Posted on February 06, 2020 in Family Law

50 years ago, your average American probably would have raised their eyebrows in disbelief or widened their eyes in shock if you told them that you were getting a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement. For years, there was a stigma against these types of agreements as being a way to plan for a divorce instead of trying to make a marriage work. Now, most people are much more agreeable to the idea of prenuptial or postnuptial agreements. Both types of agreements allow you to set forth terms for separation if your marriage heads down the track of divorce. The only difference between these two types of agreements is when they are signed — a prenuptial agreement is signed before the marriage, while a postnuptial agreement is signed any time after the marriage has been officiated.

Reasons to Get a Postnuptial Agreement

Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements are more common than they ever have been before, even for those who are not considered upper class. There are many situations in which getting a postnuptial agreement makes sense. These can include:

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 Posted on February 05, 2020 in High Asset Divorce

If you are a business owner who is getting divorced, you will need to conduct a professional valuation of your business. A business is a marital property if you started or purchased it during your marriage. Even if you have owned the business since before you were married, it may have become marital property because you invested personal assets into it. Business valuations are complicated because there are multiple approaches to valuation and several aspects of a business that you must consider when calculating its value. There are three general approaches to business valuation, each with their own strengths:

1. Income-Based Approach: The most popular method of business valuation, this approach values a business based on the earnings that it is able to generate. The business appraiser looks at the business’s past earnings and projects the future earnings, based on trends and accounting for risks.

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 Posted on January 31, 2020 in Children and Divorce

Communicating with your co-parent after a divorce can feel uncomfortable, even if you did not separate on bad terms. You need to stay in contact with each other to discuss issues related to your children. For some parents, having a child act as a messenger seems like a natural solution to the problem. After all, your child sees both of you regularly. However, any parenting expert will tell you that using your child as a messenger for your parenting discussions is unhealthy for them, no matter how old they are or mature they may seem.

Problems

Asking your child to deliver a message to your co-parent is forcing them to become a player in your co-parenting drama. You may think that it is benign to send a simple message, such as that you will be late in picking up the children next week. By tasking your child to deliver a message:

• They receive your co-parent’s negative reaction to the news and perceive that the reaction is directed towards them

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 Posted on January 31, 2020 in Divorce

When a couple decides they are getting a divorce, it is not uncommon for one spouse to willingly move out of the home. While this makes the most sense for many couples, it can also raise concerns for some. How can you make sure your spouse is still contributing to household expenses? How do you make sure your children still see their other parent? When this happens, you have two options: come to an agreement about how expenses and child custody will be handled for the time being or go to court to ask for a temporary order to protect yourself and your family.

If you are able to, coming to an agreement with your spouse about how these things will be handled during the divorce process is usually favorable. In some situations, however, this is not feasible. In these cases, your best bet may be to get temporary court orders that you and your spouse must abide by. Temporary orders can help you address some of your immediate concerns while your divorce is going on, and they will last until your divorce is finalized. Here are a few issues you can petition the court to decide using temporary orders:

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 Posted on January 29, 2020 in Divorce

Someone who has a greater income than his or her spouse can have an advantage during a divorce. If each spouse is left with only their individual resources, the wealthier spouse would be able to hire a more expensive lawyer, pay for other advisers, and better afford a prolonged legal battle. Illinois tries to level the playing field during a divorce by allowing someone to request interim attorney fees and costs from their spouse if they cannot afford these expenses. This divorce tool is a financial boon or burden, depending on which side of the court order you are on.

Receiving Interim Fees

As the name suggests, you will file for interim attorney fees and costs while the case is still ongoing. This request is strictly meant to pay for your legal fees related to your divorce. If you need help paying for your living expenses, you need to file for temporary spousal maintenance. When deciding whether to grant interim attorney fees, the court will consider:

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 Posted on January 27, 2020 in Divorce

Divorce has long involved people who are self-employed, such as business owners. Today, more people are making a living as independent contractors and freelancers, which is also self-employment. Having a spouse who is self-employed makes it more difficult to identify their income and properties for the purpose of divorce. This information is necessary when calculating spousal maintenance and child support. If you are divorcing someone who is self-employed, you need to be thorough in collecting and evaluating their financial records to make sure they are not hiding anything from you.

Collecting Information

When your spouse is employed by another person or business, their tax returns should accurately show their income because their employer is reporting it to the IRS. People who are self-employed are responsible for reporting their own income for tax purposes, which means that they could potentially underreport their income. You need to piece together your spouse’s various income sources by requesting:

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 Posted on January 25, 2020 in Divorce

One of the films nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards this year is “Marriage Story,” which is about a couple with a young son going through an emotional divorce. The divorce lawyers for each side play a prominent role in the film, shining a light on the legal process. Divorce is a common source of conflict for filmmakers wanting to portray a family drama. “Kramer vs. Kramer” won the award for Best Picture at the Academy Awards in 1979. While movies have helped form the public perception of divorce, it is important to understand that your divorce will be different than the stories you see portrayed on screen:

1. Divorce Is Not All About Drama: Divorce in a movie often includes dramatic announcements and heated arguments because that is what makes the most compelling story. These things can occur in a real divorce, but your divorce can be peaceful and cooperative if that is what you both want. Most of the “drama” you will experience will be internal as you mourn the end of your marriage and wonder what the future will hold for you.

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 Posted on January 24, 2020 in Family Law

Coming to the decision to get a divorce does not happen suddenly. It often takes couples months or even years to reach the point where they no longer want to be married. In the time between the start of marital trouble and the signing of divorce papers, couples often live apart from one another and lead separate lives. During this time, a couple may file for a legal separation, allowing them to address certain issues while they live separately. Following a legal separation, a couple will remain married in the eyes of the law. However, at any point, either spouse may decide to move forward with their divorce.

What Is a Legal Separation?

A legal separation is the "official" way of saying that you and your spouse are taking a break from one another. To get a legal separation in Illinois, there are a few requirements that you must meet. One of the most basic terms requires either you or your spouse to be a resident of Illinois for at least 90 days. Then, you will need to file a petition for legal separation in the court of the county that you or your spouse lives in. The petition will contain specific personal information, but most importantly, it will contain proof that you and your spouse currently live separately from one another and are not financially dependent on each other. During the process of legal separation, you will create a separation agreement that addresses how you will handle issues such as child custody, child support, spousal maintenance, and the division of marital property while you are living separately.

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 Posted on January 22, 2020 in Child Custody

Divorce in the U.S. has changed in many ways during the last decade. The divorce rate has settled down from the boom the country experienced in the 1970s. Millennials, who were the children of many of those divorces, are waiting longer to get married and start a family. Divorce has also become more amicable because of the rising use of conflict resolution methods such as mediation and collaborative divorce. Women have increasing power during the process and are less likely to be financially dependent upon men. However, men have also seen increased benefits from divorce, thanks to that same trend towards gender equality.

Father’s Rights

The presumption used to be that the mother would have most of the control over the children after a divorce because the mother was the primary caretaker in the family. Fathers would typically have less decision-making power, and equal parenting time was practically unheard of. Now, courts see the importance of both divorced parents having a major role in raising their children. This means that courts:

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 Posted on January 19, 2020 in High Asset Divorce

A couple in a high asset divorce has more at stake in the division of property – and more to lose if they make a mistake. A poorly conceived divorce agreement could cost you a small fortune in lost or squandered assets. Once the agreement is approved, you will not get a do-over unless you can prove that your spouse intentionally deceived you during your divorce or you signed the agreement under duress. To avoid having remorse over your high asset divorce, you should do your best to get your agreement right the first time.

Dig Deep

The main way that a high asset divorce is different from other divorces is the number and variety of marital properties. You need to thoroughly investigate your spouse’s finances to see whether there are hidden assets, such as:

• Undisclosed bank accounts
• Marital assets within a business

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