How Unemployment Will Affect Your Divorce Process

 Posted on June 01, 2019 in Divorce

Losing your job while in the middle of divorce will cause great upheaval in the process. Your regular income helps determine many parts of your divorce agreement, such as the division of property, child support, and spousal maintenance. It can be difficult to establish your income when you are still looking for a new job. Sudden unemployment should not halt your divorce process, but you will need to consider how losing your job changes what you need from your divorce.

Impact of Unemployment

While losing your job threatens your financial security, it can give you leverage to ask for more in your divorce agreement:

• Because Illinois equitably divides marital properties during divorce, you can receive more than half of the marital properties to make up for lost income;
• A lower income can lower your share of the child support obligation – at least until you get a new job; and
• A lower income means you may receive more spousal maintenance or may eliminate maintenance if you would have been the payor.

All of these advantages are contingent upon you making a good faith effort to find a new job with a similar level of pay. If the court thinks you are abusing your unemployment status for personal gain, it may settle your divorce agreement using your previous income level. You need to document your efforts to find new employment.

Your Circumstances

Beyond your attempts to find employment, the type of job you previously had and how you lost it can influence how the court views your unemployment:

• The court may hold you responsible for your unemployment if you quit your job or lost it due to misconduct;
• If you were the higher-earning spouse, the court may expect you to pay support based on your previous income once you find a new job; and
• If you were already the lower-earning spouse, the court may require your spouse to pay more support until you can find new employment.

Parental Responsibilities

Your unemployment should not directly affect your allocation of parental responsibilities, but being a divorced parent may affect your job search. Taking a job in a new location may not be an option if you would be moving away from your children. Even if you would be the primary parent, you would need court approval to relocate with your children. You may also be looking for a job that does not require travel and has work hours that fit your parenting schedule.

Contact a Kane County Divorce Attorney

Becoming unemployed during your divorce makes it even more important that you reach a favorable agreement. A St. Charles, Illinois, divorce lawyer at Goostree Law Group can negotiate a divorce that will support you while you are looking for a new job. Schedule a free consultation by calling 630-584-4800.

Source:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2086&ChapterID=59