Posted on August 24, 2020 in Division of Assets

A Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) is necessary when dividing retirement savings. Without it, the payee can be subject to tax penalties, and there is no guarantee that an employer or retirement plan provider will adhere to your divorce decree alone. Because QDROs are necessary so often, most retirement plan providers have standard forms to help you and your attorney create a draft. If you suspect that the division of retirement assets will be complicated, you can still draft your own QDRO. Either way, it is worth understanding some common mistakes people make when creating QDROs and how you can avoid them. Regardless of your situation, you should work with a reputable divorce attorney you trust to ensure that your financial interests are protected.

Typical QDRO Errors

Even though many retirement plan providers have boilerplate forms for you and your attorney to use as a reference when drafting your QDRO, there are still several common mistakes that you should avoid:

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 Posted on August 13, 2020 in Divorce

Over the past four decades, divorce rates around the world have more than doubled. If you are going through a divorce, this can be a comforting statistic: millions of people are experiencing the same struggles as you. The rise in divorce rates, despite the negative emotions it typically entails, has some positive outlooks as well. Higher divorce rates mean more people are escaping abusive relationships, more people believe they can find love again, and more people are pursuing the life that they want to live.

Cheng-Tong Lir Wang and Evan Schofer, two University of California at Irvine sociologists, compiled nearly four decades of divorce data from all around the world. Their goal was not merely to examine changes in divorce rates over time, but to try to understand what societal factors might cause divorce rate growth. Between 1970 and 2008, they discovered that the global divorce rate rose from 2.6 divorces for every 1,000 married people to 5.5 - the rate more than doubled. After analyzing the data, they found a few commonalities.

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 Posted on August 03, 2020 in Divorce

The division of assets is a central component of divorce. Before you can make a settlement with your spouse, both of you and your attorneys will have to go through the discovery process. Discovery is a pre-trial stage of a divorce where both parties investigate and request evidence from the other party, including financial records. A married couple’s finances can get complicated, and couples are frequently unaware of the scope of their partner’s assets. To reach a fair conclusion, no financial information should be withheld from either party. Attorneys rely on several strategies to unveil the information they need to make adequate demands for their clients. We will detail some of the most commonly requested discovery tactics below. As you are preparing for a divorce, ensure that you have the help of an experienced and dedicated divorce attorney who will leave no stone unturned during the discovery process.

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 Posted on July 30, 2020 in Family Law

Illinois has extensive child representation laws to help protect children’s best interests when their parents are divorcing. A court may appoint one of several types of child advocates to investigate before making decisions in proceedings involving child support, custody, visitation, and allocation of parental responsibilities. To represent a child, a court can appoint an attorney, a child representative, or a Guardian Ad Litem.

A Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) is a professional with specialized training to advocate on behalf of children in legal cases. He or she submits a written report that can play a significant role in divorce proceedings and he or she can be called as a witness, so it is common for parents to get nervous when a GAL interviews them. Speak with a divorce attorney who has a rich understanding of a Guardian Ad Litem’s training and responsibilities for help understanding how they fit into your case. In the meantime, here are some tips to increase your chances of making a positive impression on a GAL.

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 Posted on July 13, 2020 in Divorce

A divorce decree is legally binding and neither spouse is allowed to violate its terms. If your spouse does not abide by the agreement settled on during mediation or by a judge’s ruling, it is vital to work with a divorce attorney to clarify and resolve this conflict. Since there are many aspects to a divorce, there are different ways a spouse can violate a court order and each violation can carry different consequences. There is no one-size-fits-all punishment for violating the terms of a divorce.

Enforcing an Illinois Divorce - Contempt Proceedings

In general, when someone violates a court order, he or she is held in contempt of court. A spouse’s willful neglect to make child or spousal support payments, failure to comply with a parenting time order, and the refusal by one spouse to give specific assets to the other as stated in the divorce decree are all examples of violations. If your ex-spouse violates the terms of your divorce, you can file for contempt proceedings.

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 Posted on June 22, 2020 in Divorce

If you have decided to divorce and started the process of researching your options, you may feel as if you are being bombarded with unfamiliar legal terms. Many people who divorce have never been involved in a legal dispute or even stepped foot inside of a courtroom before, so it can understandably be overwhelming. One aspect of divorce that people often have questions about is divorce “discovery.” The discovery process involves each party and his or her respective attorney obtaining information and evidence from the other party. This fact-checking portion of the divorce process is an essential part of ensuring that the divorce settlement or judgment you receive is based on accurate and complete information.

What is Involved in Divorce Discovery?

The duration and complexity of discovery will depend on the value and complexity of each party’s assets, the level of contention between the spouses, and how willing the spouses are to be honest and forthcoming about personal information. When a spouse attempts to hide assets, lie about income sources, or is otherwise unwilling to be transparent about finances, the discovery process becomes even more crucial. Discovery can involve a number of different methods for exchanging information, including:

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 Posted on June 04, 2020 in Divorce

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, nearly 20 million Americans suffered from a substance abuse disorder in 2017. If your spouse has a drug or alcohol addition, you know just how quickly a substance abuse problem can take over a person’s life. An expensive drug or alcohol problem can also cause people to make impulsive and destructive financial decisions. When divorcing a person with a substance abuse problem, it is crucial that you take steps to shelter your assets from misuse. There are several different protections that you can put in place that will help prevent your property from being used to further your spouse’s addiction.

Financial Restraining Orders

When most people hear the term “restraining order,” they think about a protection order for victims of domestic violence. A financial restraining order, however, is a different type of court order that freezes marital assets from being misused during divorce. The order may prohibit both you and your spouse from selling marital property, closing bank accounts, limiting the other spouse’s access to an account, changing beneficiaries, and more. Typically, a temporary financial restraining order lasts only 10 days. However, you can request a longer protection period by attending a court hearing and explaining your reasons for seeking financial protection.

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 Posted on May 27, 2020 in Spousal Maintenance

Depending upon the circumstances surrounding your marriage and divorce, you may feel that you should be entitled to spousal maintenance payments from your ex-spouse. Unlike child support, spousal support is not presumed to be appropriate in every situation. Instead, Illinois law requires each case to be weighed on its own merits to determine if the need for such supports actually exists. This means that, if you think you deserve to receive maintenance, you may need to explicitly request consideration for it.

Marital Misconduct Not a Factor

Unless you and your spouse included behavior clauses in a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, the court will not consider the conduct of either party when deciding whether to award maintenance. While your spouse’s behavior may leave you feeling like he or she owes you some type of restitution, the law in Illinois specifically prohibits marital misconduct from being a factor in maintenance proceedings. Spousal support is meant to help you meet your financial needs and obligations. It is not intended to be used as a punitive measure against your spouse.

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 Posted on May 22, 2020 in Divorce

If your spouse suffers from narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, or another type of personality disorder, you may have concerns about how he or she will respond to divorce. Ending a marriage can be extremely difficult no matter the circumstances, but when a spouse suffers from a mental illness, the situation can be particularly stressful. You may encounter legal obstacles during the divorce process that are nearly impossible to manage on your own. Fortunately, a divorce lawyer experienced in handing cases involving mentally ill spouses can help you navigate this tricky situation.

Protect Your Finances

Sometimes, a mental illness like a personality disorder manifests in impulsive behavior. This may include going on shopping sprees or spending money through a gambling addiction or substance abuse problem. There are a few different ways that you can protect your finances before the divorce process is initiated. If you are not quite ready to divorce or you suspect the divorce process will take a considerable amount of time, you may want to obtain a legal separation.

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 Posted on May 15, 2020 in Child Support

For many individuals, it takes a divorce to highlight just how financially dependent a person may be on his or her spouse. This, of course, may be all the more true if you are also trying to raise children. It is for exactly such reasons that the divorce laws in Illinois include provisions for spousal maintenance and child support. These orders are issued, when appropriate, by the court to distribute the financial burden more equitably between you and your ex-spouse. But, what would happen if your ex-spouse was no longer around to provide support for you or your children? Would you be able to get by? If the answer is no, you may want to speak with family law attorney about including life insurance requirements in your divorce agreement.

Why Life Insurance?

A life insurance policy is designed to pay financial benefits to the named beneficiaries of a insured individual upon the insured person’s death. These funds are often used to cover funeral costs, pay down debts, or to simply maintain a similar lifestyle. Married individuals will commonly name their spouse as the primary beneficiary to help provide a level of security in the event of their death.

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