What looks like a big corporation is often a privately held business in the form of a franchise. Franchises are all over. Restaurants, hotels, auto dealerships, gyms, real estate brokerages, home-services companies, and so many other businesses operate under franchise systems. These franchisees own that business (under a lot of conditions) and that business has value that must be determined in an Illinois divorce. How Are Franchises Valued And Divided In An Illinois Divorce? When a spouse owns a franchise, putting a value on the business for an Illinois divorce is not as easy as valuing an independently owned store,…
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Contrary to myth that dentists suffer outsized divorce rates, the divorce rate for dentists is approximately 25% which is lower than the nationwide average. Still, dentists do get divorced and the dentists who own their practices may have to divide the value of their dental practice in an Illinois divorce. This article serves as a guide to dentists and their spouses who must value and divide a dental practice in an Illinois divorce. A Dental Practice Appraisal Must Begin With Defining What Is Being Valued What is a dental practice worth? The answer depends on what is actually being valued.
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Whenever a celebrity gets divorced, we read about eye-popping numbers of support awarded. The commentary inevitably shifts to “the kids don’t cost that much to raise” and “she doesn’t need all that money.” In an Illinois divorce, similar sentiments are couched in the objection to a guidelines support award as being a “windfall.” Windfalls In An Illinois Child Support Award Child support is ordered in Illinois based on “the guidelines.” “The court shall determine child support in each case by applying the child support guidelines unless the court makes a finding that application of the guidelines would be inappropriate” 750 ILCS 5/505(a)(2)(emphasis…
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Insurance agencies have owners. Those owners get divorced. The insurance agency is an asset whose value must be divided in an insurance agency owner’s divorce. This article explores how to value insurance agencies as part of the Illinois divorce process. An Insurance Agency Appraisal Must Begin With Defining What Is Being Valued The question of what an insurance agency is worth cannot be determined by simply multiplying the agency’s annual commissions by an industry multiple. Insurance agencies may represent several insurance carriers, employ multiple producers, generate recurring commissions from thousands of policies, and possess a valuable book of business. The…
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Illinois orders of protection impose severe restrictions on a person’s ability to go where they want to go and communicate who they want to communicate with. Because of this, the Illinois Domestic Violence Act has requirements that courts must make specific findings for the order of protection to be valid. If the findings are not in the order of protection, the order of protection must be vacated because the order of protection is, effectively, unreviewable. Every order of protection should be reviewed for missing required findings. Missing necessary findings are the easiest way to vacate an order of protection. When…
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49% of lawyers own their own law firms. Those law firms might be worth nothing. For lawyers who work in larger firms, 43% of them have equity in their firm. That equity is definitely worth something. These interests in law firms must be valued and possibly divided in an Illinois divorce. A Law Firm Is A Business, But It Is Not Just A Business A law firm has the potential to earn millions of dollars, employ many people, possess valuable receivables, and operate under an established name. It cannot, however, be valued exactly like a retail store, manufacturing company, or…
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Doctors don’t just make money from salaries. Doctors often own their medical practices and those practices make money. A medical practice is an asset whose value can be divided in an Illinois divorce. A Medical Practice Appraisal Must Begin With Defining What Is Being Valued What is a medical practice worth?  Well, it depends. A medical practice does not have a single value that can be determined by using the same formula in every case. What matters is the purpose of the valuation. A court valuing a spouse’s ownership interest, a physician selling a practice to another physician, and a…
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Divorces routinely order one person to pay the other person money in the form of child support or maintenance (formerly known as alimony). If the party fails to pay, the payee has two options: 1) they can hold the payor in contempt until the contemnor pays, 2) the payee can attach the payor’s assets. Obviously, waiting on someone who didn’t pay what they owed in the first place to now pay under the threat of jail is agonizing. It’s much easier to just get permission to access their accounts and take what’s owed directly from those accounts. This is called…
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If you own a business and/or your spouse owns a business, you are playing the highest stakes game in divorce law. The valuation of that business is determined as much by the savvy of your divorce lawyer as it is by the experience of the experts opining on that value. It is not just WHO the business valuator is that matters but, also, what kind of valuator the court deems them to be. The distinction a controlled expert or a 503(l) financial expert will make or cost you thousands to millions of dollars. Who Gets The Business In An Illinois…
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“You picked a fine time to leave me LucilleWith four hungry children and a crop in the field” – Rogers, Kenny. “Lucille.” Kenny Rogers, United Artists, 1977 My grandfather was a farmer in Saskatchewan, Canada. His brother and he owned an enormous winter wheat farm. One year, the crop was worth more than the ground under it. The next year, a hail storm destroyed their crops. Luckily, a bad storm was the worst thing that happened to my grandfather and grandmother. They stayed together for 50+ years until they both passed. Some farmers aren’t so lucky and must learn what…
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A business can be marital property without every component of the business’s value being a marital asset. When a closely held business is closely identified with one spouse, this distinction is particularly important.  For example, Spouse A founded the company, established its reputation, and generated most of its revenue. Spouse A may credibly argue that without Spouse A, there is no business. However, Spouse B argues that the company has a recognizable name, employees, systems, equipment, customer records, contracts, and relationships that will stay after Spouse A leaves. Both spouses may be correct. A business can contain value attributable personally…
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In an Illinois divorce, discovery may go beyond the state. For example, one spouse may work for an employer in Indiana or keep bank accounts in Florida. Another spouse may transfer money through an out-of-state relative or company. These records can be vital in deciding maintenance, child support, property division, dissipation, attorney’s fees, or other issues in the divorce. A divorce court may require the spouses to exchange discovery. However, the more difficult question arises when the necessary information is held by a person or company outside Illinois. An Illinois subpoena is helpful in the Illinois case, but the out-of-state…
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A high-net-worth divorce is not governed by special Illinois divorce laws. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act applies regardless of how much the marital estate is worth. The court still classifies property, assigns each spouse’s non-marital property to that spouse, divides marital property, determines maintenance, calculates child support, and enters a final judgment dissolving the marriage. In a normal divorce, the main questions often are simple enough to answer with tax returns, paystubs, a house appraisal, retirement account statements, and the statutory support formulas. Yet, in a high-net-worth divorce, those tools may only provide the beginning of the…
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