Posted on July 10, 2014 in Child Support

Illinois law recognizes that each parent has a duty to financially support his or her children. This duty includes an "obligation to provide for the reasonable and necessary educational, physical, mental, and emotional health needs of the child." The duty is shared by both parents regardless of whether they are custodial parents or non-custodial parents of the child. The law regarding child support in Illinois though pertains to obligations of the non-custodial parent to financially provide for his or her child.

Statutory Guidelines

As a general rule, the amount of child support a non-custodial parent will be ordered to pay depends on the parent's income and the number of children for which the parent is responsible. The State of Illinois uses statutory guidelines that assign the minimum amount a non-custodial parent must pay in child support. For example, a non-custodial parent may be asked to pay at least 20 percent of his or her income to the custodial parent for the support of one child. The parent may be asked to pay at least 28 percent for the support of two children and at least 50 percent of his or her income for the support of six or more children. Income is defined as net income, which is the amount of income the parent takes home after paying taxes out of the paycheck and certain other expenses.

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 Posted on July 07, 2014 in Pet Custody

Approximately 50 percent of American marriages end in divorce and by one account, approximately 62 percent of American households have at least one pet. Further statistics show that Americans truly love their pets, as they spend about $50 billion each year on their pets' health and well-being. Combined, these statistics illustrate how determining pet custody/ownership can be weighty issue for a large number of divorcing U.S. couples.

One recent news article concurs that pet custody battles (considered property division matters in Illinois) following divorce have become a commonplace issue in family law. With Americans spending more on pets than ever before and couples delaying parenthood and marriage for economic reasons, pets have attained a higher than ever significance in couples' lives.

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 Posted on July 02, 2014 in Divorce

In the employment context, a bonus is compensation issued at one point in time for employment services performed at an earlier date. It typically is issued in a lump sum, and is awarded in exchange for high quality work performed by the employee. Employment contracts sometimes define how quality work is to be measured for the purpose of assigning a bonus.

In other cases, the decision of whether to assign a bonus is left to the supervisor's discretion. Because an employment bonus is actually received at one point in time, but the work that gives rise to the bonus is completed at an earlier time, apportionment of such a bonus may pose an interesting question in divorce law.

Bonuses During Divorce

How does an Illinois divorce court consider a bonus received by one spouse after the end of the marriage? This question becomes difficult to divorce courts when the work giving rise to the bonus is performed prior to the dissolution of the marriage and the employee receives the bonus after the marriage formally ends.

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 Posted on June 30, 2014 in Child Custody

Many divorcing parents understandably feel concerned about the effect the legal divorce proceedings and the surrounding circumstances will have on the children. One way children could become directly involved in a divorce proceeding is if mediation or other alternative dispute resolution methods fail and the court appoints a person to represent the child's (or children's) interests in child custody proceedings. For any parent involved in a divorce litigation in which a child's legal representative has been appointed, it may be helpful to understand the role these types of child advocates may play in the proceedings.

Three Types of Child Legal Representatives in Illinois

In Illinois, a child's interests could be represented in divorce proceedings by a professional in one of three roles: Guardian ad Litem (GAL), an attorney for the child, or a child's representative. According to Section 506 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, any party to a divorce proceeding or the family law judge may appoint an attorney acting in any of the three capacities mentioned above to represent the bests interests of the child. Though similar in many ways, there are significant differences to each of the three possible roles.

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 Posted on June 24, 2014 in Child Custody

For Fathers' Day, on June 15th some newspapers ran similar articles on changing expectations from divorced dads regarding child custody arrangements. According to one article, more divorced men are rejecting traditional but unbalanced child support and child custody arrangements of years past that award a large amount of parenting time to the mothers. These trends follow recent studies highlighting the important role active fathers, whether divorced or not, play in a child's development and emotional well-being.

Legislators in some states have already taken notice and reworded statutes to put fathers, who were traditionally assigned secondary caregiving roles, on more equal footing. For example, some states have refined terms like joint and physical custody to terms like "parenting time," which ultimately draw custody divisions in less black and white terms. Another article suggests that a reason for the shift towards more involved fathers comes due to the personal experiences of judges and other legal professionals. On this view, family law judges and other legal professionals are more empathetic to life for divorced families since many of them have come from divorced families themselves.

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 Posted on June 22, 2014 in Collaborative Divorce

If you have been contemplating filing for divorce, you have probably heard the term "Alternative Dispute Resolution" mentioned, but may be unclear of exactly what it means. In the divorce law context, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) refers to a quasi-legal process of settling your divorce outside of a courtroom. ADR may take place in a variety of forms such as collaborative divorce or mediation. Collaborative divorce, the process of working with the other spouse or her attorney collaboratively and positively to arrive at an out-of-court solution, is a topic covered in prior posts.

Mediation, the other common form of ADR, is the process of sitting down with a trained, neutral party to resolve legal issues and possibly social and emotional issues associated with the divorce. To some experts, the mediation process is better designed to address the social and emotional difficulties couples face when going through a divorce and the life changes that accompany it.

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 Posted on June 17, 2014 in Divorce

By this point you probably know a little about bitcoin, the digital currency largely popularized by its initial use in illicit online transactions for drugs and weapons. Bitcoin's not easily traceable nature makes it difficult to regulate and monitor by governmental bodies. As such, a question arises as to how the American legal system would treat assets kept in bitcoin during divorce proceedings. One article recently covered this topic as it relates to divorce law in England.

The article outlines that Bitcoin can be used to hide assets at stages in divorce proceedings that require financial disclosures. Though unscrupulous, this type of asset hiding may be tempting due to the virtual anonymity in the bitcoin trade. Soon to be divorced spouses can surreptitiously transfer bitcoin between online wallets and may even be able to transfer their bitcoins into the hands of trusted friends for safekeeping until after a divorce is finalized. Reportedly a number of forums have sprung up in which divorcing spouses explore this option of hiding financial assets in bitcoin during legal proceedings.

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 Posted on June 12, 2014 in Divorce

The general rule in Illinois is that an inheritance is not considered marital property. [See 750 ILCS 5/503(c)(1).] Illinois courts recognize that a deceased gift maker (called the "testator," if a will is involved) usually intended to give an inheritance to the recipient (the "beneficiary") so that the inheritance can be used primarily for the care and benefit of the recipient. Presumably the inheritance would have been given to the recipient regardless of who the recipient chose to marry. Illinois law takes the testator's intent seriously and it would be unfaithful to the testator's intent if Illinois courts were to grant partial control of an inheritance to the family of a recipient. In time, such a practice could lead to the unfavorable policy outcome of discouraging people from devising inheritances to married relatives or friends in fear that the funds would be misused by the spouse.

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 Posted on June 09, 2014 in Child Custody

Sometimes even when one or both spouses put forth their best efforts, they cannot agree on a child custody arrangement or visitation schedule. When this sort of impasse occurs, Illinois family law courts may order a child custody evaluation, a process by which the court can determine which child custody arrangement is in the child's best interest.

What Exactly Happens During a Dupage County Child Custody Evaluation?

A child custody evaluation, a process governed by Illinois statute 750 ILCS 5/604.5, works in the following way:

First the court orders an evaluation. The court may appoint the evaluator on its own or in response to a motion recommending an evaluator by either spouse in a divorce case. Other parties, such as the child's attorney or guardian ad litem, may also recommend a child custody evaluation. The order specifies the time and place of the proposed evaluation and designates the evaluator. A child custody evaluator is typically a psychologist or psychiatrist who has been specially trained in child custody-related issues. The evaluator is usually paid by the party requesting the evaluator but regardless of who pays, the evaluator is tasked with acting as a neutral party in the proceedings.

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 Posted on June 04, 2014 in Child Custody

Some of the most heartfelt decisions couples must make during a divorce relate to their child's custody and upbringing. When making these decisions it is helpful to know the law concerning child custody in Illinois. Information about the different custody arrangements available can aid you in making an educated decision regarding which custody arrangement may be best for you and your family.

Legal Custody

Like most other states, Illinois looks to the best interests of the child as well as parental preferences when determining how to award child custody following a divorce or separation.

Illinois state law recognizes two main types of child custody: legal custody and physical custody. Legal custody gives parents the authority to make important decisions concerning how to raise a child. A legal custody holder may make medical decisions, decisions about the child's education, and may determine what religion, if any, the child will learn to practice. When both parents share legal custody, it is called joint legal custody. In Illinois it is more common for a judge to award joint legal custody as opposed to sole legal custody to a single parent.

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