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Will I Get Spousal Maintenance After My Illinois Divorce?
Getting spousal support is not guaranteed in any Illinois divorce. Before a judge decides to award spousal maintenance to either spouse in a divorce, you must prove that there is a reasonable need for you to be awarded support. Getting a divorce can sometimes leave one spouse in a worse financial situation than the other spouse, and the income of each spouse is often used as one of the main driving forces behind the decision to award spousal maintenance. Spousal support is used as a way to help a financially dependent spouse eventually become financially independent, which is why not all divorce cases require spousal maintenance.
Factors for Consideration
Illinois law states that there are certain factors that judges must consider in order to award spousal maintenance to one spouse. These factors include:
Three Tips for Reducing the Stress of Your Illinois Divorce
If you are going through the divorce process, you know that it can all begin to feel like a full-time job some days. That feeling can be exacerbated if your spouse is especially combative, your children begin to feel the effects of the divorce or you worry about how things will turn out. Even though your divorce can be extremely stressful, the important thing to remember is that it will all be over at some point and you and your children will be happier and thriving. Getting through the divorce is the hard part, so here are a few tips for helping you to cope with the stress of your divorce:
- Allow Yourself to Feel What You Are Feeling: As much as you would like to be a superhero, you still have to deal with your feelings and emotions. During a divorce, you may feel a plethora of emotions – anger, disgust, hate, contempt, sadness and even depression. The important thing to remember is that all of these emotions are completely normal and allowing yourself to feel them is the first step towards moving on.
Creating a Solid Illinois Parenting Plan
Divorces can be tough on everyone in the family. For children, a divorce can be especially stressful. Many parents worry about their children when they decide to get a divorce, but children are unique. They may not initially react well to the change, but children are adaptable and will get used to their new living situation quickly. One of the best things you can do to help your child transition easily is making sure there is a sound parenting plan in place before you finalize your divorce.
What is a Parenting Plan?
In Illinois, all couples who have children and are filing for divorce must create a parenting plan before the divorce can be finalized. A parenting plan is a written agreement that outlines most things pertaining to the children of the marriage, including allocated parenting time and significant decision-making responsibilities.
When Should I Consider Getting a Prenuptial Agreement?
Prenuptial agreements used to be a taboo subject. In the past, it was often believed that if you got a prenup, you were expecting to get divorced. However, in this day and age, many Americans are waiting longer to get married, which means that they are entering marriage with more property and debt than those in past generations. Because of this, prenuptial agreements have become more and more common.
A prenuptial agreement can help set guidelines for how you will go about your divorce if your marriage ever ends, and it can protect the assets you bring into the marriage and prevent you from being responsible for debts your partner may have. If you are wondering whether or not a prenuptial agreement is right for you, here are a few situations in which you may want to consider a prenup:
1. You or Your Partner Were Married Before
One reason why prenuptial agreements are becoming more common is because many people are entering second or subsequent marriages. If you or your spouse have been married before, a prenuptial agreement can address any obligations you may have from your first marriage.
How to Tell Your Children You Are Getting a Divorce
Divorcing with children is difficult for many different reasons. In addition to typical divorce issues like property division and spousal support, couples with children also have other issues to settle, such as who the children will reside with and when, who will pay child support, and who will be able to make certain kinds of decisions about raising the children. Once you have decided that you and your spouse are getting a divorce, you must then take on the sometimes daunting task of telling your children about the upcoming change in your family’s life. Here are three tips to help you break the news to your children:
How Is Property Divided During an Illinois Divorce?
When you are married, your assets become intertwined with your spouse. This can be a good thing that brings much convenience as a married couple, but it can become a huge nightmare if you get a divorce. Before your divorce can be finalized, you and your spouse must come to an agreement over many things, one of them being who gets what property. If you and your spouse cannot come to an agreement on your own, a judge may have to intervene. He or she will follow a specific set of guidelines that are contained in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) when determining how to divide marital property.
Marital vs. Non-Marital Property
Before anything can be split up, it must be determined what is and is not subject to division. According to the IMDMA, any and all property, including debts and other obligations acquired by either spouse during the marriage, is marital property and is subject to division. Non-marital property is not subject to division in a divorce and includes:
How Are Child Support Payments Calculated in Illinois?
When most people get a divorce, they no longer live together. This can be problematic for couples who have children, because the question of where the children will reside must be settled. These days, it is not unusual for both the mother and the father to have equal or similar parenting time. If the parenting time is not equal, the parent who has the child the majority of the time will typically be responsible for providing child support. In Illinois, a child will receive support payments until they turn 18 or 19, as long as they are still attending high school.
Basic Child Support Calculations
The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services has set forth specific rules for child support, including how to calculate the amount of the payments. First, each parent’s monthly net income is calculated. Then, both parents’ monthly net incomes are added together. Next, the number that corresponds with the parents’ combined monthly income is taken from the basic child support obligation table. The amount from the table is the amount that should be used by the parents each month to meet the child’s basic needs.
Consent Requirements for Illinois Adoptions
For many couples who cannot or do not want to conceive a child, adoption is a great option for them to grow their family. There are thousands of American children in the foster care system and in private agencies waiting to find their forever families. However, adoption is a long, complex process that requires patience and a thorough knowledge of Illinois adoption laws.
One issue that can be a point of contention during adoption is consent. There are certain people who must consent to an adoption before it can be finalized. If you are in the process of adopting, or even just thinking about adopting, it is important that you understand the consent requirements that must be met.
Who Is Required to Consent?
According to Illinois law, the birth mother and the birth father who has established paternity must consent to an adoption if they still hold the legal parenting rights to their child. In the case that the birth parents no longer have legal rights to their child, there are a few other entities that must consent. These can include:
Qualifications for a Simplified Divorce in Illinois
So you have finally made the decision to go ahead and get a divorce. While it may be a weight off of your chest, you may not be able to celebrate as quickly as you had hoped. Some divorces can drag on for months, and highly contested divorces can even drag on for years. The last thing you want when you have decided to end your marriage is to have to deal with your soon-to-be-ex for the next 12 months or more. In some cases, you can apply for a joint simplified divorce, which can significantly decrease the time you will be waiting to get a divorce decree.
What Is a Joint Simplified Dissolution of Marriage?
If you meet certain qualifications, you do not need to spend the time to go to court over every little detail pertaining to your divorce. Typically, joint simplified dissolutions are uncontested divorces, meaning both spouses agree to end their marriage and have little to no arguments about issues pertaining to the divorce, such as spousal support or property division. In a joint simplified dissolution, couples typically only have to appear in court one time, when they are ready to make the divorce final. This can ultimately save thousands of dollars in court costs and lawyer fees.
The Importance of Establishing Paternity When Parents Are Unmarried
It is widely understood in this day and age that children thrive when both of their parents play active roles in their lives. A father is just as important as a mother, even if the mother and father were not married when the child was born. Ideally, the father will play just as large a role as the mother, though that does not happen all of the time.
It is extremely important to establish the paternity of your child, because without doing so, your child only has one legal parent. It can be a lengthy and complicated process to establish your child’s paternity if you were not married to the other parent at the time of the child’s birth, but it is not impossible.
Automatic Paternity
Paternity is the term used for the legal tie that a father has with his child. In cases where the mother is married or in a civil union at the time of the child’s birth or within 300 days before the child was born, the man she was married to or in a civil union with is automatically presumed to be the child’s legal father. If the mother was not married or in a civil union, then she must go about establishing the paternity of the child in a different manner. The parents may sign a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity form, or paternity may be established through legal proceedings, which may order genetic testing to be completed.
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