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Can a Stepparent's Income be Used to Determine Child Support Payment?
Following a divorce, chances are high that either you or your spouse will re-marry. However, if you and your ex-spouse had children, and there is a child support order involved, is it possible for the custodial parent to obtain an increase in the original child support award based on the new spouse's income?
Calculation of Illinois Child Support Payment
The Court determines the value of a monthly child support an obligor (the parent ordered to pay child support) must pay based on a child support guidelines adopted by the Illinois legislature. Although there may be slight variations, a typical child support award is a percentage of an obligor's net income, with the percentage being determined by the number of children he or she is financially obligated to support.
Payment of College Expenses in Illinois Divorce
Most parents hope that their children attend college or vocational school after high school graduation, and many want to help their children pay expenses associated with earning that higher education. But with 57.4 percent of all Illinois high school graduates going directly to college, are parents required to pay for their child's college education? Or does their child support duty end when the child turns 18?
Support for Non-Minor Child's Educational Expenses in Illinois
In most Illinois child support orders, the obligor parent (the one ordered to pay support) is no longer required to make payments once his or her child graduates from high school or turns 19. However, in some instances, the Court can order child support payments to be paid toward a child's educational expenses, including college or other professional training.
Tax Issues Following Divorce
After months — or even years — of legal wrangling, your divorce is finalized and you and your ex-spouse are now free to move on with your lives. However, if either of you were ordered to pay alimony, or if there are children involved, there are tax issues related to the divorce to which you need to be aware. In fact, you may need to revisit these issues as circumstances change.
Common Tax Issues Faced by Couples Once a Divorce is Finalized
Filing status. Your marital status on December 31 determines your options regarding filing status for tax purposes. If your divorce is finalized before the end of the year, you may want to file as head of household rather than as a single person. You can file as head of household — and get a bigger standard deduction — if you had a dependent living with you for more than half the year and you paid more than half of the upkeep on the marital home. An attorney and accountant can advise you whether it is to your advantage to file as head of household or as an unmarried person.
Can Social Security Benefits Offset Pensions in Illinois Divorces?
All divorce cases involve a division of assets, whether it is an even 50-50 split or a different ratio that the Court decides is equitable based on the circumstances. When dividing pensions and other retirement assets, a non-owner spouse can choose to either receive property in an amount equal to his or her portion of the benefits at the time of a divorce, or as a monthly distribution when the owner-spouse becomes eligible to receive it. However, what happens when one spouse contributes more money to Social Security instead of an employer-sponsored pension?
Division of Pension and SSI Benefits
Employers generally withhold a portion of an employee's salary for Social Security benefits. These benefits are paid as a monthly benefit once an employee reaches federal retirement age. Similar to a pension, money earned during a marriage is withheld from an employee's paycheck and held for later distribution.
How to Establish Paternity in Illinois
Paternity is a term used to describe the relationship between a father and his child. Legal paternity is established by law, and it gives a mother the right to seek child support from her child's father. Additionally, a father then has the right to seek custody and visitation.
In Illinois, when a married woman gives birth, her husband is the baby's father. Or, if a mother is married at the time of conception, her ex-husband is assumed to be the child's father. In both scenarios, a husband or ex-husband's name is placed on a birth certificate and is therefore considered a baby's legal father.
However, when a mother is not married at the time she gives birth, a father is not automatically considered a legal father — even if the couple is in a long-term relationship and there is no doubt the man is the child's father. In these scenarios, a father must first establish paternity in order to become a child's legal father and have his name placed on the birth certificate.
Traveling Out of Town with Your Children: Do You Need Permission?
The holidays are here, and for many families that means traveling out of state — whether to visit family or to simply get away from the cold Illinois winters and spend time on the beach. But if you are divorced and have a child custody agreement, can you continue to travel out-of-state with your children during the holidays? The answer is yes – but only if the other parent agrees.
Out-of-State Travel with Illinois Children
Illinois law requires each parent who is part of a child custody agreement to retain the other parent's consent before traveling out of Illinois with the children for vacation. Parental consent is not required for in-state travel.
Sealing Illinois Divorce Records
Illinois divorce records are public documents. Any person who walks into a Courthouse, and is willing to pay, can access and photocopy all documents contained in a divorce case. Additionally, all documents contained in a divorce file — pleadings, financial disclosures, exhibits — are fair game and can be viewed; however, you can have the Court seal these records for compelling reasons.
Sealing Illinois Divorce Records
If you are going through a divorce, there are a number of reasons why you may want your divorce records sealed. Several reasons include the following:
Privacy. People are nosey. Friends and family may want to see divorce records for a number of reasons — curiosity as to how much money you have, how much debt you may have, and to find out any potential “juicy” details about the divorce itself. Celebrities and public figures often have their records sealed for this reason.
Handling the Holidays with Children after Divorce
Whether a family celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or just the winter season, the holidays will be very different following a divorce. However, it does not mean that the holidays will be impossible. In fact, certain steps can be taken to help keep everyone happy.
Have a Detailed Child Custody Agreement
The first and most important suggestion for handling the holidays after divorce is ensuring a child custody agreement specifically deals holiday arrangements. There is no "one-size-fits-all" approach. A decided schedule will depend entirely on the circumstances of each individual family.
Some couples choose to alternate holidays, with one parent having the children on Christmas in odd-numbered years and the other having the children in even-numbered years. Others may divide a holiday and have children spend part of the day with both parents. For example, one parent may spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with the children, while the other parent then spends the remainder of Christmas day with the children.
Parent Education Class Requirements in Illinois Child Custody Cases
The Illinois Supreme Court rules require all parents involved in a child custody case, whether contentious or not, to enroll in parent education classes. Even if the one parent defaults or fails to participate in the proceedings, the other parent is required to attend the parent education class.
- Pre-decree class: Parents in the process of a divorce or civil union dissolution.
Name Change in Illinois after Divorce
A recent article on The Huffington Post may have you wondering how difficult it is for spouses to revert back to their maiden names following a divorce. The author, who lives in Massachusetts, stated that she was required to pay a filing fee to take back her maiden name, and that there was no guarantee that the Court would grant her request (though it ultimately was granted).
Use of Maiden Name after Illinois Divorce
In Illinois, spouses can revert to their maiden names following a divorce with minimal hassle. In order to do so, the interested spouse must simply include a request in the divorce petition to restore a maiden name. The same applies to same-sex divorcing couples. Additionally, there is no additional filing fee, and although the request requires Court approval, the Court is very unlikely to not grant it.
Introducing The Law Office of Nicholas W. Richardson
Nicholas W. Richardson is an experienced divorce lawyer and mediator whose comprehensive legal knowledge, commitment to clients and reputation for results bring lasting solutions to your problems.
The Law Office of Nicholas W. Richardson, P.C. serves clients in Illinois cities such as Palatine, Schaumburg, Inverness, Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows, Glenview, Hoffman Estates, Bartlett, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village, Mt. Prospect, Niles, Prospect Heights, Skokie, Streamwood, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Wheeling, and others throughout Cook County, DuPage County, McHenry County, and Kane County.
Results listed are not a guarantee or indication of future case results.
110 N. Brockway Street, Suite 220, Palatine, IL 60067
847.873.6741
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