“Why do I have to pay 32% of my income for child support? She doesn’t have to pay anything for support of the children!” As a family law practitioner, I have often heard this statement or some variation, from people obligated to pay child support. One respected judge would often respond by saying, “Well, if…
Details
While Illinois still is without a budget, the Legislature is at work correcting its prior errors and clarifying things it previously did. For a third straight year, that means more changes to Illinois family law are coming. On August 12, 2016, Governor Rauner signed into law a bill clarifying and making corrections to the massive rewrite…
Details
When people get married with positive hopes and expectations of building their lives together, they don’t dwell on the possibility of divorce. People may not think about the ownership of property is acquired during a marriage when times are good. Married couples often own most of their property together in joint-tenancy, but spouses sometimes have bank…
DetailsMark D. Brent will be speaking at a National Business Institute seminar for attorneys and paralegals in Naperville on June 23, 2016. The seminar, titled, Family law from A to Z, is aimed at helping attorneys guide their clients through the emotionally choppy waters of divorce with knowledge, insight and compassion where skill, sensitivity and…
Details
Larry Lobb presented at the annual Kane County Bar Association Family Law Seminar last week on the topic of bankruptcy. The Family Law Seminar is usually the largest seminar put on by the KCBA, which is a leader in the State on providing legal education seminars for attorneys in the State. Larry Lobb joins many other…
Details
Debt is a primary reason for many, if not most, divorces. Though divorce often appears to be the way out of those problems, after a divorce, your debt problems won’t disappear automatically. In reality, just the opposite of what you are thinking may be true. Yes! Unfortunately, your problems are likely to increase. Your marital…
Details
Now that we are more than a month into 2016, the thoughts of many people in the State who are going through a divorce or post-divorce proceedings are centered on the new Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage statute (the IMDMA). The changes in the new divorce law are historic. Gone are references to household…
Details
It is hard to think of planning for both bankruptcy and divorce, but by doing so you may put yourself in a better financial situation in the end. If you are contemplating a divorce from your spouse and also laboring under financial debt and obligations that you cannot sustain, you might consider whether you should…
Details
In past articles, we have described the substantive and procedural changes to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) dealing with parenting. Custody and visitation are terms that have been replaced with parenting time, care taking functions are now defined, and significant decision making authority can now be allocated to either or both…
Details
While changes to the substance of the provisions in Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) dealing with custody and visitation may be the most significant of the changes the new law introduces, effective January 1, 2016, there are procedural changes to parenting in divorce as well. The procedural changes to parenting in divorce…
Details