Collaborative divorce in Illinois aims to support those who choose to leave their marriage while preserving their family. With a collaborative divorce, disputes are resolved outside of court by cooperatively negotiating fair settlements between the parties and their lawyers. Instead of contentious negotiations and solutions enforced by the court, the emphasis is on constructive problem resolution based on the unique and common values of divorcing couples. 

More and more divorce cases in Illinois are being handled collaboratively, particularly since the Illinois Collaborative Process Act was adopted in 2018. At the Andrew Cores Family Law Group, our collaborative divorce lawyers have the experience to help you resolve your divorce without using an adversarial litigation process. 

Because the parties agree not to litigate, a collaborative divorce could be more affordable than a typical divorce. If the collaborative procedure is unsuccessful, both attorneys are required to resign from your case. This is confirmed in a signed agreement by the attorneys and both parties. Because it allows for more innovative solutions to a family's challenges, the collaborative procedure could also take less time than a trial.

A divorce is already a complex event in a person’s life. Depending on your situation, you can have an amicable and relatively simple divorce arrangement, or you can have a more complex divorce process such as one where high assets and disputed child-related issues are involved.

At the Andrew Cores Family Law Group, we understand how difficult a complex divorce can be for our clients and we work hard to ensure their rights and interests are protected. Our divorce attorneys have the resources and the experience you need to achieve a favorable outcome, no matter how complex your divorce may be. 

High Asset Divorces

Dividing marital assets during the divorce process is never easy, but it becomes even more contentious and challenging when wealthy couples attempt to divide their assets equally after their marriage.

Dividing marital assets is always a difficult aspect of divorce, but it gets even more acrimonious and difficult when couples with high net worths try to share their assets evenly after their marriage.

If you are a part of a high-asset divorce, you need an attorney who will pay attention to your worries, assess your case, and clarify these three challenging problems while giving you advice on what makes sense in your particular circumstance.

Division of Assets in High Asset Divorce

The division of assets is a crucial factor in any divorce, but it is especially vital in a high-asset divorce. Spouses may negotiate a division of assets that leaves each party with assets of relatively equal worth. One partner may, for instance, receive the majority of the stock and liquid assets, while the other may receive the majority of the real estate or retirement benefits. The necessity for spousal maintenance payments might be reduced or even eliminated in some situations if significant real estate and assets are divided. Spousal support may be the key issue in other situations with extremely high incomes.

It is estimated that more than one in three women and one in four men in this country will experience physical violence, stalking, and/or rape by an intimate partner. Intimate partner violence affects more than 12 million people every year. When domestic violence is part of an intimate partner relationship, it can be very difficult for the victim to leave, but when the couple is married, it can be even harder because leaving usually involves legally ending the marriage.

It is important to remember that not all domestic violence involves physical injuries. There are other forms of domestic abuse that one spouse can inflict on the other and these types of abuse sometimes continue long after the divorce has been finalized.

Emotional Abuse

When one spouse inflicts a steady stream of harsh insults and threats, this is considered emotional abuse. Insults and threats are obvious types of emotional abuse, but other types can be just as injurious to the victim. It is not uncommon for the abusive spouse to use manipulation and guilt to get the victim spouse to do what they want. Threats of leaving or taking the children away – when they have no intention of doing either – are examples of the tactics an emotionally abusive spouse may use.

There are different areas of the Illinois divorce process that can have a significant impact on how a divorce turns out. One of those areas is discovery. Discovery is the process that is used to help both sides gather evidence to ensure that both spouses have the same financial information in order to be in a better position to negotiate a fair divorce settlement.

Discovery is considered a legal process and there are rules that both parties are required to follow, both in the gathering of evidence and the supplying of evidence that is requested. Failure to adhere to these rules can result in sanctions from the court. The following is a brief overview of some of the tools your attorney or your spouse’s attorney may use during the divorce.

Interrogatories

As part of the discovery process, attorneys may send the other side a set of interrogatories. These documents are a list of questions that the other side is required to respond to under oath. Generally, these questions are about the spouse’s background and often include questions about their education and work history. There are also often questions about any income, financial accounts, assets, and debts the spouse may have. The goal of interrogatories is to determine whether or not the spouse is hiding assets in order to avoid including them in the marital estate and equitable distribution.