Dissolution Action Stays

 Posted on January 08, 2015 in Child Custody

Divorce is a time of great change in people's lives. This sort of change can often be disruptive to the normal routine. They can encourage people to start moving money around, or to try to move children out of reach of the other parent. This sort of gamesmanship can make divorces take longer and turn more acrimonious.

Consequently, the law provides a way of preventing these sorts of maneuvers, a dissolution action stay, named for the formal title of a divorce proceeding, a dissolution action. Dissolution action stays are a form of temporary restraining order that forbid certain behaviors by either member of the couple. These prohibitions go into effect either when the spouse who did not file for divorce receives formal notice of the divorce, or when he or she first appears in court, whichever occurs first.

What Dissolution Action Stays Prevent

Dissolution action stays place limitations on people's ability to do three things. First, it places a freeze on the marriage's assets. This prevents spouses from hiding money or moving around other valuable assets in an attempt to conceal or destroy them. However, the freeze does not apply to everything. Couples may still spend money that they would routinely spend to keep themselves fed or to pay off other usual expenses. The stay is more concerned about unusual expenditures that may be intended to hide assets from the other spouse. Second, dissolution action stays place limits on physical or mental abuse by the parties against each other or against their children. Importantly, the law makes clear that this is available in addition to other protections against domestic violence, not in place of them. Finally, the stay forbids the movement of minor children out of Illinois, and it forbids concealing the children from the other spouse. The goal of this is to make child custody disputes easier, and to make their decisions more enforceable.

Extraordinary Expenditures

The law surrounding dissolution action stays also has specific provisions for making extraordinary expenditures that may be necessary. In order to spend money beyond the usual routine, the spouse who wants to spend the money must provide notice to the other spouse. This notice should be given as early as possible, but it must be given at least seven days before the expenditure. This gives the other spouse a chance to object. If the other spouse does not object or if the court sides with the spending spouse, then the spouse may make the expenditure. However, he or she must provide an accounting of the expenses to the court. Failure to provide notice or an accounting creates a presumption of “dissipation,” which is the unauthorized spending of marital assets. A spouse found to be dissipating assets may be required to compensate the other spouse for the loss.

Dissolution action stays are just one important practical part of the divorce process. If you have other questions about how the process works, reach out to an experienced DuPage County divorce attorney today.