In a divorce, each party’s money is also the other party’s money. So, Illinois divorce courts will liberally order one party to pay the other party’s attorney’s fees during the course of an Illinois divorce. In a parentage action, where the parties have a child or children together but have never been married, each party’s money is their own money. Additionally, the statutes that govern attorney’s fees in an Illinois divorce are all contained in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. If the parties aren’t married, they should not be relying on the the “Marriage Act.” Instead, unmarried couples must use the “Illinois Parentage Act of 2015” to determine their rights in court. The Illinois Parentage Act allows for one party to pay the other party’s attorney’s fees (and many other fees). “The court may assess filing fees, reasonable attorney’s fees, fees for genetic testing, other costs, necessary travel expenses, and other reasonable expenses incurred in a proceeding under this Act. The court may award attorney’s fees, which may be paid directly to the attorney, who may enforce the order in the attorney’s own name.” 750 ILCS 46/802 A parentage court is directed to use the exact same factors as the attorney fee section of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. “Any party may be represented by counsel at all proceedings under this Act. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the court may order, in accordance with the relevant factors specified in Section 508 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, reasonable fees of counsel, experts, and other costs of the action, pre-trial proceedings, post-judgment proceedings to enforce or modify the judgment, and the appeal or the defense of an appeal of the judgment to be paid by the parties.” 750 ILCS 46/809(emphasis mine) There are no explicit “relevant factors” listed in Section 508 of the Illinois Marriage Act but it can be presumed that the standard for awarding attorney’s fees is the same for Illinois parentage courts as it would be for Illinois divorce courts: “the financial resources of the parties.” “The court from time to time, after due notice and hearing, and after considering the financial resources of the parties, may order any party to pay a reasonable amount for his own or the other party’s costs and attorney’s fees.” 750 ILCS 5/508(a) The Illinois Parentage Act of 2015 buttresses this […]
