In the United States, the number of unmarried parents is on the rise. As single parenting becomes more commonplace in modern society, the stigma that it used to carry has begun to fade, and more unmarried parents are asserting their rights. This increase in the rate of single parenting makes the issue of paternity all the more important.

Paternity is the state of being a father; in Illinois, this is also known as having a father-child relationship.  For some children, paternity is never legally established. Even if the child of the father is known, his name may never be listed on the birth certificate, there may never be a court determination of paternity, and the father may never play a role in the child's life.  Legal paternity is the finding of a father-child relationship by a court.

Benefits of Establishing Paternity

NOTE: A new Illinois law governing how child support is calculated went into effect in July 2017. Please visit our child support page for details

When parties going through a divorce have children, the issue of child support will inevitably arise. How child support is calculated is different in each state; some have complicated formulas which are difficult for parties to understand. The Illinois child support statutes are relatively straightforward, from a legal perspective. While there are some gray areas which allow room for argument regarding support, a skilled family law attorney can make the process of calculating child support relatively easy.

Illinois statute 750 ILCS 5/505 defines a child, with respect to child support, as one “under 18 or any child under 19 still in High School.” The statute further states that parents have a duty of support owed to a child which includes an obligation to provide for “reasonable and necessary educational, physical, mental, and emotional health needs of the child.” Although both parents technically owe a duty of support, the non-custodial parent (or non-residential parent) often ends up as the payor of support to the custodial/residential parent (the parent with whom a child or children primarily resides).

Divorce has many serious and far-reaching consequences, many of which are well-known: changing the make-up of a family home, altering the amount of time children spend with parents, etc. One area people may not consider, however, is the effect a divorce can have on a family-run business.

The first step in protecting a family business interest is to draft a quality pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreement which addresses the way a business will be divided in the event of divorce. These types of agreements can include clauses that define and control how businesses are valued. For example, if the business increased in value during the marriage, that profit could be shared by both spouses. But if the agreement states that premarital property (in this case, the value of the business) retains its character, then that profit would not be divided and would remain the non-marital property of the owning spouse.