Posted on October 07,2022 in Marital Property

Money is frequently one of the top concerns for the majority of couples going through a divorce. After a marriage ends, bank account balances can have a great impact on an individual’s ability to maintain their financial situation after a divorce.

It can be challenging for each partner to revamp their finances to bounce back from and adapt to the lifestyle changes that divorce brings. Additionally, marital debt and asset disputes can make it even more difficult.

What is Considered Marital Debt in Illinois?

Debts and other ongoing commitments are included as financial considerations for partitioning marital property under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. According to the law, "marital property" refers to any assets (or obligations) obtained by either spouse during the marriage. This implies that any joint loans, credit lines, or accounts created in the names of both spouses are marital property and would be shared equally by them both in the case of divorce. From credit card debts, mortgages, and auto loans to medical bills and unpaid taxes, these obligations can range widely.

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 Posted on October 04,2022 in Paternity

The importance of both parents being involved in a child's life is increasingly acknowledged by Illinois courts. Our experienced family law attorneys at the Andrew Cores Family Law Group understand the seriousness of paternity cases and how legal issues can be managed through a difficult time to benefit the child involved in the paternity dispute. Depending on your situation, you have lots of things to consider. Here are three things you should know about paternity in Dupage County. 

Paternity Tests in Illinois

If either the mother or the father of a child files a paternity lawsuit, the court will often set up a DNA test for the parties to determine the child's parentage.

It is normally advised to get a DNA test done before determining parenting time, child support, and other matters if there is doubt regarding who the biological father is. This is because, even in circumstances when the alleged father later finds they are not the biological father, it is highly rare for an Illinois court to revoke a prior judgment agreeing to paternity.

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 Posted on September 30,2022 in Child Custody

In Illinois, the term “child custody” was replaced with “allocation of parental responsibilities” and “parenting time” several years ago when lawmakers did a complete overhaul of the state’s family law statutes. Regardless of what it is called, the reality is that determining how divorced parents will share in the raising of their child is often one of the most acrimonious parts of a divorce.

It can be difficult enough to come up with a fair parenting time schedule that addresses holidays, birthdays, school breaks, summer vacations, and more. But when there are other issues that impact parenting time, having a skilled family lawyer representing you can make all the difference in the outcome. The following are some of the issues that can make a parenting time schedule even more complex.

When One Parent Has Moved Away

It is not uncommon for a spouse to move a long distance away, even to another state, after a divorce in order to get a fresh start or start a new job. Regardless of why the parent has moved, when there are children involved, a long-distance parenting time schedule is needed. Some of the factors that the court may consider include:

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 Posted on September 27,2022 in Prenuptial Agreement in Illinois

For decades, the Baby Boomer generation – those born between 1946 and 1964 – was the largest generation. But in 2019, the Boomers were surpassed by the Millennials – those born between 1981 and 1996. Now that there are more Millennials than other generations, they are definitely putting their mark on society, including the increase in prenuptial agreements. But unlike Boomers, the issues addressed in Millennial prenuptial agreements have taken a turn.

Finances

One of the major differences with Millennial couples is that more and more of them are choosing to keep their assets separate instead of pooling them together. Commingling assets is one of the issues that can make distributing a marital estate in a divorce difficult. So many Millennial couples are choosing to keep assets separate by drawing up prenups that address who is responsible for major purchases and other debts the couple may have during their marriage.

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 Posted on September 21,2022 in DuPage County Divorce Attorneys

It is estimated that more than one in three women and one in four men in this country will experience physical violence, stalking, and/or rape by an intimate partner. Intimate partner violence affects more than 12 million people every year. When domestic violence is part of an intimate partner relationship, it can be very difficult for the victim to leave, but when the couple is married, it can be even harder because leaving usually involves legally ending the marriage.

It is important to remember that not all domestic violence involves physical injuries. There are other forms of domestic abuse that one spouse can inflict on the other and these types of abuse sometimes continue long after the divorce has been finalized.

Emotional Abuse

When one spouse inflicts a steady stream of harsh insults and threats, this is considered emotional abuse. Insults and threats are obvious types of emotional abuse, but other types can be just as injurious to the victim. It is not uncommon for the abusive spouse to use manipulation and guilt to get the victim spouse to do what they want. Threats of leaving or taking the children away – when they have no intention of doing either – are examples of the tactics an emotionally abusive spouse may use.

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 Posted on September 15,2022 in Child Support

While there are many issues in a divorce that can cause major disagreements, most people will agree that it is the issues surrounding the children that often result in the most fighting. Even long after the divorce has been finalized and child custody and child support decided, fighting can still – and often does – occur.

It is no secret that child support causes angst for many parents, no matter what side of the payment they are on. Many receiving parents complain that the amount the other parent is paying does not come close to covering the actual expenses of raising the child, while many paying parents complain they are handing over too much money to their ex each month. This can lead to resentment and even refusal to pay the amount the court has ordered them to.

When this happens, the custodial parent often wonders if they can legally stop parenting time for a parent who has stopped paying child support.

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 Posted on September 12,2022 in DuPage County Divorce Attorneys

There are different areas of the Illinois divorce process that can have a significant impact on how a divorce turns out. One of those areas is discovery. Discovery is the process that is used to help both sides gather evidence to ensure that both spouses have the same financial information in order to be in a better position to negotiate a fair divorce settlement.

Discovery is considered a legal process and there are rules that both parties are required to follow, both in the gathering of evidence and the supplying of evidence that is requested. Failure to adhere to these rules can result in sanctions from the court. The following is a brief overview of some of the tools your attorney or your spouse’s attorney may use during the divorce.

Interrogatories

As part of the discovery process, attorneys may send the other side a set of interrogatories. These documents are a list of questions that the other side is required to respond to under oath. Generally, these questions are about the spouse’s background and often include questions about their education and work history. There are also often questions about any income, financial accounts, assets, and debts the spouse may have. The goal of interrogatories is to determine whether or not the spouse is hiding assets in order to avoid including them in the marital estate and equitable distribution.

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 Posted on September 07,2022 in DuPage County Divorce Attorneys

If you have decided to end your marriage, there are important steps you should take in order to protect your financial interests. Even if you think that your divorce will be a friendly one, the reality is that all it takes is one disagreement over what may seem a minor issue and your divorce can quickly turn into a remake of the old movie The War of the Roses, in which a divorcing couple’s possessions become the focus of a contemptuous divorce battle.

Dividing the Marital Estate

Illinois is an equitable distribution state, which means that all of the assets and property the couple owns will be divided between them in an equitable manner. In order to make sure this division is equitable, it is important to have an accurate accounting of how much the marital estate is actually worth.

Unfortunately, this can sometimes result in one spouse trying to hide assets. This can be especially easy to do if one spouse leaves the handling of all of the couple’s finances up to the other spouse.

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 Posted on August 31,2022 in DuPage County Divorce Attorneys

Child support is a topic that can easily make emotions run high, especially in the context of an already embittered divorce. While most parents are happy to financially support their children, making payments to a disliked ex who may not be raising your children the way you hoped can be a challenging process. Being the parent who receives child support is often no easier, especially if you feel as though you are under constant scrutiny regarding how you handle the support payments. 

Regardless of personal differences between parents, and unlike other parts of negotiating a divorce, child support payments in Illinois are generally not negotiable and are established according to a formula known as the “income shares” model. Understanding which factors can affect this model and the overall support payments is important for parents who are approaching child support for the first time. 

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 Posted on August 26,2022 in DuPage County Divorce Attorneys

Creative and inventive individuals who get divorced may be surprised to learn that the products of their creativity are considered part of the asset division process in Illinois. Just as physical property must be assessed and divided, intellectual property must be valued and split between spouses as well. Read on to learn more about how intellectual property is handled in an Illinois divorce, and then call an attorney with experience in high-asset and complex divorce who can help. 

What is Intellectual Property? 

Intellectual property is a term that describes intangible (nonphysical) assets that are owned by a person or a company and cannot be used without the owner’s permission. Intellectual property rights are covered by laws that provide legal protection to products of human creativity, just as real property rights are protected. Examples of intellectual property include:

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