Posted on January 13, 2022 in Divorce

Teaching public school is one of the most difficult jobs someone can make a career out of. Fortunately, government employees have excellent benefits, and one of these is a generous pension that is meant to last a hard-working educator throughout their retirement. 

Because pensions are considered marital assets and must be divided in a divorce, many teachers rightfully fear the consequences that getting divorced could have on their retirement plan. Does the whole thing get divided, even if you were teaching before you got married? How is the value of a fund determined? For answers to these questions, read on. 

How Will the Value of My Pension Be Determined? 

Knowing your pension’s exact value can be challenging, but there are several common methods used for determining a pension’s present worth. These include: 

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 Posted on January 11, 2022 in Divorce

One of the most important things divorcing parents must do is arrange a suitable parenting agreement. Although it can be challenging to make the necessary compromises, a good parenting agreement can serve the entire family for many years. 

Of course, if a child is ever in danger or a parent passes away, there will necessarily be a change in arrangements. But most parenting plans are modified for more innocuous reasons - children get older, people remarry, and parents sometimes have to move to a new home or change their work schedule. When there is a significant change in circumstances, it may be time to update the parenting agreement. Here are three common reasons a parenting plan may be modified in Illinois. 

Physical Relocation

Illinois sets strict limitations around when a parent with majority parenting time can relocate with a child. Depending on the area he or she lives in, if the new home is more than 25 or 50 miles away from their current home, the relocating parent will need to get permission from the child’s other parent or the court. Moving may also necessitate a rearrangement in parenting time because a greater or lesser distance could change the effort it takes to move a child between households. 

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 Posted on January 06, 2022 in Divorce

Even when both spouses are employed during a marriage, it is not uncommon for only one spouse to manage the family finances. Although this can make things more streamlined while the marriage lasts, it can also make it easier for the spouse who manages the money to hide marital assets that should be divided in a divorce. 

Hiding marital assets is illegal and unethical, and fundamentally violates the principles of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, which places great importance on ensuring marital assets are divided fairly. If you are worried that your spouse may be trying to hide assets in your Illinois divorce, here are five places you might want to look. 

Common Methods of Hiding Assets During Divorce

Although the strategies that people come up with are seemingly endless, here are some of the most common places hidden marital assets are found: 

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 Posted on January 04, 2022 in Divorce

Learning to manage shared parenting time and parental responsibilities during and after divorce can be difficult, especially when parents live in different states. Illinois shares a border with no less than five states and divorced parents frequently find themselves trying to manage their parenting schedule across state lines. This can lead to many frustrations and legal complexities, which, if left unaddressed, can get in the way of having a happy relationship with your child and a productive relationship with their other parent. If you are facing the prospect of co-parenting across state lines, here are three tips to help the experience go more smoothly. 

Follow Your Home State Jurisdiction’s Laws

Whichever state court originally heard your divorce or child custody modification case typically has home state jurisdiction. If you move out of Illinois to a neighboring state, the terms of the original custody order must still be followed. If the children are still residents of Illinois, even if they spend time in another state, then modifications to the parenting agreement must usually be made in the home state as long as one parent still lives there. Failing to follow the terms of your parenting agreement can lead to legal repercussions.

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 Posted on December 29, 2021 in Divorce

 Divorce is notoriously difficult on personal finances. In addition to the expense of the divorce process itself, such as attorneys’ fees and filing costs, divorced spouses must divide their marital assets and begin supporting themselves on only one income. Pensions, retirement plans, and savings accounts are critical assets that are often pursued by both spouses, especially if one spouse has remained unemployed to care for children. Add this to child support and spousal maintenance, and a divorcee’s future financial prospects might seem pretty grim. 

Although divorce almost always presents financial challenges, there are things you can do to protect your retirement prospects in divorce. Here are three suggestions for navigating your divorce with a long-term financial perspective. 

Understand the Rules that Govern Your Retirement Plans 

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 Posted on December 27, 2021 in Divorce

It is a favorite habit of older generations to cast aspersions on younger generations, but no group of young people has been the target of as much public derision as the Millennials. For decades, Millennials have been written about in magazines and newspapers as selfish, disinterested youngsters who are more interested in social media than they are in respecting their elders. 

However, as Millennials have gotten older and managed the challenges of adulthood, much of this worrying has come to naught - it turns out Millennials are more cautious, financially reserved, and deliberate about making major life decisions. One area in which this behavior manifests most obviously is in marriage and divorce. 

Millennial Marriage is More Likely to Last 

Many Millennials have watched their parents get divorced, dealt with the personal and financial fallout of divorce, and want to avoid making the same mistakes. Even as the Baby Boomer generation continues to get divorced well into their 60s and 70s, the divorce rate has dropped - largely thanks to Millennials. 

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 Posted on December 21, 2021 in Divorce

Getting divorced is a difficult process and it is common for emotions to run high. Often, a spouse’s worst fears about relationships have come true, and dealing with the fallout of cheating, dishonesty, or abuse can prove very challenging. 

Nevertheless, certain behaviors are simply unacceptable during divorce. Rather than processing emotions appropriately, some spouses become spiteful, paranoid, and may even engage in stalking or harassment. If you have been a victim of spousal stalking or harassment during your divorce, there are things you can do to protect yourself and your family. 

Harassment and Stalking are Illegal in Illinois

When someone behaves in a way that, with no other legitimate purpose, would cause a reasonable person emotional distress - and the victim of the behavior does feel distressed - such behavior may fit the legal definition of stalking in Illinois. If someone makes an indecent or obscene comment, in person or through electronic or telephone communication, with the intent to annoy, threaten, or offend, that behavior may fit the legal definition of harassment in Illinois. Many different behaviors could be either harassment or stalking, including, but not limited to: 

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 Posted on December 16, 2021 in Divorce

A parent’s most important responsibility is to provide for and protect their child. After a divorce - and even if they were never married - parents usually share parental responsibilities and parenting time but may disagree strongly about how children are best raised. Rarely, however, do these differences cross the line into neglect or abuse by either parent. 

But when this does happen, it is important for the parent who suspects abuse to take action. Doing so may be uncomfortable, but your obligation is to ensure your child’s safety. That being said, courts take false allegations of child abuse very seriously and making a false accusation could ultimately backfire. For these reasons, parents should never make allegations of abuse or neglect to try to deprive their child’s other parent of parenting time - but if there could legitimately be something wrong, it may be time to act. 

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 Posted on December 14, 2021 in Divorce

No matter how you feel about getting a divorce, once you have made the final decision, certain steps must be completed. The type of divorce you pursue will affect these steps to some extent. For couples who can agree on everything or agree to mediation when they do not agree, an uncontested divorce may be the best option. For some couples, however, a contested divorce is the only option.  

Contested divorces can be messy, long, and expensive. Illinois family courts discourage this whenever possible by trying to motivate spouses to work together on a settlement; unfortunately, it is not always possible. A contested divorce may go all the way to trial but before a trial can begin, there is an important step called discovery. Discovery can be long and complex, so it is important to know as much about it as you can before the process begins. 

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 Posted on December 09, 2021 in Divorce

When a married couple decides to end their relationship, one party may file for divorce. But an important part of getting divorced is being able to serve a spouse divorce papers - and if a spouse has decided to simply walk out without formally ending the relationship, serving papers can be difficult. Whether due to a criminal history, a desire to dodge child support obligations, or simply to try to start over again, some people disappear and cannot be located. 

If you want to get a divorce and cannot find or contact your spouse, you are not consigned to a lifetime of marriage to a missing person. Instead, with the help of an experienced divorce attorney, you can take steps to end your marriage - even without your spouse’s cooperation. 

Divorce by Publication

When one spouse is missing and the other spouse wants to get divorced, Illinois law provides an option called “divorce by publication.” Divorce by publication is only an option after a judge from an Illinois family court is convinced that the spouse filing for divorce truly cannot locate the missing spouse. The spouse filing for divorce is responsible for proving that he or she looked extensively for their spouse. This may be done using the following strategies, keeping accurate records for evidence: 

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