You’re getting divorced and your soon-to-be former spouse is ordered to pay either child support or maintenance, or perhaps both as separate or unallocated support! This alone might cause some to worry. After all, who’s to say that your spouse will pay the support he or she was ordered to pay?

Wage garnishment is the answer to this problem.

When you’re entitled to receive maintenance, child support, or both, you have two options:

1. Collect the payment directly from your spouse; or
2. Establish an income withholding order

Typically, wage garnishment is used as a remedy if you aren’t being paid by your spouse, which is more likely to occur if you’ve agreed to accept payment directly and are no longer receiving it. However, there are other situations this might occur, all of which you can discuss with your Naperville divorce lawyer.

Continue reading “Wage Garnishment and Support: How it Works” →

If you have minor children, you’re going to have a parenting plan as part of your divorce. However, not all parents understand what a parenting plan is going into their divorce. And, more importantly, not all parents understand what to expect as parenting plans are drafted, finalized, and implemented.

In this article, we explore the basics of all parenting plans, and what you can expect to find in them.

Continue reading “What’s in a Parenting Plan?” →

When you first begin the divorce process, it’s difficult to think about the long-term implications of your decisions. You may want to litigate certain issues, or fight with your spouse over items or issues that, in the future, are inconsequential.

However, divorce is about more than just the money you have sitting in your bank account right now. In fact, your Illinois divorce will affect the money you have not only now, but in the future as well. Nowhere is this more apparent than in your retirement accounts.

Continue reading “Don’t Let Short-Term Thinking Impact Your Retirement After Divorce” →

It’s almost guaranteed that you’ll have to testify at some point in your divorce proceedings.

Most often, this occurs at your final court date, or “prove up.” During this court date, both you and your significant other will stand before the judge and testify to certain facts in your Judgment and Marital Settlement Agreement. Your attorney will ask you questions and, in most instances, you’ll answer either “yes” or “no.”

You may also be required to testify during discovery at a meeting called a deposition or before the judge if there is a hearing in your case on an issue during the divorce proceedings, such as child support or maintenance.

The issue with testifying isn’t that it’s difficult. In fact, the only problem is that most individuals don’t know how to testify because what they know comes from television or other, unrealistic sources.

Read on to learn what testifying in court actually requires and 5 tips to help you relax when it’s your turn to step up to the bench!

Continue reading “5 Tips for Testifying at Your Hearing” →

Like any case in court, a divorce can be risky. If you don’t settle – meaning you don’t come to an agreement with the other side about issues in the case before trial – you’re leaving it entirely to the judge to decide your fate. And, while a pre-trial conference can give your DuPage County divorce attorney insight as to what a judge will decide on your case, you will never know what can or will happen at trial.

Luckily, you have options following the close of your case to appeal or otherwise try and change a judge’s ruling on certain issues in your case. Unfortunately, not all decisions can be challenged or changed. However, you can file an appeal or a petition to reconsider on a handful of topics.

In this article, we discuss both appeals and other options in greater detail so you know your options following the end of your divorce.

Continue reading “I Don’t Like My Case Outcome: Now What?” →

In almost any divorce, spousal support isn’t designed to last forever. In fact, it’s designed to provide temporary relief to an individual who needs it after a divorce. The key word here is temporary.

Maintenance in Illinois is calculated according to a statutory formula. The formula directs attorneys to take 30 percent of the paying spouse’s gross income and subtract 20 percent of the receiving spouse’s gross income. This total is the amount the paying spouse must provide yearly.

But, what puts an end to maintenance?

Continue reading “What Terminates Spousal Support in Illinois?” →

Divorce involves the division of joint accounts, joint property, and other assets. This process almost always involves one spouse believing they’re entitled to more than they’re going to receive as part of their final judgment. This often opens the door to something called dissipation.

In this article, we’ll discuss what dissipation is, why you may need to continue sharing resources during the divorce, and how to protect yourself from dissipation during your own divorce.

Continue reading “The Dangers of Dissipation and Divorce” →

Regardless of why you choose to end your marriage, there are several ways how to do so. Annulment and divorce are two separate options to do so legally, however both function in different ways.

In this article, we’ll explore the various similarities, and differences, between both an annulment and divorce and other legal options you have at the time of separation.

Continue reading “Annulment vs. Divorce in Illinois: What You Need to Know” →