Posted on December 00, 0000 in Main

Parents have a legal duty to support their children. This duty includes providing for each child's educational, physical, mental, and emotional health needs. Therefore, when spouses divorce and a parent is ordered to pay child support, the payments are meant to meet these needs until each child reaches 18 years of age or graduation from high school, whichever occurs later. However, under various circumstances, the requirement for support may be extended. With respect to monthly child support, Illinois law requires that if a child has not graduated from high school when he or she reaches the age of 18, a parent's obligation to pay support can be extended until the child reaches 19 years of age.

In Illinois, child support orders are supposed to include a date indicating when payments will end. The support termination date cannot occur before a child reaches 18 years of age. Essentially, this rule is set to ensure parents financially provide for each minor child who may not otherwise be able to provide for themselves. However, if a child is emancipated before his or her eighteenth birthday, or before completing high school, a court may change or modify the existing support termination date.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Main

The process of legally ending a marriage can take longer than most people expect. Additionally, life and all of its expenses continue while a divorce is pending. Illinois law provides for temporary relief. Spouses going through a divorce can seek temporary custody, temporary child support, and temporary spousal maintenance in order to address these issues while waiting for a judgment of divorce.

If a couple is married and have children together, both parents have parenting rights under the law. Therefore, in a divorce, each parent could move for temporary custody. Usually, the parent who is the primary caregiver wants the children to stay with him or her while the divorce is pending and while the court decides matters of final custody.

Similarly, a spouse who was primarily dependent on the other for monetary support may seek temporary child support and spousal support to ensure he or she can continue paying the bills during the divorce process. Petitions for temporary relief are usually made shortly after filing the initial petition for divorce.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Main

When a married couple decides to divorce, it may come as a shock to one spouse when the court rules his or her non-marital property has actually been converted to marital property, and it is therefore subject to equitable division. In fact, the transmutation of non-marital assets into martial assets can happen by accident by either party.

The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) identifies non-marital property as the following:

• Property acquired by gift, legacy or descent;
• Property acquired in exchange for other non-marital property;
• Property acquired by a spouse after a judgment of legal separation;
• Property both spouses agree is non-marital property;
• Property acquired through a judgment awarded to a spouse from the other spouse;

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Main

When parents decide to divorce or separate, they are faced with several issues—especially when determining what is best for their children. One issue may be determining which religion their children will follow if the parents have different religious beliefs. Depending on the level of the parents' ability to cooperate with each other after the divorce, the issue of religion can be a simple compromise or a drawn out conflict.

Parents can always come together to make decisions as to which religion the children will follow. Under Illinois law, the agreement the parents enter into can specify a parent's powers, rights, and responsibilities for the religious training of the children. If parents agree to a religion, and present the court with the agreement in a parenting plan, the court is likely to enforce it.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Main

Advances in science have given couples great opportunities to overcome fertility issues, and in other cases, opportunities to preserve their chances of having children by freezing embryos. However, when a couple decides to have a child, either through surrogacy or by preserving embryos for future use, they need to consider the consequences of those decisions in the event of a divorce or separation.

Frozen Embryos

There is not a specific Illinois law or court case that outlines what happens to embryos when parents divorce or separate. In fact, this is a question that an Illinois Appellate Court will soon rule; a prospective father wants to stop a prospective mother from using embryos without his consent.

If a couple has a specific agreement as to how embryos are to be used after a separation, courts may follow it. However, in the event that a couple decides one parent can use embryos to have children, they cannot just make an agreement among themselves as to future visitation and child support. They will additionally need judicial approval on any agreements.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Main

Court ordered child support is very helpful to a parent who is primarily raising a child; unfortunately, not all parents fully comply with their obligation to pay the ordered amount. According to one statistic, Illinois children were once owed $3 billion in unpaid back child support. When the money cannot be collected, it can be very frustrating for a parent who depends on these funds to help with their child's daily needs.

Collecting Child Support through Wage Garnishment

In Illinois, one of the primary ways in which child support is collected is through wage garnishment. Under Illinois law, an employer can withhold money from an employee's check if an employee has been ordered by a court to pay child support. The money is then sent to the Illinois State Disbursement Unit for distribution to the parent with a child support order.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Main

What can a parent do if he or she believes a former spouse is acting in a manner that is harmful to their child during visitation? Moreover, what if the court orders visitation but a parent is reluctant to take his or her child to the former spouse's home due to certain individuals residing in the home?

In some cases, custodial parents may find themselves concerned about the kind of environment their child may be in when they visit the other parent. A concerned parent may want to protect their child and request supervised visitation. However, it is not always simple to have the court order supervised visitation, and a parent requesting such visitation would have to show by clear and convincing evidence certain factors in order to prevail.

Visitation and Illinois Law

Illinois law generally allows a non-custodial parent reasonable visitation rights unless the court finds, after a hearing, that visitation would seriously endanger a child's physical, mental, moral or emotional health. The court also has the right to modify an existing visitation order as necessary. The serious endangerment prerequisite is a strict requirement because Illinois courts generally prefer to foster a parent-child relationship whenever possible.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Main

In divorce cases, due to the discretion afforded a trial court, the calculation of maintenance can vary significantly from judge to judge and county to county. However, this should change as of January 1, 2015. The Illinois legislature has enacted a new law that impacts how courts will determine maintenance in divorce cases, and it will have a significant impact on future maintenance determinations in Illinois.

In many divorce cases, maintenance calculations have been difficult to ascertain. Judges have often had great discretion in awarding maintenance. However, a new Public Act impacts how courts will award maintenance to couples with a combined income of less than $250,000.

How Judges Previously Calculated Maintenance

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Main

Child support in Illinois is computed as a percentage of a parent's net income. A parent must then pay a certain percentage depending on how many children he or she has to support. If a parent is ordered to pay child support based on a certain amount of income, and the parent's income subsequently changes, he or she can apply to the court for a modification to lower the ordered payment amount.

Generally, a parent who is ordered to pay child support cannot voluntarily quit his or her job to avoid paying support and then claim a substantial change in circumstances has occurred which requires a modification of their support obligation. Illinois case law takes this concept further and scrutinizes parents who are fired due to their own actions. Moreover, depending on the particular case, a court could find that someone who was fired was nonetheless voluntarily unemployed. If this happens, the court would classify the parent's loss of income as being in bad faith and thus no modification would be granted.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Main

Marriages end for a variety of reasons. One such reason is infidelity. According to a national study, 55 percent of survey participants stated that they divorced their spouse due to infidelity. Despite the cause, divorce is generally an emotional process for all parties involved. Furthermore, many couples facing divorce must determine whether either spouse will receive spousal support or maintenance after a marriage ends. In this situation, one question often arises: does the infidelity of a spouse have an impact on maintenance?

What is Maintenance?

Maintenance, formerly referred to as alimony, is an amount of money, typically paid monthly, that a judge may award to one party in a divorce action. In general, maintenance aims to put both spouses on relatively equal economic footing after a divorce. The spouse who made less or no money while married will typically petition to receive maintenance. Additionally, a spouse may petition for maintenance so that he or she can continue paying living expenses after obtaining a divorce.

Continue Reading ››