Posted on December 00, 0000 in Child Support

The newest twist in the divorce of a Chicago hedge fund owner and his wife is her alleged request for $1 million a month in child support for their three children. To all but the most wealthy families (and even to most of them) $1 million per month seems excessive. But it raises the question, if child support is based on statutory guidelines, how can one parent request a certain amount of support, and what would it take for the Court to award it?

Children of Divorce Entitled to Same Lifestyle

Child support is based on a statutory formula that takes into consideration the net income of the obligor (the parent paying support) and the number of children to be supported. Once the Court determines the obligor’s net income, he/she must pay a percentage of his/her monthly net income based on the number of children he/she has. For example, an obligor with three children must pay 32 percent of the monthly net income.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Divorce

Awarding alimony to stay-at-home parents that terminates when their youngest child turns 18, or when they remarry — whichever comes first — is not an uncommon action by the Court. Not wanting to lose alimony payments, however, some decide to never marry again and intend on receiving the alimony payments for the duration of their entire lives.

But what if a spouse who receives alimony moves in and establishes a relationship with a new partner that is akin to marriage, minus the official papers? Can alimony be terminated?

Modification of Palatine Alimony Award Based on Cohabitation

Under Illinois law, an alimony award can be terminated if a person receiving spousal support (the obligee) “cohabits with another person on a resident, continuing conjugal basis.” The purpose of this law is to prevent the situation mentioned above — a person who purposely remains unmarried just to be continue to receive spousal support.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Child Support

The divorce is finalized and child support, and custody orders are in place. Your ex has always been sporadic about making child support payments — some are on time, others are late. Yet the late payments are double what is required in order to make up for the missing payments. However, months have passed since you have received a check, and your ex will not return your calls.

What can be done to enforce payment, and what are the potential ramifications for your ex-spouse?

Illinois Child Support Enforcement

If your ex-spouse (the obligor) is delinquent in child support payments, meaning he or she has missed making one or more payments, you will need to file a motion for post-decree enforcement of the child support order. By submitting a “Petition for Rule to Show Cause,” pending you can show that the obligor’s failure to make child support payments is without good cause, he or she can be held in contempt of Court.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Division of Property

Locating Hidden Assets in a Palatine Divorce

Illinois law requires that parties in a divorce disclose all financial information to the other spouse in order to facilitate the division of assets. Most of the time this information exchange is done in the spirit of the law, since both parties have full knowledge of both the marital asset and their spouse’s non-marital assets.

However, in certain cases, one spouse purposely hides assets from his or her spouse. This may be done in anticipation of divorce, or a spouse may have secretly stashed money away throughout the marriage in the event of a divorce.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Marital Property

Getting divorced means negotiating an equitable division of marital assets. Marital assets are any assets a couple acquired together during a marriage; everything else — assets either spouse came in to the marriage with, or assets received during the marriage by gift or inheritance — is separate. However, separate property can become a marital asset and is thus subject to division if the property is commingled with marital assets.

The following scenarios explore the concept of commingling and identify the types of situations in which separate property can become marital property.

Scenario 1: Pete and Rose have been married for 10 years. When married, the couple moved into Pete’s home, which he had purchased eight years prior to the marriage. Pete never put Rose’s name on the home’s title, however, nor was her name ever placed on the mortgage. The couple did open a joint checking account that they both contributed to, and the mortgage was paid from the joint account. If they divorce, will the home be considered separate or marital property?

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Child Custody

In an opinion issued in March of this year, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the theory of equitable adoption does not apply in child custody cases, thus negating a man’s attempt to obtain custody and visitation with the child he helped raise.

Equitable Adoption in Illinois

Equitable adoption is an adoption made valid not by a Court order, but by the actions or promise of one or more parents to either adopt a child or treat a child as his or her natural, biological child.

Illinois approved the doctrine of equitable adoption for purposes of inheritance in 2013 in the case DeHart v. DeHart. In the case, the deceased had never formally adopted the plaintiff after marrying his mother when the plaintiff was two years old. However, for more than 60 years, he had held him out to be his biological son. At the father’s death, the plaintiff contested the decedent’s will on a number of grounds, and argued that he was equitably adopted, as the decedent had held the plaintiff out as his biological child and supported him as such throughout his life.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Children of Divorce

Order for Removal of Child in Illinois

After your divorce is final, you may find yourself wanting to move out of state. Perhaps you want to be closer to your family, or you have found a new job that will advance your career. Or, you may have remarried and your new spouse needs to relocate for work. The only problem is, you and your ex-spouse have a child custody agreement.

Can you move out of Illinois and take the children with you?

You have two options if you want to move out of state with your child: get the other parent’s permission, or obtain an order for removal from the court.

Parental permission for child to move out of state

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Children of Divorce

Couples may commonly stay together for the “sake of the kids” rather than get a divorce. In fact, some couples are now choosing to emotionally and financially server a relationship but continue to live together. This type or parenting — platonic parenting — tries to combine what is best for a couple and their children.

Married While Separated

A couple, recognizing that their marital relationship is unsustainable, decide to end their relationship. However, in the interests of the children to be raised by both parents in the same household, the parents continue to live together in the family home. The marital relationship continues in a legal sense, but from an emotional (and often financial) standpoint, the relationship ends. There is no divorce proceeding, no arguing over child custody, and no dealing with child support payments. As far as the children are concerned, life continues as normal.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Child Custody

A Florida mother recently filed suit in Federal Court to prevent her ex-husband from having their four-year-old son circumcised. However, a lower Court has ordered the woman to turn the boy over for surgery — she had previously agreed to allow the circumcision in a child custody agreement.

Illinois Joint Legal Custody

The default under Illinois law is to grant a child’s parents joint legal custody — an arrangement that can be granted even if one parent has primary physical custody. Joint legal custody means both parents have a right to make decisions regarding all aspects of a child’s life, including religious upbringing, education and medical care. Parents who share legal custody are therefore required to talk and come to an agreement on all issues, just as they would if they were still married.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Child Custody

A well-known actress is currently at odds with her ex-fiancé regarding frozen embryos the couple created before parting ways. The ex-fiancé wants to implant the embryos in a surrogate. However, the actress, who is currently engaged, wants them frozen indefinitely.

If a petition is granted, what rights and responsibilities would the actress have regarding child custody and child support?

Illinois Law Regarding Embryos

The use of fertility treatments to aid couples who cannot conceive spontaneously is increasingly common. One popular method is in-vitro fertilization, a method where egg and sperm are joined in a lab and are then implanted into the woman. During in-vitro, many pre-embryos are created at one time; those that are not implanted are either destroyed, donated or frozen indefinitely.

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