When going through a divorce, a marital asset is defined as any asset that a party accrued during the marriage. For example, a husband’s retirement account that accrued during the marriage would be considered marital, while any portion of his retirement account that he accrued prior to the marriage would…
In general, the purpose of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (“UCCJEA”) is to resolve custody disputes by directing the court with “continuing and exclusive jurisdiction” the jurisdiction to modify and enforce custody disputes that may arise between two different states. While each state has its own child…
In a divorce case involving children or in parentage case, it is usually pretty easy to figure out what each of the parents wants. What often isn’t clear is what the child wants, and how much weight the court should give to a child’s expressed wishes. The Illinois Marriage…
In Illinois, the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act (MHDDCA), protects communications made between a client and a therapist. Generally, when an individual begins therapy, the therapist’s first obligation is to explain that anything the client says to the therapist will remain confidential. However, this may not always be…
If you are currently an active duty military servicemember with orders to deploy, you may be wondering what happens to your parenting time with your kids while you are deployed. In other words, will you be forced to forfeit your parenting time with the minor children by virtue of your…
It is not uncommon for a spouse to have received an inheritance during the marriage. When people are divorcing, one of the biggest issues is how the court will divide their assets. The first step a court must take when determining how to divide assets in a divorce case is…
Section 510 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act allows a court to modify a child support obligation upon a substantial change in circumstances. Prior to the 2017 amendments to the Act, child support was based solely on the payor’s income. After the amendments, child support is calculated…
Would an Illinois family law court restrict a parent’s ability to smoke cigarettes or vape around a child? Specifically, can a court limit a parent’s time with his or her minor child to prevent the exposure to second-hand smoke or vapor? The answer to this hypothetical question is hazy at…
The Illinois maintenance law went through a major overhaul between 2018 and 2019 in that the calculation for the amount of maintenance changed and the tax treatment of maintenance payments changed because of the new tax laws. Imagine a scenario where a judge enters a divorce judgment in 2018 that…
Here’s a fact pattern that occurs with some frequency in parentage court. To make this blog post more easily readable, we’ll assume that the mother is seeking child support from the father. Of course, that’s not always the case, but it is certainly the more common scenario. An unmarried couple…