Orders of protection are scary in multiple ways. The people asking for protection from their romantic partner usually also rely on that romantic partner for financial support. One of the purposes of the Illinois Domestic Violence Act is to “address any related issues of child custody and economic support, so that victims are not trapped in abusive situations by fear of retaliation, loss of a child, financial dependence, or loss of accessible housing or services” 750 ILCS 60/102(4) The Illinois Domestic Violence Act specifically provides for child support within an order of protection. “Order for payment of support. Order respondent…
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There’s a lot of selfish reasons to enter into a prenuptial agreement or a postnuptial agreement: you want to keep your stuff or you don’t want pay your spouse support in the future. There is one, relatively, noble reason to enter into a prenuptial agreement or a postnuptial agreement, to preserve your heir’s inheritance in case you get divorced. If a married person with children dies without a will the current spouse automatically gets 50% of their estate, “If there is a surviving spouse and also a descendant of the decedent: 1/2 of the entire estate to the surviving spouse…
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Divorce is a touchy subject. Each party to a divorce knows a great deal of the other party’s secrets. The divorcing parties, armed with those secrets, are now trying to resolve their differences in a public forum: family court. The reality is that divorcing couples really don’t know everything about each other. That’s part of why they are getting divorced. Therefore, public, written accusations about the other party may often be speculative with only a presumption that the accuser knows the facts with certainty. For example, a spouse may accuse their spouse of “hiding unknown quantities of cash” or “grooming…
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Most divorces in Illinois are resolved by agreement. The steps leading to that agreement should be fair if both parties are adequately represented by competent counsel. However, if one party explicitly lies in order to get the agreement they want, that agreement may be reformed or vacated. Lying to convince someone to enter into a contract is fraudulent inducement. Final Agreements In An Illinois Divorce Before we analyze fraudulent inducement as an attack on a final agreed divorce judgement, we must understand that final agreements in an Illinois divorce usually stay final. The purpose of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution…
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Divorce orders catch two parties in a state of flux. Money is coming in and going out. Kids are growing up. By the time a disagreement between two divorcing or divorced parties is brought to court, the issue is often resolved by not being relevant anymore. Legal issues that no longer have current relevant facts to consider are described as “moot” For an issue to be “moot” it “describ[es] a point or question that is subject to debate, dispute, or uncertainty, and typically used in legal contexts to refer to issues that are hypothetical or of no practical importance.” Black’s…
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A financially successful person makes a lot of money and saves a lot of money. After an Illinois divorce, a financially successful person will be expected to divide their savings with their ex-spouse and pay their ex-spouse maintenance (formerly known as alimony). The ex-spouse will have half of the successful professional’s assets AND a portion of the successful professional’s income for a set period of time (or forever). Is this fair? Does it ever end? There may be one viable objection to paying both half your assets and maintenance to the your ex-spouse: double dipping. “Commentators use the phrase “double…
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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…
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People might hate each other during a divorce but they love their kids. To avoid conflict, parties to a divorce may forgo dividing assets for simply awarding those assets to a child or children. Giving away marital assets to children can be memorialized in an Illinois Marital Settlement Agreement. Realistically, if you gave the marital property away to a child, neither party owns the property and the property does not need to be addressed in the Marital Settlement Agreement. Directions regarding marital property as written in a Marital Settlement Agreement must be enforced. The Marital Settlement Agreement will be read…
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Big, bad things can happen in a parent’s life. A parent could lose their job, become seriously ill or go to prison. When something so serious happens in a parent’s life, what happens to their child support obligation? Can child support be put on pause while the parent deals with their unemployment, injury, illness, or incarceration? Abating Child Support In Illinois Lawyer’s love words that only seem to ever apply in a legal sense. One of those words is “abatement.” So, a lawyer will propose to “abate” child support in lieu or saying “terminate” or “pause” child support. Abatement is…
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Having an adult disabled child is difficult. Having to drag your child’s parent into court to support that adult disabled child makes it even worse. Caring for an adult child surely reduces the earning capacity of the care-giving parent which makes expensive litigation all the more burdensome without a request for attorney’s fees. Can you ask your child’s other parent for attorney’s fees as well as support for an adult disabled child in an Illinois divorce or parentage action? Supporting An Adult Disabled Child In Illinois Parents of disabled children owe their disabled child support well into adulthood. “The court…
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Illinois divorce courts do not split a divorcing couples’ assets 50/50 to each party.
Illinois divorce courts do not split up a couple’s non-marital assets at all. “[An Illinois divorce] court shall assign each spouse’s non-marital property to that spouse.” 750 ILCS 5/503(d)
Any assets deemed marital are then divided based on what the court feels is “just.”
An Illinois divorce court “shall divide the marital property without regard to marital misconduct in just proportions” 750 ILCS 5/503(d)
“The Act does not require an equal division of marital property, but an equitable division” In re Marriage of Jones, 543 NE…
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After a divorce is final, the parties are bound to the terms of the final orders. If one party fails to honor the order, the other party may file a motion to enforce the order as written.

“A judgment of dissolution or of legal separation or of declaration of invalidity of marriage may be enforced…by order of court pursuant to petition…Any judgment entered within this State may be enforced…in the judicial circuit wherein such judgment was entered or last modified by the filing of a petition with notice mailed to the respondent at his last known address, or by…
Continue Reading A Motion To Enforce Vs. A Motion To Modify In An Illinois Divorce

All evidence in an Illinois divorce hearing or trial is supplied by witnesses.

A witness can testify to what the witness directly saw, felt or experienced which is relevant to the issues at trial.

Some witnesses can testify to their opinions if those witnesses are deemed to be experts.

Even non-testimonial documents need a witness to establish their authenticity.

“The requirement of authentication or identification as a condition precedent to admissibility is satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims.” Ill. R. Evid. 901(a)

There is almost nothing that can…
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