ESOP and Retirement Accounts in Illinois Divorce
by Jenét G. Pequeño, Esq. Do you have an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) and now find yourself in the middle of a divorce? Were you employed at a prior company that provided an ESOP as part of your benefits structure? If so, when it comes to divorce there are several concerns that are of particular note. How much of the ESOP is marital and how much is non-marital? If your company has contributed to an ESOP on your behalf, we have to first determine if it has vested. There are summary plan descriptions that will describe how contri... Read more
Filing a Petition for a Simplified Dissolution
Divorce proceedings can be expensive, time-consuming, and emotionally draining. Fortunately, in Illinois there are certain procedures, including simplified divorce, that enable qualified residents to skip some of the biggest procedural hurdles. However, not every couple is eligible for a simplified dissolution, so if you are considering a divorce and have questions or concerns about whether you qualify, it is important to contact an experienced divorce attorney who can help put your mind at ease, while also explaining your legal options. Divorc... Read more
New Law Amends Child Support Guidelines in Illinois
In August, Governor Rauner signed Public Act 99-0764 into law, which will go into effect on July 1, 2017. The new law modifies two sections of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act by amending the guidelines used to calculate child support. Transitioning to the new method of child support calculation may prove challenging, so if you are considering a divorce and have questions or concerns about how the new provisions could affect you, it is important to contact an experienced divorce attorney who can walk you through the process... Read more
What is a Collaborative Divorce?
In the last few years, more and more couples have begun attempting to resolve marital dissolution issues through collaborative divorce. This may be partly due to the amendments recently made to Illinois divorce law, which did away with the concept of fault-based divorce. As a result, a spouse may have less of an incentive to seek financial compensation for the other spouse’s alleged wrongdoing. Instead, the parties are urged to work together in an out of court setting to formulate a custody arrangement or decide how property will be divided. ... Read more
Establishing Paternity in Illinois
When a couple has children and later go through a divorce, a family court will often create a child support or custody agreement. This issue becomes much more complicated when a child’s parents were never married, but are still going through the process of separation. Determining child support and creating a custody arrangement can be difficult in these situations, especially if a child’s father is required to establish paternity, so if you are going through a divorce or separation, it is important to seek the advice of an experienced famil... Read more
How Long Will I Receive Spousal Maintenance After My Divorce?
In Illinois, spousal maintenance may be awarded during divorce proceedings to a spouse either by agreement or by court order. The amount and duration of the payments is decided by the court based on the application of a number of guidelines and factors. Spousal maintenance awards can have a significant financial impact on all parties, so if you are considering a divorce and have questions or concerns about spousal support, it is important to obtain the advice of an experienced spousal maintenance attorney who can help explain your legal optio... Read more
Financial Affidavits
One of this year’s changes to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act is the requirement that all parties to a divorce submit standardized, statewide financial affidavits. These forms help the court to assess a couple’s expenses, debts, income, and assets, which is vital in determining how child support and spousal maintenance should be allocated. Financial affidavits must be submitted with a variety of supporting documents and a failure to accurately report income or assets could lead to serious fines or sanctions, so if you ... Read more
Parenting Time
Illinois’ courts do not make a determination about “custody” when the parents of a child divorce or separate; instead, they address parenting time. Parenting time, as found in Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, simply means the time in which a parent is responsible for exercising caretaking responsibilities with respect to a child. The amount of time that each parent is allocated is determined by a couple’s parenting plan. It is important to note that parenting time and significant decision making respons... Read more
Learning More About Property Division in Divorce
If you are filing for divorce in Palatine, IL, you are likely to have questions about how property division will work. For instance, what does it mean that Illinois is an equitable division state? And what happens to property that you owned before you got married? How will the court treat property that began as separate property but increased in value due to the efforts of both spouses during the marriage? These are just a few of the questions that divorcing spouses are likely to have when they are thinking about property division, and it is im... Read more
Family Law & Divorce Blog
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