When a mother gives birth to a baby, there is no dispute as to the woman’s motherhood. However, determining paternity is not as simple. There are many different reasons that paternity may be unclear. Sometimes, a woman unexpectedly gets pregnant and is unsure of who the father is. Other times, an extramarital affair leads to confusion about paternity. A father may claim that he is the child’s father even if the mother knows this is untrue. Alternatively, a mother may believe that one man is the father of her child but he denies paternity.
If you are involved in a…
Continue Reading How and When is DNA Testing Needed in a Paternity Dispute?

When parents divorce, they must contend with many difficult issues. If the parents want to share custody, they just decide how to divide parenting duties. In Illinois, the time a parent spends caring for his or her child is called parenting time. A parent’s right to make decisions about his or her child’s education, medical care, and other important matters is referred to as the allocation of parental responsibilities. Divorcing parents who want to share parenting time must decide which days each parent will care for the child. They will also need to determine how to handle parenting…
Continue Reading Evaluating the Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Shared Custody Schedules

Whether it is a house, condominium, townhouse, or apartment, your home is more than just a living space and deciding how to handle ownership of the marital home during divorce is no easy task. Your home may have great personal and financial value to you and your family. As you explore your options in preparation for divorce, consider the following factors regarding the marital home.
How to Handle the Marital Home in Your Illinois Divorce
Real estate properties are classified as either marital or non-marital. Most of the time, the family home is a marital asset. However, if one spouse…
Continue Reading Keep, Sell, or Split: Dealing with the Marital Home During Divorce

Only a few short decades ago, telephones were landlines physically wired to a person’s home. Phones were used for making phone calls and little else. Nowadays, we use smartphones for calls, text messages, social media, searching the internet, shopping, and even paying our bills. Most people’s cell phones contain a shocking amount of personal information. Consequently, many divorcing spouses wonder how and when cell phone information can be used in divorce proceedings.
Gathering Text Message and Call Logs in a Divorce Case
The portion of the divorce in which both parties gather information is called discovery. Discovery often involves…
Continue Reading Can Cell Phone Records Be Used in a DuPage County Divorce?

As high-income individuals getting divorced can attest, having money does not solve all of your problems in life. In fact, affluence can make divorce much more complex – especially if a spouse is not honest about income, assets, and debts. Forensic accounting is a process used in high-asset divorce cases to uncover hidden assets and other forms of fraud.
If you are getting divorced and suspect your spouse is transferring funds, concealing assets, misrepresenting income, or otherwise lying about money, forensic accounting may be useful in your divorce case.
Hidden Assets and Undisclosed Income in a Divorce
Spouses may use…
Continue Reading How is Forensic Accounting Used in a High-Asset Divorce Case?

In 2022, child support is calculated based on both of the parents’ net incomes. If the parents have a relatively equal amount of parenting time, the child support obligation is modified accordingly. Read on to learn more about how child support is calculated if parents share custody 50/50.
Parenting Time and Shared Parenting Scenarios
Physical custody of a child is now referred to as parenting time in Illinois, but the term custody is still used in informal settings. Divorcing parents are permitted and encouraged to develop a parenting time schedule that works for them. For example, in some families, one…
Continue Reading How is Child Support Determined When Parents Have 50/50 Custody?

As high schools finish up their spring semesters, many young people have their sights set on college. As a parent, the prospect of your child attending university can be both exciting and nerve-racking. College gets more and more expensive with each passing year. Average tuition and fees for public schools currently averages over $10,000 for in-state schools and nearly $23,000 for out-of-state schools. Private schools are even more expensive, with an average annual tuition of approximately $38,000.
If you are divorced and your child is nearing college age, it is important to understand how Illinois law handles the division of …
Continue Reading How Do Divorced Parents Pay For Their Child's College Expenses?

If you were recently married, but you regret it, you may be interested in getting the marriage annulled. Annulment is commonly portrayed in movies and television shows as a quick fix for couples wanting to end their marriage. However, annulment is more complicated than movies would lead you to believe. Annulments are only available in a narrow range of circumstances in Illinois. Couples who do not meet annulment criteria will need to end their marriages through divorce.
Annulment Criteria in Illinois
Many people assume that annulment is the same thing as divorce. However, these are completely different legal actions.
Continue Reading Can I Get My Marriage Annulled in DuPage County?

Marriages end for countless reasons. Some gradually break down over the course of years or decades. Other marriages end abruptly because a spouse has an affair or violates the other spouse’s trust. Sometimes, spouses simply fall out of love. If your marriage has reached the point of no return and divorce is imminent, there are things you can do now to make the divorce process easier.
Preparing for Divorce Can Help Make the Process Go More Smoothly
Divorce is a difficult process to go through, but preparing in advance can help you ready yourself to tackle divorce issues like property…
Continue Reading Six Steps to Take Now If You Know Divorce Is On The Horizon

Being a parent is hard regardless of your marital status. But co-parenting kids with an ex comes with additional challenges. If you are planning to divorce or you are an unmarried parent sharing custody of your kids with an ex, you may already have experienced some of these difficulties. Parents may disagree about parenting time schedules, their child’s education or participation in extracurricular activities, healthcare, and much more.
Every co-parenting relationship is bound to experience problems, but there are steps you can take to lessen co-parenting disagreements.

Disagreements About Child-Related Issues
Parents often have strong opinions about what is best…
Continue Reading 5 Common Co-Parenting Arguments and How to Prevent Them  

Domestic violence victims in Illinois have the option to get an order of protection to protect themselves, their children, and their property. A protection order is often the first step in leaving an abusive marriage or relationship. Protection orders can also provide legal protection if the abuse is at the hands of an ex-romantic partner, current or former household member, or family member. Unfortunately, many domestic violence victims are unaware of their rights and options under Illinois law. This leads them to suffer in silence and without the legal protection they need. Read on to learn about protection order hearings…
Continue Reading What Happens at a Hearing For an Order of Protection?