You have decided that divorce is the right step for you, but how should you move forward now? Divorce does not have to be terrible, and in fact, many people can feel an enormous sense of relief once it is over. However, if you want a desirable outcome in your divorce settlement, coming prepared is the best thing you do. A DuPage County, IL divorce attorney can explain all the aspects of a divorce to help you prepare as best you can.

Where Do I Even Begin?

The first thing you should do if you are convinced that divorce is in your future is to find a lawyer to represent you and your best interests. You should seek a law firm that has experience dealing with divorce. If there are any special circumstances about your divorce - for example, if you have young children, if this will be a high-asset divorce, if you and your spouse co-own a business - you will want to make sure the law firm you chose has dealt with similar cases in the past. 

People often seek out an attorney who has experience with their specific type of case, can provide realistic expectations for what will happen, and will communicate compassionately with their clients while fighting aggressively for their interests.

Infidelity in marriage is becoming increasingly common. In some states across America, cheating could be enough for a court to grant the other spouse full custody and other beneficial terms in a divorce. In the State of Illinois, which is considered a “no-fault” state, neither spouse is considered responsible for a marriage breaking apart and both need to share parental responsibilities regardless of why they are splitting up. 

You may have cheated on your spouse, but that has nothing to do with how you are as a parent. If you are a parent thinking about divorce in the State of Illinois and you had an affair, a DuPage County, IL divorce lawyer can help you understand the process and advocate on your behalf.

What Is a No-Fault Divorce State?

In the past, people needed to prove to the courts why they deserved to be granted a divorce. They needed to provide the court with their “grounds for divorce.” Grounds generally included abuse, infidelity, or abandonment. But in 2016, the State of Illinois decided that from then on, couples no longer need to present the grounds for their divorce. Neither spouse needs to worry that their reputation will be ruined in divorce court. 

All divorces taking place in the State of Illinois need to meet the state’s residency requirements. That means that if you want to file for divorce, you need to have lived in Illinois for at least 90 days. The county where you file for divorce is the county in which your divorce will be handled, and the specific county where your case is handled is called the “venue.” 

There are certain circumstances in which you may want to settle your divorce in a different county. If you feel that a change of venue would serve your interests, a DuPage County, IL divorce attorney will be able to clear up some confusion around the significance of where your divorce is handled, and guide you through the process of transferring it to a different county.

Does Venue Matter in an Illinois Divorce?

When someone files for divorce, their case will be handled in the county where they filed, which is generally where they or their spouse reside. Even if the spouses are living in separate counties at the time of filing, the divorce gets assigned to the county in which it was filed. All Illinois family courts follow the same state laws, but some counties may handle them slightly differently. The specific county where your divorce is finalized might affect the outcome.

Social media networks have become an important part of life. People use them to connect with friends, share personal milestones, network professionally, date, collaborate, and countless other reasons. But whatever you post online is out there for all the world to see. Your social media posts could impact your divorce. A DuPage County, IL attorney can explain how, and whether there is anything you should be doing differently.

How Can Social Media Usage Affect Divorce?

In a divorce proceeding, lawyers may try to get the settlement their clients want by trying to show the other spouse as unfit to care for their children or wealthy enough not to need alimony. Before social media was a popular tool, it was much harder to get evidence of such claims. Now that it is common to post pictures and comments on several social media platforms, people have access to so much personal information about others. 

Even if you are very careful about what you post, you could still be at risk:

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for some spouses to attempt to conceal or undervalue assets and income when divorcing in Illinois in hopes of avoiding their fair share of property division and support obligations. However, Illinois divorce law provides legal mechanisms to uncover hidden marital property and income sources.

Require Complete Financial Disclosure Upfront

Illinois requires full written disclosure of all assets, debts, incoming revenue streams, and expenses by both spouses at the outset of divorce proceedings. Non-disclosure can result in severe penalties down the road, including overturning of the final property settlement. Insist on transparency from the very beginning.

Subpoena Bank Records and Financial Statements

If you have credible suspicion of undisclosed accounts, assets, or transactions, your divorce attorney can petition the court to subpoena bank statements, credit card records, loan documents, and other financial statements to ferret out hidden information that your spouse may have "forgotten" to mention. Thorough subpoena powers allow financial secrets to come to light.

Divorce and child custody disputes involving high asset parties present unique challenges not found in typical cases. Important insights can help individuals navigate these complicated situations. This article provides key information for those involved in high asset divorce and child custody cases.

Gather Extensive Financial Documentation

Thorough financial records are imperative in high asset divorce cases. Tax returns, bank statements, business financials, property appraisals, and any documentation related to substantial assets should be collected as early as possible. Complete and organized financial information allows for proper analysis and strategy when developing settlement proposals and arguments for equitable distribution. Be sure to gather documentation on all assets, debts, expenses, and any other financial records that may be relevant.

Be Prepared For Lengthy Proceedings

High asset divorce and child custody proceedings often take much longer to resolve than typical cases. Significant time is needed to account for all assets fully, have experts determine valuations, and negotiate equitable division agreements. Custody factors also require extensive evaluation when substantial assets provide more options and considerations for children's needs. Parties should be mentally and financially prepared for the strong possibility that contested high asset divorce and custody cases could take well over a year or more before final resolutions are reached.

Marriage is meant to be a relationship of honesty. When you suspect that your spouse has been hiding something, whether it is an investment account or an affair, it can be upsetting. It is fairly common in high-net-worth divorce for one spouse to be concealing assets from the other. In divorce, this is often because the spouse hiding assets is hoping to avoid providing their spouse with their share of the asset. There is also significant misunderstanding regarding what each spouse may and may not do with marital finances. Just because you were married does not mean that your spouse has the right to do anything they please with your joint finances. If you suspect that your spouse is concealing assets that you should rightfully receive a share of in divorce, it is important to mention your concerns to your divorce attorney. In many cases, you may be entitled to a share of the assets your spouse is trying to hide. 

Signs That Asset Concealment May be an Issue in Your Divorce 

Possible warning signs that your spouse is hiding assets may include: 

• Sudden spending increase - If it appears that your spouse is spending far more money than they used to, they may be funneling money into a secret banking or investment account. This is especially likely if your spouse has been withdrawing large sums of cash, even if they claim the money is for something or someone else. 

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Dividing a family business during divorce can be complicated. There are often many moving parts required to keep a business running smoothly even as its owners divorce. Your business may own a significant amount of capital or real estate. It may hold valuable contracts with employees - or employees may own shares of the company. All this can make equitably dividing a business among other marital assets challenging. As you begin to consider how your marital assets are to be divided, determining who will keep the business or other property in exchange for the business, it is important to know what your business is actually worth. Often, this is not the only consideration. The business may have been one spouse’s primary trade during the marriage, while the other does not have the experience needed to run it alone. However, in Illinois, both spouses are likely to have been deemed to have contributed to the success of the company even if one spouse was more hands-on. It is important to be represented by an experienced lawyer if your divorce will include a family business. 

How a Business Valuation Can Help in Your Divorce 

Dividing a business is not always easy, especially when both spouses have worked directly with the business. Some ways that a business valuation could help you during your divorce include: 

• Dividing other assets - It is important to know what the business is worth in order to know how its disposition should factor into the equitable division of other assets. Is it fair that one spouse keeps the business in exchange for the house, or is the value of the business more in line with that of the car? 

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Divorce is an emotionally, financially, and legally challenging process that can impact every aspect of your life. Navigating this complex terrain requires a holistic approach in order to pursue and achieve a successful outcome. While most individuals are aware of the importance of a competent divorce attorney, many overlook the unique benefits of also working with a divorce coach. Today, we will explore how the collaborative efforts of a divorce coach and an attorney can lead to a higher chance of favorable results in your divorce case.

Understanding the Role of a Divorce Coach

A divorce coach is a professional who combines emotional and practical support to help individuals effectively navigate the divorce process. While they are not always legal professionals, their skill lies in providing guidance, strategies, and resources to manage the emotional and relational aspects of divorce.

Enhanced Emotional Support 

Divorce is an emotionally charged experience that often triggers a range of intense emotions. A divorce coach can offer invaluable emotional support throughout the process by providing a safe place for expressing and processing feelings. They can help manage stress, anxiety, and other emotional challenges, empowering individuals to make rational decisions that align with their long-term goals. 

Substance abuse is an enormous social problem almost everywhere in the country. The large proportion of Americans who struggle with substance abuse means that illicit drugs are widely available and easily accessible. Many people are able to recover from addiction and go on to have normal, productive lives. However, if your spouse is addicted to drugs and has not put forth the effort to get clean, you may find that your marriage has become more of a burden than a boon. You are not obligated to stay and continue trying to take care of a person who will not do the work needed to take care of themselves. Divorce may be the best option for protecting yourself and any children involved. Unfortunately, getting a divorce from a substance abuser can be difficult. It is important to have skilled legal representation as you begin the often-difficult task of divorcing your addicted spouse. 

Options for Divorce From a Drug-Addicted Spouse

There are numerous laws in place designed to protect both spouses and children of drug addicts during a divorce. Options you may have could include: 

• Alleging dissipation - Drug addicts can spend a lot of money very quickly. Supporting an addiction is not cheap. If your spouse has taken marital funds and spent them on drugs without your cooperation, you may be able to recover your share of the wasted funds.

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Many engaged couples feel that prenuptial agreements are unromantic. It can certainly feel less-than-hopeful when you and the person you are about to marry must discuss who keeps what in the event that you divorce later. During your engagement, you were likely focused on the details of your wedding and your dream of living happily ever after with your soon-to-be spouse. Once you are married, you may begin to think about whether you should have made a prenuptial agreement. Many married people believe that they have missed their chance to reach an agreement governing important issues. Fortunately, it is not too late to create what is called a postnuptial agreement. Both you and your spouse should be represented by an attorney when you begin the process of creating a postnuptial agreement. 

Why Should My Spouse and I Make a Postnuptial Agreement? 

A postnuptial agreement is not a harbinger of divorce. Rather, it may be a good sign for your marriage if you and your spouse are able to communicate and compromise effectively enough to reach an agreement you are both willing to sign. There are many practical reasons why even the happiest of couples should have an agreement in place. Postnuptial agreements cover much more than the possibility of divorce. You can use your postnuptial agreement to require each other to maintain an estate plan naming each other as the primary beneficiary so that you are protected if only death can part you.

Further, no one can predict the future. You know who your spouse is now, but people may change over time and in response to different conditions and events. There is always the possibility that over the years, your spouse will change as a person. For example, your spouse could suffer an injury and become addicted to pain medicine, causing them to destroy your marital finances. Or you may simply drift apart over time, developing different interests, political opinions, or worldviews. It is important to ensure that you are protected no matter what the future may hold. 

While most legal sources will strongly recommend using a prenuptial (or postnuptial) agreement in nearly all cases, there are quite a few negative things said about them. When you are engaged or newly married, you are likely to hear a lot of unsolicited advice pertaining to prenuptial agreements. Some of your friends may believe that these agreements are unromantic, while others may tell you that they are absolutely necessary in order to protect your personal assets in the event of a future divorce. It can be difficult to tell what is true about prenuptial agreements and what is misinformation. Before you begin working out an agreement with your soon-to-be spouse, it is best to speak with an attorney. An attorney can answer any questions you have about how prenuptial agreements work and what they should include. 

Common Misinformation About Prenuptial Agreements

If you are trying to decide whether to use a prenuptial agreement, it is helpful to know what is true and what is false about these legal contracts. Common myths include: 

• They are only for the wealthy - Many people believe that prenuptial agreements are only necessary in cases where one party is wealthy and the other is not. However, even couples who are starting out without significant wealth can benefit from these agreements and use them to establish what each party does already own. 

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In every court case, the parties have the right to discovery, where they can gather evidence that is in the possession of the other party. In addition to document requests, they can also personally question the other party and witnesses in a deposition. This proceeding can be crucial to your case, and it is essential that you are prepared. Your Wheaton divorce attorney would be in the deposition to defend you.

A Deposition Means Answering a Lot of Questions

Opposing counsel have a legal right to ask you questions, and they will pose quite a few of them during the course of the deposition. This proceeding will involve a series of questions, where the other attorney is attempting to gather information. The attorney may show you evidence and ask you questions about it, or they may ask a long series of questions. So long as these questions follow the proper rules (i.e, they are relevant, non-argumentative, non-repetitive, etc), you will need to answer them.

Depositions Are Difficult But Not Dramatic

Depositions are not like the climactic courtroom scenes that you may come to expect from watching television. They will usually happen in a lawyer’s office, and there will only be a handful of people present. You can expect to go through a draining and difficult day, but there will generally not be dramatic “gotcha” moments. The lawyer is trying to gather evidence and get you on the record in case you need to testify at trial.

When couples enter into a prenuptial agreement, they often want to include provisions related to property division and spousal support. However, some couples may also want child custody and visitation provisions. In Illinois, the state’s family law statutes do not allow couples to include child custody provisions in prenuptial agreements. If you need legal assistance in ensuring your prenuptial agreement is legally binding, contact a family lawyer to ensure you can create an ironclad prenup void of costly errors. 

How Are Child Custody Matters Handled in Illinois? 

Under Illinois law, decisions concerning child custody must be made with the best interests of the child in mind. The court has various considerations when making a custody determination, such as the child’s current relationship with their parents, the parent’s ability to care and provide for the child’s needs, and the age and gender of the child, among other things. While prenuptial agreements are designed to allow couples to make their own decisions about property rights and other financial matters when it comes to anything related to children, the law has determined this is an area that needs to be decided on an individual basis and, according to the child’s needs.

It is also essential to understand that prenuptial agreements are subject to review by the court. If a couple includes a child custody provision in a prenup and later divorces, the court will not be bound by that provision. Instead, the court will use the best interests of the child standard to decide custody, regardless of what the prenup says. 

The divorce process in Illinois is both complex and emotional. Understanding the state's divorce requirements is important to navigate it effectively. Separation is a significant requirement, but it is often misinterpreted.

Requirement for Separation

Illinois law mandates that spouses either live apart for six months in separate homes or declare that their marriage has broken down irretrievably; all reconciliation attempts have failed, and any future attempts would not be in the family's best interest. This rule is intended to allow spouses to reconsider and potentially reconcile before proceeding with the divorce. The six-month rule does not mean that the parties must remain apart for six months before filing for divorce. It means that they must have been living separately for six months before the date of filing.

Grounds for Divorce

In January 2016, Illinois introduced a new law that only accepts "irreconcilable differences" as a reason for divorce. Earlier, fault-based divorces were allowed on grounds like adultery. In Illinois, the only grounds for divorce are irreconcilable differences, which means that the marriage has experienced an irretrievable breakdown. The judge will assume irreconcilable differences have been met if the spouses have lived separately for six consecutive months before the divorce judgment.

High-asset divorce cases are divorce cases involving significant wealth. These types of divorces are often much more complicated than a typical divorce. Property division, spousal maintenance, and other financial issues are often a significant source of this complication. However, child-related issues can also be difficult to handle in a high-asset divorce.

Maintaining a Child’s Lifestyle

In high-asset divorces, children often expect a certain standard of living because of the family's financial resources. The child may attend a private school, receive one-on-one tutoring, or participate in expensive extracurricular activities. Illinois courts seek to preserve a child's standard of living and avoid divorce consequences that negatively impact the child. After all, divorce is between the adults, not the child.

Child Support in High-Asset Divorce Cases

Many divorced parents are subject to a child support order. The parent with the lesser share of parenting time is typically required to pay child support to the parent with a greater share of parenting time. In most cases, child support is determined by a calculation involving both parents’ income. However, the typical calculation method may not be appropriate for situations in which parents make especially high incomes. Courts have the discretion to deviate from the child support guidelines and consider additional factors when determining an appropriate child support payment amount in these cases.

Divorcing parents have many different options for raising their children as divorced co-parents. For some divorcing spouses, it makes sense for one parent to take most or all the parenting responsibilities and parenting time. For example, if one parent works in another state, frequently travels outside the country, is incarcerated, or cannot provide a safe home for the children, sole custody may be in the child’s best interests.

In other cases, parents want to share responsibility for their child and ensure they both spend enough time with the child. Illinois law used to refer to this type of arrangement as joint custody. However, the language used in Illinois child custody laws has since been updated. A custody arrangement in which both parents have a relatively equal amount of parenting time is called shared parenting time.

How Does a Shared Parenting Arrangement Work?

When parents get divorced in Illinois, they fill out a document called a parenting plan. This plan will address multiple crucial issues, including how the parents will make significant decisions about their child, such as where the child will go to school. The parenting plan while also describe the parenting time schedule, which is the schedule for when the child will live with each parent. In a shared parenting arrangement, the child spends at least 146 days a year with each parent.

Vacation homes are more than just a piece of real estate. Countless joyful memories were likely made in your vacation home, and the property has just as much sentimental value as it has financial value.

Understandably, disputes can arise when addressing ownership of a vacation home in an Illinois divorce. In this blog, we will discuss how vacation homes are handled during the divorce process and what you can do to receive personalized advice regarding property division issues and other divorce concerns.

Who Owns a Vacation Home if You Get Divorced?

Per Illinois law, marital property includes assets that either spouse purchased or otherwise obtained during the marriage. Property that was owned by a spouse before the marriage is usually non-marital property, but there are several exceptions.

In Illinois, alimony is referred to as spousal maintenance or spousal support. Maintenance payments relieve some of the financial burden created by divorce. The money may be used for housing, everyday expenses, or educational costs for a spouse who requires additional training or education to become financially self-sufficient after a divorce.

If you earn significantly less income than your spouse, you may wonder if you will be able to get alimony in your divorce. You may have been out of the workforce because you were a stay-at-home parent, homemaker, or simply relied on your spouse to provide the financial support you needed.

This blog will explain the main legal avenues through which a spouse can receive spousal maintenance, how spousal maintenance awards are calculated, and what the next steps are for anybody who wishes to pursue spousal maintenance during their Illinois divorce.

Many people move to the Chicago area to fulfill their dreams as creators. Actors, authors, musicians, artists, inventors, designers, and entrepreneurs flock to the Windy City and the surrounding regions, hoping to make a living from their unique creations.

Unsurprisingly, disputes regarding intellectual property are not uncommon in Illinois divorce cases - especially cases involving high-net-worth individuals.

If you are planning to divorce and you or your spouse have copyrights, patents, trademarks, contractual rights, royalties, or other intellectual property rights, make sure you understand how intellectual property is valued and distributed during divorce.