Posted on December 15, 2015 in Divorce

High net worth divorce cases often have complicated finances that need to be evaluated before any agreement for dividing the assets can be reached. Even when a couple is deeply involved in the management of their assets and income, experts are usually needed in a divorce.

The Types of Experts You May Need

A divorce may have several different issues at stake. Couples frequently fight over parenting time, child support, spousal maintenance, and the marital assets. The court will often appoint a custody evaluator to deal with parenting time issues. However, both sides frequently hire experts to deal with the money issues.

Forensic accountants are used to evaluate the marital assets. They will dig into the records and statements to make sure all the property is accounted for. Forensic accounts not only look for hidden assets, but they also make sure assets are properly valued.

When there is a business involved, a forensic accountant may not be enough. A business valuation expert familiar with the particular industry may be needed. Sometimes the biggest assets a business has do not appear on the balance sheets-the value of the brand and the goodwill of the business need to have a dollar tag attached to them for the purposes of the divorce.

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 Posted on December 10, 2015 in Child Support

What happens when a relationship ends, and a father then requests a DNA test to avoid paying child support because he does not believe he is a biological parent? This scenario occurs more often than one may think.

What Legal Paternity Means

Most of the time, being a biological father and legal paternity are considered one in the same. However, there are situations where an individual can become a child's legal father without having a biological connection to the child.

There are four primary ways for legal paternity to be established:

• A man was married to a child's mother at either the birth of the child or at the child's conception;
• A man was married to a child's mother after the birth of the child and his name was listed on the birth certificate with his permission;
• A man signs a document called a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity form; and
• Through a court order or order from the Healthcare and Family Services (HCF).

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 Posted on December 08, 2015 in Family Law

When a marriage begins to fall apart, or even after a divorce is in process, one spouse may react emotionally and destroy, damage, or waste marital assets. This behavior is called dissipation of assets. Under Illinois law there can be severe consequences for such behavior.

What Dissipation of Assets Looks Like

Dissipation of assets can take many different forms. Common situations where a court will find that a spouse has wasted a marital asset include the following:

• Spending money on an affair;
• Excessive gambling losses;
• Allowing a house to fall onto foreclosure;
• Allowing a vehicle to be repossessed;
• Substance abuse;
• Physically destroying personal property; and
• Transferring marital property at a loss to a third party.

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 Posted on December 03, 2015 in Family Law

After a final decision has been reached in your family law case, you only have a short time to decide if you should file an appeal. Not every case is suited for an appeal. You need to have your case evaluated by a lawyer with experience in bringing appeals of family law cases.

Timelines and Options

Illinois law usually requires that any appeals of final orders be filed within 30 days of the order being issued. The first document you file is a Notice of Appeal. While appeals of custody orders are often heard on an accelerated docket, most appeals take months, or sometimes longer, to be completed.

After an order is issued you also may have other issues besides an appeal. Depending on the facts of the case, either party can file a motion for the court to reconsider the ruling. Additionally, a motion to modify an order may be appropriate if there has been new evidence or a significant change in circumstances.

What Types of Issues Can be Appealed?

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 Posted on December 01, 2015 in Divorce

Dealing with real estate can be one of the most contentious issues in a divorce. Whether it is a fight over the family home, a vacation property, or even a vacant piece of land, people are often emotionally attached to their real estate. How much say does a divorce court judge have over what happens to your land?

Deciding if the Land is Marital Property

Under Illinois law, in a divorce case, all property including both real estate and personal property is put into one of two categories. Either the property is individual property or it is marital property. The court has jurisdiction over anything that is considered marital property.

The general rule is that anything acquired by either spouse after the start of the marriage is considered marital property. Any increase in value is also considered marital property. There are several exceptions to this rule. The two biggest exceptions are that inheritances and gifts are not marital property as long as they are not commingled.

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 Posted on November 23, 2015 in Divorce

After you receive your judgment from the court finalizing your divorce, you may feel a sense of relief. However, even after a divorce is final, there may be additional issues.

In the months and years after the divorce, you may need to go back to court for modifications or for enforcement actions.

Updating Personal Documents and Complying With Orders

The court may have legally terminated your marriage, however you probably have several accounts and insurance policies that still list your previous spouse. During the divorce you are often not allowed to make any changes to things such as lists of dependents or beneficiaries. However, once the divorce is final, it is important that you update everything to reflect your new situation. This includes updating the following:

• Will;
• Life insurance beneficiary;
• Retirement account beneficiary;
• Emergency contact for health insurance; and
• Bank account information.

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 Posted on November 18, 2015 in Divorce

If you and your spouse are divorcing and have children, then it is particularly important to understand the basics of Illinois child custody laws. A clear understanding can provide you and your spouse with ideas regarding a custody arrangement, and will help to demystify the factors that courts will consider when awarding custody. Additionally, divorce can be an arduous and stressful time for everyone involved-spouses, children, extended family, and friends all face the impact of an ending marriage. However, considering the following steps may prove beneficial to help make your divorce process less stressful and more amicable for all involved-primarily your children.

Encourage Your Children to Accept Change

Change is unavoidable when it comes to divorce. Even when the end result is joint custody, any children involved will have to cope with a new way of living. One strategy for helping children adapt to changes in family life is to make sure their daily routine remains consistent. After-school activities, sports, hobbies, and time spent with parents should remain as priorities.

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 Posted on November 16, 2015 in Collaborative Law

Despite what you see on TV and in the movies, not all divorces are contentious and hostile. Many couples want a way to end their marriage; however, they still want to have a positive relationship with each other after the divorce. This is where collaborative divorcecan help.

How Collaborative Divorce Works

Instead of both sides fighting against each other and trying to convince the judge to take their side on all of the issues, the parties work together to find a solution with which they are both happy. Like mediation, collaborative divorce is an alternative dispute resolution tool.

Each side is still represented by his or her own lawyer. In some cases, the two sides may not even file the divorce petition until they have negotiated a settlement agreement.

However, if a collaborative divorce fails to reach an agreement, the two sides are still able to go through the normal divorce process. There are several advantages to collaborative divorce and include the following:

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 Posted on November 11, 2015 in Divorce

The general rule in Illinois court cases is that each side pays his or her own attorney fees. However, in family law cases, judges have a lot of power to decide if one side should contribute to the other side's attorney fees.

The Court's Power in the Initial Proceedings

Family law cases are held in equity. Therefore, a judge is charged with making fair decisions. Still, this does not mean that things have to be split evenly. Instead, judges look at all of the circumstances and make decisions after taking all factors into account.

In a divorce case, if one side has the majority of the income and most of the assets are in his or her name, the judge may decide to order that person to pay some or all of the attorney fees for the other side. This is done as a matter of fairness. Judges may also take into account the bad behavior of one side or another when deciding to award attorney fees.

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 Posted on November 09, 2015 in Mediation

Divorce cases can be some of the most difficult cases to settle. Emotions are often intense on both sides. Moreover, both spouses may feel they are fighting for what is right and what is best for the children. However, when a case goes to trial, many times neither side wins. Mediation, however, offers an opportunity for the two sides to find a way to settle the divorce in a way that is beneficial for both spouses.

How Mediation Works

Mediation is a way to resolve a legal dispute outside of the formal court process. Unlike a settlement conference where the judge is often pressuring the two sides to come to an agreement, the judge is not involved at all in mediation.

The two sides agree on, and hire, a neutral third party who offers mediation services-the most effective divorce mediators are former judges or lawyers with years of family law experience. Prior to mediation, the two sides submit statements that explain what they believe the issues of the case are and what outcome they would like to reach.

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