Posted on December 09, 2022 in Prenuptial Agreement in Illinois

Prenuptial agreements, also known as premarital agreements or prenups, are becoming increasingly common in the state of Illinois, including in Dupage County. These agreements are contracts that are entered into by two people before they get married, and outline how their assets will be divided and what will happen to alimony payments if the couple divorces.

Prenups can be an essential tool for protecting the financial interests of both parties in a marriage. In Illinois, the law provides that a lawyer must represent each party in a prenup, and the agreement must be fair and reasonable at the time it is signed. If a prenup is found to be unfair or one-sided, a court may choose to not enforce it.

Reasons for Prenuptial Agreements

One of the most common reasons people enter into a prenup is to protect their separate property, such as assets they owned before the marriage or inheritances they expect to receive. Without a prenup, these assets may be considered marital property and subject to division in the event of a divorce. A prenup can also be used to establish how property acquired during the marriage will be divided, such as a family business or real estate.

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 Posted on December 06, 2022 in Parenting Time

Making sure you and your ex-partner create a parenting plan that safeguards your child's best interests is crucial if you are going through a divorce process or terminating a long-term relationship. The choices you make throughout this challenging time will have an ongoing effect on your children.

Parenting agreements are, in most cases, better for all parties involved when the agreements are developed outside of court. However, not all divorces are straightforward, and sometimes the parties cannot agree on who will raise the children after the divorce. If this is the case, they frequently find it difficult to reach a custody arrangement either independently or via mediation. The decision about the custody arrangement may thereafter be made by the family court system as part of the couple's divorce.

What is a Parenting Agreement?

A parenting agreement is a written document that specifies how choices about a child will be made, as well as how parents will share their parenting time in a schedule. All parents of children under age 18 who are divorced, separated, or even who were never married must create a court-enforceable parenting agreement. 

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 Posted on November 29, 2022 in Postnuptial Agreements

Many couples make a prenuptial agreement that specifies provisions for a divorce before they are married. Premarital agreements can include a wide range of topics that can be discussed and agreed upon by both parties. Even though it is advised that every couple create a prenuptial agreement before getting married, many do not. 

The good news for such couples is that postnuptial agreements are recognized under Illinois law as well. The same conditions and concerns covered by prenuptial agreements are also covered by postnuptial agreements. The main distinction is that the contract is signed after the couple has already been married.

What is a Postnuptial Agreement?

Postnuptial contracts are binding agreements. Similar to agreements made prior to marriage, the couple determines in advance how the couple's joint property and spousal support would be handled in the event of a divorce. These agreements avoid court entanglement while sparing the couple the financial anguish of a contentious divorce. Postnuptial agreements can also make it simpler to decide what belongs to each party separately and what is marital property.

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 Posted on November 22, 2022 in DuPage County Divorce Attorneys

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.

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 Posted on November 21, 2022 in DuPage County Divorce Attorneys

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.

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 Posted on November 15, 2022 in Division of Assets

Considerations about money and property are frequently among the most challenging aspects of divorce. Depending on the contents of your marital estate, dividing your assets can be both very complicated and profoundly emotional.

At the Andrew Cores Family Law Group, we are aware of how challenging divorces may be when a company or professional practice is considered to be a component of the marital estate. If you are getting divorced, it is important to understand the process of business valuation and your rights to your marital assets. 

Three Ways to Value Your Business During a Divorce

There is no one-size-fits-all method for valuing a business during a divorce, and an experienced lawyer and forensic accountant will often select one of the following three approaches:

• The Market Approach - With this approach, an appraiser looks at previous sales of comparable firms and uses those prices as a benchmark. 

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 Posted on November 10, 2022 in Prenuptial Agreement in Illinois

It is smart to think about the advantages of a prenuptial agreement if you are getting married or considering asking your significant other to marry you. Contrary to common misconception, signing a "prenup" is not only a way to "get ready for divorce," and in many circumstances, having an established agreement throughout a marriage will be advantageous for both parties. 

Without the help of an experienced attorney, it can be challenging to secure the legitimacy of a prenuptial agreement because the rules governing them are continuously changing. Our attorneys at the Andrew Cores Family Law Group keep up with case law developments and adapt any new knowledge to the issues and circumstances of our clients. We will help you ensure that your prenuptial agreement complies with all current legislation to avoid having it declared void.

What Can a Prenuptial Agreement Cover?

In Illinois, prenuptial agreements may cover any or all of the following topics:

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 Posted on November 08, 2022 in alimony

In the state of Illinois, the law calls alimony “spousal maintenance” and it could potentially be long-term if the receiving spouse is unable to make a living or if the marriage was also long-term. Despite whether or not someone feels they should have to support their spouse financially, a judge will apply the law and both parties will have to follow the guidelines in the law.  

It is possible for a couple to get divorced without involving spousal maintenance, but if a judge orders it in their particular divorce case, alimony must be a part of the conversation regarding finances during the divorce process. Because it could be a requirement in divorce proceedings, it is important to understand the four kinds of alimony. 

Temporary Alimony

A spouse who is granted temporary alimony (otherwise known as "temporary maintenance") receives money while the divorce is still proceeding. Temporary alimony is typically granted in situations when the couple has made the decision to live apart, or when the receiving spouse does not have the ability to pay for their own cost of living and attorneys’ fees, and is meant to fund the recipient's living costs throughout the divorce. While it is possible to file a request later on during the divorce process, a spouse who wants temporary alimony should include the request in his or her divorce petition. Once the divorce is finalized, all interim alimony payments cease.

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 Posted on October 28, 2022 in DuPage County Divorce Attorneys

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.

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 Posted on October 25, 2022 in Marital Property

You put a lot of effort into earning your money and carefully planned for your future, including retirement. Unfortunately, a divorce can derail such goals. Knowing how your divorce may impact your retirement accounts is the first step in safeguarding them.

The experienced attorneys at Andrew Cores Family Law Group will assist you in getting your future back on track while safeguarding your retirement accounts and settling difficult issues with your spouse. 

Dividing Retirement Accounts

According to Illinois law, the percentage of your retirement and investment accounts that you accumulated during marriage may be split between spouses in a divorce, including:

• IRAs and 401(k) accounts

• Investments, stocks or bonds

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