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.

Continue Reading ››

 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

  Continue Reading ››

 Posted on October 21, 2022 in Mediation

Mediation can save a lot of time, money, and worry when it comes to your family law issues, including divorce. Because private mediation occurs outside the purview of the court system, it typically benefits everyone involved and assists in maintaining a more peaceful family life, which is particularly advantageous for any children involved. 

Our mediators can help you mediate your divorce or another family law issue. With our experience dealing in these manners, we can help you navigate the procedure in hopes of meeting the requirements of both parties. 

Divorce Mediation Basics

A mediator is typically not an attorney. Therefore, as will be stated during your initial mediation session, he or she is impartial to the interests of both parties. This means that they cannot and will not offer legal counsel to any side throughout the process of discussions.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on October 11, 2022 in Family Law

The state of Illinois has acknowledged that grandparents frequently play a significant part in a child's life. If you are a grandparent, you may have questions and concerns about your rights. Can I get custody of my grandchild? What if my grandchild’s parents will not allow me to see him or her? Can I get visitation rights? The rights of grandparents can be complicated and difficult to understand. A family law attorney can help. 

Are You Entitled to Grandparent’s Visitation?

Illinois grandparents may, however, have a legal right to see their grandchildren, especially if the parents are divorced.

In general, the choice of who can spend time with a child belongs to their parents. However, if a child is at least one year old, a non-parent may be able to get a court order compelling the parents to allow them to spend time with the child.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on October 07, 2022 in Marital Property

Money is frequently one of the top concerns for the majority of couples going through a divorce. After a marriage ends, bank account balances can have a great impact on an individual’s ability to maintain their financial situation after a divorce.

It can be challenging for each partner to revamp their finances to bounce back from and adapt to the lifestyle changes that divorce brings. Additionally, marital debt and asset disputes can make it even more difficult.

What is Considered Marital Debt in Illinois?

Debts and other ongoing commitments are included as financial considerations for partitioning marital property under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. According to the law, "marital property" refers to any assets (or obligations) obtained by either spouse during the marriage. This implies that any joint loans, credit lines, or accounts created in the names of both spouses are marital property and would be shared equally by them both in the case of divorce. From credit card debts, mortgages, and auto loans to medical bills and unpaid taxes, these obligations can range widely.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on October 04, 2022 in Paternity

The importance of both parents being involved in a child's life is increasingly acknowledged by Illinois courts. Our experienced family law attorneys at the Andrew Cores Family Law Group understand the seriousness of paternity cases and how legal issues can be managed through a difficult time to benefit the child involved in the paternity dispute. Depending on your situation, you have lots of things to consider. Here are three things you should know about paternity in Dupage County. 

Paternity Tests in Illinois

If either the mother or the father of a child files a paternity lawsuit, the court will often set up a DNA test for the parties to determine the child's parentage.

It is normally advised to get a DNA test done before determining parenting time, child support, and other matters if there is doubt regarding who the biological father is. This is because, even in circumstances when the alleged father later finds they are not the biological father, it is highly rare for an Illinois court to revoke a prior judgment agreeing to paternity.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 30, 2022 in Child Custody

In Illinois, the term “child custody” was replaced with “allocation of parental responsibilities” and “parenting time” several years ago when lawmakers did a complete overhaul of the state’s family law statutes. Regardless of what it is called, the reality is that determining how divorced parents will share in the raising of their child is often one of the most acrimonious parts of a divorce.

It can be difficult enough to come up with a fair parenting time schedule that addresses holidays, birthdays, school breaks, summer vacations, and more. But when there are other issues that impact parenting time, having a skilled family lawyer representing you can make all the difference in the outcome. The following are some of the issues that can make a parenting time schedule even more complex.

When One Parent Has Moved Away

It is not uncommon for a spouse to move a long distance away, even to another state, after a divorce in order to get a fresh start or start a new job. Regardless of why the parent has moved, when there are children involved, a long-distance parenting time schedule is needed. Some of the factors that the court may consider include:

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 27, 2022 in Prenuptial Agreement in Illinois

For decades, the Baby Boomer generation – those born between 1946 and 1964 – was the largest generation. But in 2019, the Boomers were surpassed by the Millennials – those born between 1981 and 1996. Now that there are more Millennials than other generations, they are definitely putting their mark on society, including the increase in prenuptial agreements. But unlike Boomers, the issues addressed in Millennial prenuptial agreements have taken a turn.

Finances

One of the major differences with Millennial couples is that more and more of them are choosing to keep their assets separate instead of pooling them together. Commingling assets is one of the issues that can make distributing a marital estate in a divorce difficult. So many Millennial couples are choosing to keep assets separate by drawing up prenups that address who is responsible for major purchases and other debts the couple may have during their marriage.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 21, 2022 in DuPage County Divorce Attorneys

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.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 15, 2022 in Child Support

While there are many issues in a divorce that can cause major disagreements, most people will agree that it is the issues surrounding the children that often result in the most fighting. Even long after the divorce has been finalized and child custody and child support decided, fighting can still – and often does – occur.

It is no secret that child support causes angst for many parents, no matter what side of the payment they are on. Many receiving parents complain that the amount the other parent is paying does not come close to covering the actual expenses of raising the child, while many paying parents complain they are handing over too much money to their ex each month. This can lead to resentment and even refusal to pay the amount the court has ordered them to.

When this happens, the custodial parent often wonders if they can legally stop parenting time for a parent who has stopped paying child support.

Continue Reading ››