lot of assets to account for in an Illinois divorce. 401ks, houses, cars, bank accounts and personal items must all be allocated to each party in a divorce. It is easy to overlook smaller accounts during the flurry of paperwork that encompasses both discovery and drafting of a Marital Settlement Agreement in
A broken marriage can be the final result of a series of financial disasters. When a couple experiences loss of income, additional expenses and debt, that couple will end the year without paying their taxes in full. That leaves the couple in debt to the IRS and the local state government. Finally, the strain of
For most people, tax issues are not a big issue in their Illinois divorce. After any remaining tax debts are allocated, the only issue is who declares the children on their taxes in which years. For the wealthy, taxes are both a burden and a strategic opportunity in a divorce. Individual assets carry certain tax
Most people’s divorces are quite financially, simple. The house gets sold, the proceeds divided, the 401ks and retirement accounts get QDRO’d, child support and alimony get calculated pursuant to the statute. Wealthy people’s divorces get a lot more complicated. The assets are usually more interesting: small businesses, stock options, dividends and jewelry. When it comes
As a married couple ages, they refinance their house and lower their mortgage payment, the kids leave the home and suddenly there’s extra income. Many couples take this opportunity to buy a second home. A second home allows a couple to spend the winters somewhere warm or the summers somewhere quiet. A married couple’s portfolio
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
There are so many ways to save for retirement that it feels like you have to be a financial expert to understand the various retirement accounts available and their respective tax advantages. In reality, most retirement plans in the United States fall under the umbrella of being a “deferred compensation plan.” Deferred compensation plans even
Getting paid for working is nice. But getting paid over and over again for work that’s already been done is even better. The problem with a lot of work is that the creator and their investors/distributors have no idea what income the work will generate over time. So, the creator, the artist, the investors and
When people get married, they join their lives…at least on an ongoing basis. There are still items from their past that will always remain with them. Whether it is a keepsake or an entire house, what you bring into a marriage you get to take out of the marriage after a divorce. There is a
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