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Platonic Parenting: The Non-Divorce 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.
Moving out of Illinois Following 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
If your child's other parent agrees to the child moving out of state with you, then you have no issue. Some parents include a move in a parenting plan, if they knew at the time of the divorce proceedings that a move was imminent. If your ex-spouse agrees, you do not need to obtain an order from the Court. However, because a move will likely alter visitation as set forth in your parenting agreement, you and your spouse should sit down and revise the plan to reflect the new living arrangements.
The Division of Marital Assets: Case Studies in Commingling Assets
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?
Hidden Assets in Palatine Divorce Cases
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.
If one spouse was solely responsible for taking care of the family finances, then the other spouse may have no idea where money is invested or what it was used to purchase. Moreover, the spouse may even question the true amount of the family's annual income. A spouse in this situation could be at risk for being cheated out of his or her fair share of the marital assets because he or she has no idea what the couple actually owned.
Illinois Remedies for Failure to Pay 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.
Cohabitation and Alimony Payments in Illinois
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.
Million Dollar Child Support in Illinois: How Much Does It Cost to Raise a Child?
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.
Online Document Prep for Your Divorce: Is it the Right Choice?
There are a variety of online companies that offer document preparation and do-it-yourself forms for couples going through a divorce or needing assistance with child custody issues. These sites promise to save users significant amounts of money in attorney fees and to resolve their issues amicably and without protracted litigation. However, document preparation sites are a poor substitute for the advice of a qualified, experienced legal professional.
Listed below are suggestions to consider before deciding to handle any family law issue on your own.
Individualized service. Every divorce is different. However, document preparation sites approach divorces the same way. These sites offer a simplified approach—users check a box to select and draft legal documents. Yet many people do not understand all of the issues that must settled in a divorce. Additionally, if users neglect to check an appropriate box, the proper forms will not be suggested, and they may find themselves in Court months or years later to resolve an issue they never knew they had.
Business Valuation and Division in Illinois Divorce
Many couples, especially those with a high-net worth, own a business that is not only their largest asset, but their sole source of income. When these couples divorce, difficult issues arise such as how to value the business, whether it should be sold or divided and, if divided, which spouse should receives the business and how should the other spouse be paid for his share.
Illinois Business Valuation
In order determine the division of assets in a divorce, the assets must first be assigned a value. However, determining the value of a business is not as easy. For an investment account, you simply look at the balance on any given day, or for a vehicle, you can look up the Kelley Blue Book value.
A business valuation involves examination of a variety of factors by an attorney and forensic accountant skilled at valuation. There are factors that must be looked at when calculating the value of a business, some of which are dependent on the type of business. In general, several factors that go into determining business value include:
Handling Illinois Child-Related Expenses in the Digital Age
If you have children, getting divorced means you are never truly free of your ex. The child custody and child support agreements mean you will, at minimum, be dealing with your ex when it comes to exchanging the children for visitation and dealing with support payments.
Yet while those child support payments are determined by a statutory formula based on the parents' income, deductions and the child custody schedule itself, there are several other child-related expenses that an agreement does not always cover. Hence, this means a lot of unnecessary friction that can often land parents back in court.
Payment of Child-Related Costs: There is an App for That
Given today's high-tech world, it should come as no surprise that there is now an app — several, in fact — designed to help make the process of paying for child-related expenses a lot less contentious. The apps, however, are not designed to track payment of child support. Instead, they track the “extras” that go into raising children — activities fees, sports equipment and uniforms, class trips and even, payment of medical co-pays and deductibles.
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.
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