Posted on December 29, 2011 in Child Support

Statistics from the Daily Herald show that the number of delinquent child support cases handled by the state, and also the amount of child support funds owed to parents are increasing in the Chicago suburbs. The increase is reflective of the challenges people are facing in the economic downtown, which has made it more difficult for parents to make and collect child support payments.

The Daily Herald reports that the number of Illinois child support cases tracked by the state for late payments has risen faster in the Chicagoland area than the rest of the state. In DuPage County, the number of cases in arrears rose 48 percent from 2008 to 2010, with 9,000 cases being tracked for delinquent child support. In the same time period, the total amount of back child support owed in DuPage County alone increased by 36 percent, to more than $110 million. McHenry County also saw a significant increase of 66 percent, while Kane County saw a 24 percent rise.

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 Posted on November 10, 2011 in Child Custody

The return of fall signals back-to-school time for children across the country. A new school year brings a flurry of forms for parents of school-aged children to fill out, such as emergency contact information forms and permission slips for who has a right to pick a child up from school. When a child's parents are not married and share child custody, sometimes school forms cause problems down the road if one parent is not included.

It is usually beneficial to list both parents on most school forms, even if one parent does not have primary physical custody. In fact, most custody judgments require both parents to be listed on school forms. If a non-custodial parent is not listed as a person who can pick a child up from school, the non-custodial parent may not be allowed to get his or her child from school if an emergency arises or during times when he or she has parenting time with the child.

While it may merely be an oversight, the child involved is the one who really loses out, when both parents are not listed on the records as the child has less access to the other parent.

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 Posted on November 02, 2011 in Child Custody

In what some analysts call a rising trend, several states have recently passed laws requiring casinos to check for back child support owed by gamblers before giving them their winnings - minus any child support owed - at the casino cage. Illinois does not have such a law or program in place to recover past due child support payments, but some legislators say they are intent on passing such legislation next year.

Currently, five states divert gambling winnings from people who owe child support to the other parent of their children. According to the Chicago Tribune, the programs have collected almost $3 million in child support while avoiding placing significant burdens on casinos.

In Colorado, where a casino child-support confiscation law took effect in 2008, the system works like this: Casinos check the Social Security numbers of gamblers who win $1,200 or more at gambling machines or who beat odds of at least 300 to one and win more than $600 at table games, which are the points at which gamblers must report their winnings on federal tax forms.

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 Posted on October 17, 2011 in Child Custody

Last month Illinois observed Grandparents Day, and the Illinois Department of Aging took the opportunity to raise awareness of programs and resources available to grandparents serving as the main caregivers for their grandchildren.

Currently over 200,000 kids in Illinois reside in grandparent-headed households, and that number is on the rise. More and more grandparents are being considered the "primary caregivers" of their grandchildren. The state considers a primary caregiver to be the person the child lives with and whom is responsible for meeting the child's basic needs.

The Grandparents Raising Grandchildren is a state program that promotes awareness and provides resources and support services for older caregivers. The acting director of the Illinois Department on Aging explained the program's purpose, "It's an important decision to take on the role as primary caregivers for their grandchildren when the parents are unable to. These grandparents need to know there's somewhere to turn for help during this additional round of parenthood."

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 Posted on October 12, 2011 in Divorce

In a first-of-its-kind report released by the Census Bureau titled Marital Events of Americans: 2009, an analysis was conducted around marriage, divorce and widowhood in the United States. The data revealed some rather unexpected trends around marriage rates, divorce rates and geography.

Nationally, 19.1 weddings occurred per every 1,000 men and 17.6 per every 1,000 women. The divorce rate was 9.2 per 1,000 men and 9.7 per 1,000 women. Perhaps surprisingly to some, the South, which also has one of the highest rates of marriage in the United States, leads the country in divorces. The divorce rate in the South was 10.2 for men and 11.1 for women.

In contrast, there were both fewer marriages and fewer divorces in the Northeast. Researchers suggest that this may be because of the tendency of people in that region to marry later in life, which may decrease the chance of future marital conflict.

The Illinois divorce rate was equivalent between men and women with an average of 8.0 divorces per 1,000. This was found to be a statistically significant downward deviation from the national average. With regard to marriages, Illinois was also below the national average with 17.9 marriages per 1,000 men and 16.3 marriages per 1,000 women.

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 Posted on August 03, 2011 in Uncategorized

Things change rapidly in the legal world. Every day, the Illinois state legislature and judges make hundreds of decisions that impact the way cases are prepared and presented for court. At the Andrew Cores Family Law Group, we know how important it is to stay current with legal issues. We follow the legal stories that will have an impact on the best strategies to use while protecting your rights in family law and divorce cases, business and corporate law, and estate planning and probate.

Keeping you informed about the legal process will help you make better decisions about your own family law, business or probate case. This Blog page is intended to serve as a forum for discussing case law and relevant court decisions. Periodically, this page will be updated with new information and topics for discussion, so please return often to see the most current post and comments.

Our firm has always emphasized personalized attention and responsiveness to client concerns. We are interested in your input, so please send us your comments. Thank you for visiting. To make an appointment with one of our experienced attorneys, please call 630-871-1002 or contact us online.

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