Posted on March 06, 2023 in Divorce

If one thing is certain in life, it is change. People change jobs, get divorced, remarry, and move to new residences. As life events unfold, the circumstances that gave rise to certain court orders may also change. Consequently, some individuals find themselves in need of changes to their divorce decree. When it comes to making modifications after a divorce, modifications are possible in many situations—but not all.

Modifying Child Custody After a Divorce

Your parenting plan outlines each parent's rights and responsibilities regarding the care of your children. When it comes to changing a parenting plan after a divorce, Illinois law allows modifications if it is in the best interests of the child. However, Illinois courts do not want parents changing the parenting plan frequently because this can be hard for children to adjust to. If it has been less than two years since you got divorced or last modified the allocation of parental responsibilities, you can only modify parental responsibilities if the child is in serious risk of harm.

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 Posted on February 28, 2023 in Divorce

Some of the major benefits of marriage are the federal tax benefits that come along with being able to file married jointly. When a married couple shares children, the tax credits and exemptions they can claim are usually even higher and are often enough to make a significant difference in a couple’s financial situation in any given year. When a couple gets divorced, however, several questions about taxes and children arise. Unlike most questions about taxes, getting the answers to these questions is not always a simple matter of consulting an accountant because certain issues require making decisions in advance and with the approval of a court.

Which Parent Can Claim a Child as a Dependent?

Only one parent can claim a child as a tax dependent in any given year and wrongfully claiming a child as a dependent can land a parent in serious trouble with the IRS. This means it is important to proactively make an agreement with your ex during the divorce process and it is equally important to stick to the agreement, even if you dislike it. Parents may decide to switch off years during which one parent can claim all children as dependents, divide the children between themselves so each parent claims a child or two every year, or simply have one parent claim all the children every year.

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 Posted on February 28, 2023 in Asset Division

Divorce is a complicated and emotionally fraught process, but for couples with a high net worth or who have high-value assets to divide, the divorce process can be even more complex. Careful planning is often necessary to ensure that both partners have access to relevant financial information so that an equitable asset division can be arranged. Furthermore, even issues that are not related to asset division, such as child support, can be affected by exceptionally high incomes. If you are in the beginning stages of divorce and are looking for help from a great team of highly experienced high net worth divorce attorneys, read this blog for a brief overview and then contact Goostree Law Group.

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 Posted on February 22, 2023 in Property Division

Getting divorced is a complex process with many moving parts. Each of these parts - such as child custody, alimony, and asset division - has subsequent pieces of its own that require careful attention and management throughout the divorce process. Of all the things that must be decided during divorce, asset division has the potential to have the most long-term consequences, as the financial future of a divorcing couple can be highly influenced by the outcome of their property division agreement. This means assessing the correct value of assets is essential, and, because the family home is often the most valuable asset a couple owns together, an accurate home appraisal is necessary.

How Do We Get Ready to Have Our House Appraised?

A professional appraiser will come to your house, look at its interior and exterior, compare it to other homes in the area that have recently sold or are up for sale, and estimate the value of your home accordingly. You can influence the value of your home by preparing for the appraisal process by:

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 Posted on February 22, 2023 in Divorce

Despite the sense that everyone today lives primarily on their phones and shares every detail of their lives through social media, many people still prefer to take a quiet, less public approach. Furthermore, certain people - such as local and national political representatives, celebrities, and leaders in major companies - have a vested interest in maintaining privacy as much as possible.

Divorce can pose a challenge to those who prefer to maintain privacy, especially if the divorce is acrimonious or the couple’s relationship has been subject to public scrutiny. However, there are ways to protect the privacy of individuals getting divorced, as well as the privacy of their children. Read on and then contact an Illinois high profile divorce attorney for help.

Strategies for Keeping Divorce Private

One of the best strategies for people going through a divorce and hoping to keep it private is to stay off social media. Even if you think you have your profile on the most restrictive settings, it is easy for someone to see and share information that you thought would stay among family and close friends. Instead, experts suggest that divorcing spouses refrain from sharing anything on social media at all, including seemingly harmless photos of themselves out on vacation, shopping, or at dinner. If the divorce gets hostile enough, just about anything can be used as an evidentiary weapon.

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 Posted on February 21, 2023 in Property Division

For many married couples, student loans are an inevitable part of life. Getting an education is an incredibly expensive investment, and when a couple gets married before or during one or both spouses’ years in school, student loans may be taken on during the marriage. But what happens to such a significant amount of debt when a couple decides to get divorced? While the spouse whose education was paid for using student loans may seem like the natural person to take on responsibility for the loans, allocating student debt actually depends on a number of factors.

Who is Responsible for Student Loans in a Divorce?

Illinois law requires divorcing spouses to fairly divide their assets and debts. Fairly does not necessarily mean equally, however, and this is where the details really matter when it comes to student loans. Illinois courts prefer couples to create an asset and debt division agreement without intervention from a judge, but this is not always possible. Even when it is possible, both spouses need to make sure they understand the law, because a judge will need to review any proposed asset and debt division for fairness and equity. Some factors that will need to be considered include:

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 Posted on February 17, 2023 in Divorce

Before filing for divorce in Illinois, many people suspect for years that something might be "off" without having hard evidence to prove it. Maybe you find yourself wondering if your spouse is cheating on you; maybe your shared bank account seems to be missing money and your spouse is defensive about where it is going. Whatever the reason, if your spouse is hiding something from you that could be serious enough to make you consider a permanent solution like divorce, you will want to be sure. Read on to find out how a private investigator may be able to help you get the information you need to make an informed decision.

What Can a Private Investigator Do?

Private investigators are individuals who specialize in finding information, but they are not typically police officers or detectives (and when they are, they are not working in their capacity as a law enforcement officer when sidelining as a PI), and they cannot break the law. This often leads to the question - what exactly can a PI do?

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 Posted on February 16, 2023 in Child Support

For most parents in Illinois, paying child support is an obligation that ends once a child turns 18 or graduates from high school. However, for other parents, child support can continue for several years or even indefinitely. It is important to know when child support can be ordered after a child reaches legal adulthood so you can financially prepare yourself for any obligations you may have, as well as ensure that your child’s needs are met throughout their life.

Child Support for an Adult Child in College

Illinois is one of the few states that allows judges to order divorced parents to help their children pay for college or trade school. Married parents cannot be ordered to do this, but divorced parents can because of the idea that a child should continue to enjoy the standard of living she would have expected had her parents stayed married. For some families, this includes assistance with college tuition, although judges are not obligated to order parents to pay their child’s educational expenses.

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 Posted on February 09, 2023 in Divorce

Few people get married with the expectation that they will eventually get divorced. However, even after several decades of marriage, life can bring insurmountable challenges that completely change our expectations of what we thought the future would hold.

This is especially true for people who suffer from degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer’s or Pick’s Disease. Even if a marriage was rock solid before signs of dementia began setting in, the way that the brain’s essential functions break down with neurodegenerative diseases can quickly make a quality relationship impossible. People who have degenerative brain disease can become very difficult to live with because they may get lost, become aggressive, or even forget how to do simple things like get out of bed and dress themselves. When a degenerative brain disease progresses to the point where a couple can no longer function as a whole, the healthy partner may consider divorce.

Brain Disease Can End a Marriage

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 Posted on February 09, 2023 in Divorce

When people think of "custody" in a divorce, they are nearly always thinking about children. But what about pets? Despite not being humans, they can still feel like members of the family, and the prospect of losing a pet in addition to the other challenges of divorce may feel like too much to bear.

Fortunately, there are solutions to the question of pet ownership and custody after an Illinois divorce. If you are in the divorce process or are considering divorce and are wondering how it could impact your or your children’s relationship with your family pet, read on.

Is a Pet Considered Property Under Illinois Law?

Issues with pet custody are not handled the same way that issues with child custody are. This is because Illinois law treats pets as property - fundamentally the same as any other piece of property, like a house, car, or investment account. For people who own expensive pets as hobbies or investments, such as professional horse breeders, this makes a lot of sense; for people who just love their family dog, this can seem a little callous.

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