Posted on October 08, 2019 in Spousal Maintenance

There is no guarantee that either spouse will receive spousal maintenance in an Illinois divorce. Though 40 or 50 years ago, spousal support or alimony was rather common in divorces, today it is more of an exception to the rule, rather than the rule itself. There are a few situations in which you might receive spousal maintenance. Your case might involve spousal maintenance if you and your spouse have a significant difference in income or if one of you sacrificed your career to stay home and raise the kids or take care of family responsibilities. Whatever the case, there is a formula used to determine the amount of maintenance to be paid in Illinois.

How to Calculate Spousal Maintenance

The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) specifies the formula that is used to determine how much spousal maintenance is to be paid and how long those payments will last. The formula contained in the act applies to couples whose combined gross annual income is less than $500,000. Anything more than that, and the court can use its discretion to determine an appropriate amount of maintenance.

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 Posted on October 03, 2019 in Divorce

Changing your marital status back to single has a wide-spread impact on various documents and forms of identification related to your life. There is a long list of updates that you will need to make, though many of them can wait until after you have completed your divorce. Failing to make these updates can cause confusion that will be more difficult to fix after the fact. You should write a list of documents that you need to update, which may include the following:

1. Estate Plan: If you created a will or trust for after your death, your former spouse is likely the primary beneficiary. It is your choice whether your spouse should be completely cut out of the estate plan, but you likely want to change it from what you decided during your marriage. If you die before updating your estate plan, your former spouse and your family may get in a legal battle about who you intended to inherit your assets.
2. Power of Attorney: An estate plan may include documents naming the person with the power of attorney over your health and financial decisions in the event that you are incapable of making your own decisions. Once again, your former spouse likely has this authority if the documents were created or updated during your marriage. You need to decide who should have the power of attorney instead.

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 Posted on October 01, 2019 in Children and Divorce

Children of divorce are often unsure of who to talk to about their feelings because their most natural outlet – their parents – is at the source of their pain. Social media is an easy alternative for them, where they can express themselves and connect with friends. Divorced parents may believe that there is no harm in letting their children withdraw into their mobile devices. After all, parents know where the children are. However, children can still get themselves into trouble on social media and are more prone to making poor decisions when experiencing a traumatic event, such as their parents' divorce.

Potential Problems

Children often fail to understand that what they say and do on social media can have real-life consequences. Posting offensive or inappropriate content reflects poorly on them now and leaves a record that could hurt them in the future, such as when they apply to a college. Sharing too much about themselves makes them appear vulnerable to people who try to exploit confused children and teenagers, such as:

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 Posted on September 29, 2019 in Divorce

Many drivers have an E-ZPass – known as an I-Pass in Illinois – registered to their vehicle. The transponder is convenient for passing through tolls without having to stop and throw in coins in a toll booth. Most drivers do not think about how the transponder can track their movements based on the toll roads they use. The Illinois Tollway keeps that information private but can be forced to share information on individual vehicles when they receive subpoenas. Law enforcement officials are the ones who most often subpoena I-Pass records for evidence of criminal activity. You may be surprised to learn that I-Pass records are also used in some divorce and family law cases.

Scenario

Let us say that you are paying spousal maintenance to your ex, who was unemployed at the time of the agreement. You have reason to believe that your former spouse has started a job, which would allow you to modify your maintenance payments. Your former spouse denies that they have a job to avoid any reduction in maintenance. As part of your evidence gathering, you could file a subpoena for your former spouse’s I-Pass records, which may show that they are passing through tolls at times that are consistent with going to and from a job. I-Pass records have also been used as evidence that a former spouse is cohabiting with a new romantic partner, which may allow the termination of spousal maintenance.

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 Posted on September 25, 2019 in High Asset Divorce

Marital assets in a divorce can be intangible properties that hold great value, particularly in a high-asset divorce. Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, are a modern example of an intangible financial asset. Most divorces do not have cryptocurrencies because owners typically must have a combination of technological savvy and individual wealth. The value of one Bitcoin has hovered around $10,000 for the past few months. Owning cryptocurrency can make the division of property more complicated. You may need to hire a financial professional with knowledge of cryptocurrency and how it applies to divorce laws.

Hidden Asset

Cryptocurrencies are a decentralized and unregulated form of digital currency that originated in the past decade. The lack of a central bank or government oversight creates the risk that a divorcee could hide part of their assets by:

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 Posted on September 25, 2019 in Spousal Maintenance

For many people, one of the biggest stressors in their marriages is money. Unfortunately, financial stress does not go away if you decide to get a divorce. Couples that are used to living off of two incomes can find it difficult to revert back to a single paycheck each month. After divorce, a two-income household becomes two households running off of two separate incomes. Some spouses may wonder how they are going to make ends meet when it is just their income paying for everything, especially if children are involved. In order to avoid leaving one spouse in financial distress, Illinois law may require some spouses to provide spousal maintenance payments (also known as alimony) to their former partner after finalizing their divorce.

Factors for Receiving Spousal Maintenance

Not every divorce case involves a spousal maintenance award. In fact, today’s divorce cases do not involve spousal support unless a serious need is established for this form of compensation. If one spouse requests maintenance, the court will look at a variety of factors to determine whether or not a maintenance award is appropriate. These factors include:

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 Posted on September 23, 2019 in Child Custody

Your parenting agreement is the document that determines your rights and responsibilities as a co-parent, such as when the children will be with each parent and who has the authority to make parenting decisions. However, there are many other aspects of parenting that co-parents need to agree on. Adding provisions to your parenting agreement can clarify how you will raise your children and how you will make decisions with your co-parent.

What Are Provisions?

Provisions refer to the terms of a parenting plan that address decision-making responsibilities and parenting time schedules. It is best to wait until you have completed the basic structure of your parenting plan before you start adding additional provisions. Provisions in a parenting agreement are helpful because they can create:

• Guidelines for how you will raise your children, which creates more consistency between the two homes

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 Posted on September 19, 2019 in Divorce

Part of your recovery during and after your divorce is moving past the emotions that led to divorce. Unfortunately, acts of infidelity can be difficult to reconcile. If your spouse had an affair during your marriage, you may feel hurt and spiteful towards them. It is unhealthy to let spite drive your decisions during divorce because creating a divorce agreement is not about punishing a cheating spouse. You should focus on reaching an agreement with your spouse that benefits you. If you are a co-parent after a divorce, holding a grudge against your former spouse may impede your ability to make decisions that are in the best interest of your children. Healing from an affair may take time, but you can start the process with these steps:

1. Honestly Assess Your Marriage: Learning about your spouse’s affair may have directly led to your decision to divorce, but that does not make it the sole cause of your divorce. It is possible that your marriage was already in danger due to a lack of communication and trust. Divorce may have eventually happened, regardless of whether your spouse had an affair.

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 Posted on September 18, 2019 in Divorce

For some, divorce can feel like a fresh start after being in an unhappy marriage; however, divorce can also bring out the worst in people. Many partners think they know their spouse, but there are times that a divorce can change a person completely, prompting them to act in ways that their spouse never imagined. Some divorcing couples become extremely argumentative and combative, making the divorce more difficult and emotionally stressful for everyone in the family. Whether you anticipated your spouse’s difficult behavior or were surprised by their attitude, here are a few tips to help you get through a divorce with a high-conflict spouse:

Minimize Contact With Your Spouse

One of the most important things you can do to deal with a high-conflict spouse is to limit your contact with them. Avoid speaking to them unless it is necessary for your divorce or for parenting reasons. When you do contact them, try to do so in written form, such as texting or emailing, to make it easy to record the conversation in case it may be necessary to provide evidence of your interactions.

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 Posted on September 12, 2019 in Divorce and Finances

The income you earned before you filed for divorce is considered marital property, which is part of the division of property. Your income after your divorce is used to calculate child support and spousal maintenance but is otherwise yours to keep. The structure of your pay has little consequence on your divorce if you receive a straightforward salary or hourly wages. With other forms of compensation, the timing of your divorce could determine whether your spouse can claim a portion of that income:

1. Bonuses: In most cases, a work bonus qualifies as marital property if you received it before you filed for divorce. You must make sure that your spouse does not double count the bonus by claiming it as marital property and including it as part of your income when calculating support. An exception may be a bonus with a clawback provision, which states that you must return the bonus if you are no longer with your employer before a set date. You could argue that you should not include the bonus in the division of property because you could lose it. If it is part of the division of property, you should include a section in your agreement stating that your spouse must repay their share of the bonus if you are forced to return it for reasons beyond your control.

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