Posted on October 22, 2019 in Child Support

It is difficult to pay for a college education without some form of financial aid. Grants, scholarships, and loans can help cover the tens of thousands of dollars that it may cost to attend a four-year institution. Many students and their parents will use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to see which sources of financial aid are available to them. When filling out the FAFSA form, parents must submit their recent financial records to determine which financial aid resources they qualify for. The application process is more complicated for parents who have divorced.

Who Fills Out the FAFSA Application?

Only one divorced parent will file the FAFSA application because only one of the parents will report their income. The Higher Education Act of 1965 includes a section explaining which parent must report their income if the parents are divorced or separated:

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 Posted on October 18, 2019 in Divorce

The grief that you feel from getting divorced is likely painful but will not last forever. There will come a day when you are not consumed by emotions related to your divorce, whether they are sadness or anger. Unfortunately, there is no defined timeline for how long it takes to recover from divorce grief and reach the “acceptance” stage. Each person and divorce are different, and some people need more time to process their grief than others – even if they are part of the same divorce. Do not measure your divorce recovery by how long you think it should take or how long it took someone else. Instead, look for these signs that you are starting to recover from divorce:

1. You No Longer Obsess Over Your Divorce: You cannot erase the memory of your marriage. There will be instances that remind you of your marriage. People still grieving over their divorce struggle to stop thinking about their marriage when they are faced with a reminder. One bad memory can easily lead to another, which dominates their thoughts and affects their mood. Once you have accepted your divorce, reminders of your marriage should no longer cause your thoughts to spiral out of control.

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 Posted on October 17, 2019 in Family Law

Domestic violence is something that is, unfortunately, all too common. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, more than 12 million people experience some sort of violence or abuse by family members or romantic partners each year. According to Illinois law, domestic violence occurs when a family or household member commits any act of abuse toward you or other members of your family or household. You do not have to be related by blood or even marriage for an act to be considered domestic violence; it can occur between people who are dating (or formerly dated) or even just people who live together (or formerly lived together). Abuse is not limited to physical harm, but can also be sexual or emotional.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to protect yourself and your family members if you are experiencing domestic violence. Getting an order of protection can be extremely beneficial in any domestic violence situation.

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 Posted on October 14, 2019 in Child Custody

An ongoing criminal case or past criminal conviction can be an important factor when determining how parental responsibilities should be allocated between parents in a divorce. A criminal charge may cause a court to doubt whether you can be a responsible parent and provide a safe environment for your children. However, the details of your criminal case will determine how much weight the family court will give it in your parenting case. Here are three relevant questions about your criminal case in relation to your parental responsibilities:

1. What Is the Nature of the Criminal Charge?: Violent criminal charges cause the greatest concern about your children’s safety. Domestic violence or abuse charges, in particular, suggest that you may be violent towards your children if left alone with them. Crimes based on poor decisions, such as driving under the influence or drug possession, also reflect badly on your ability to be a responsible parent. A court may strictly limit your parenting time until you can demonstrate that you are not a threat to your children, which may require counseling and parenting classes.

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 Posted on October 09, 2019 in Divorce

Some costs are unavoidable during the divorce process. You will have to give up a share of your marital properties to your spouse as part of the agreement. A divorce court in Illinois will reject a division of property that it deems to be inequitable. There are mandatory filing and court fees. You can apply for a partial or total waiver of the fees, which the court may grant depending on how your income compares to the federal poverty level. Some divorcees will argue that an attorney is an optional expense, but representing yourself in a divorce has its own costs. There are other ways that anyone can save money on their divorce.

Help with Research

Before starting the divorce negotiations, you must prepare by identifying your marital properties and determining their value. A divorce attorney can do this research for you but will need to be paid for the hours they spend tracking down this information. The process can take days to weeks, depending on:

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 Posted on October 08, 2019 in Spousal Maintenance

There is no guarantee that either spouse will receive spousal maintenance in an Illinois divorce. Though 40 or 50 years ago, spousal support or alimony was rather common in divorces, today it is more of an exception to the rule, rather than the rule itself. There are a few situations in which you might receive spousal maintenance. Your case might involve spousal maintenance if you and your spouse have a significant difference in income or if one of you sacrificed your career to stay home and raise the kids or take care of family responsibilities. Whatever the case, there is a formula used to determine the amount of maintenance to be paid in Illinois.

How to Calculate Spousal Maintenance

The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) specifies the formula that is used to determine how much spousal maintenance is to be paid and how long those payments will last. The formula contained in the act applies to couples whose combined gross annual income is less than $500,000. Anything more than that, and the court can use its discretion to determine an appropriate amount of maintenance.

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 Posted on October 03, 2019 in Divorce

Changing your marital status back to single has a wide-spread impact on various documents and forms of identification related to your life. There is a long list of updates that you will need to make, though many of them can wait until after you have completed your divorce. Failing to make these updates can cause confusion that will be more difficult to fix after the fact. You should write a list of documents that you need to update, which may include the following:

1. Estate Plan: If you created a will or trust for after your death, your former spouse is likely the primary beneficiary. It is your choice whether your spouse should be completely cut out of the estate plan, but you likely want to change it from what you decided during your marriage. If you die before updating your estate plan, your former spouse and your family may get in a legal battle about who you intended to inherit your assets.
2. Power of Attorney: An estate plan may include documents naming the person with the power of attorney over your health and financial decisions in the event that you are incapable of making your own decisions. Once again, your former spouse likely has this authority if the documents were created or updated during your marriage. You need to decide who should have the power of attorney instead.

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 Posted on October 01, 2019 in Children and Divorce

Children of divorce are often unsure of who to talk to about their feelings because their most natural outlet – their parents – is at the source of their pain. Social media is an easy alternative for them, where they can express themselves and connect with friends. Divorced parents may believe that there is no harm in letting their children withdraw into their mobile devices. After all, parents know where the children are. However, children can still get themselves into trouble on social media and are more prone to making poor decisions when experiencing a traumatic event, such as their parents' divorce.

Potential Problems

Children often fail to understand that what they say and do on social media can have real-life consequences. Posting offensive or inappropriate content reflects poorly on them now and leaves a record that could hurt them in the future, such as when they apply to a college. Sharing too much about themselves makes them appear vulnerable to people who try to exploit confused children and teenagers, such as:

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 Posted on September 29, 2019 in Divorce

Many drivers have an E-ZPass – known as an I-Pass in Illinois – registered to their vehicle. The transponder is convenient for passing through tolls without having to stop and throw in coins in a toll booth. Most drivers do not think about how the transponder can track their movements based on the toll roads they use. The Illinois Tollway keeps that information private but can be forced to share information on individual vehicles when they receive subpoenas. Law enforcement officials are the ones who most often subpoena I-Pass records for evidence of criminal activity. You may be surprised to learn that I-Pass records are also used in some divorce and family law cases.

Scenario

Let us say that you are paying spousal maintenance to your ex, who was unemployed at the time of the agreement. You have reason to believe that your former spouse has started a job, which would allow you to modify your maintenance payments. Your former spouse denies that they have a job to avoid any reduction in maintenance. As part of your evidence gathering, you could file a subpoena for your former spouse’s I-Pass records, which may show that they are passing through tolls at times that are consistent with going to and from a job. I-Pass records have also been used as evidence that a former spouse is cohabiting with a new romantic partner, which may allow the termination of spousal maintenance.

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 Posted on September 25, 2019 in High Asset Divorce

Marital assets in a divorce can be intangible properties that hold great value, particularly in a high-asset divorce. Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, are a modern example of an intangible financial asset. Most divorces do not have cryptocurrencies because owners typically must have a combination of technological savvy and individual wealth. The value of one Bitcoin has hovered around $10,000 for the past few months. Owning cryptocurrency can make the division of property more complicated. You may need to hire a financial professional with knowledge of cryptocurrency and how it applies to divorce laws.

Hidden Asset

Cryptocurrencies are a decentralized and unregulated form of digital currency that originated in the past decade. The lack of a central bank or government oversight creates the risk that a divorcee could hide part of their assets by:

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