To effectively litigate an Illinois divorce court, you must know A LOT: Statutes, case law and the Illinois Supreme Court Rules at a minimum. In addition to these bodies of knowledge, every county court has its own local rules that must be followed. These local rules let local courts govern the way they handle their cases. “Subject to the rules of the Supreme Court, the circuit and Appellate Courts may make rules regulating their dockets, calendars, and business. 735 ILCS 5/1-104(b) “Local court rules are required to be procedural in nature and cannot modify or limit the substantive law.” In…
Continue Reading Local County Court Rules In An Illinois Divorce Case

Defending against an Order of Protection In Illinois is not easy. Illinois law makes Orders of Protection relatively simple to secure. An Illinois court need only find that abuse occurred to issue an order of protection. “If the court finds that petitioner has been abused by a family or household member…an order of protection prohibiting the abuse, neglect, or exploitation shall issue” 750 ILCS 60/214 (emphasis mine) The legal standard for determining whether abuse occurred is “the preponderance of the evidence” whether it was more than 50% likely that the abuse occurred. “The standard of proof in such a proceeding…
Continue Reading The “Four Corners” Defense To A Petition For Order Of Protection In Illinois

The law is full of buzzwords that further qualify other legal concepts. One of the most common terms found throughout law in general and family law in particular is “due diligence.” Due diligence is “[t]he diligence reasonably expected from, and ordinarily exercised by, a person who seeks to satisfy a legal requirement or to discharge an obligation” Black’s Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019) The requirement of due diligence is effectively the court system telling litigants to “keep it moving or you’ll lose your rights” which exists in addition to statutes of limitations and other deadlines. Failure to act with due diligence…
Continue Reading Due Diligence In An Illinois Divorce

As a Chicago divorce attorney who speaks three languages, the issues of immigration and divorce intersect constantly. Understandably upset, clients believe they can solve all of their problems by having their immigrant spouse deported as well as divorced. The reality is that it is extremely difficult to get the Department of Homeland Security to act on their limited authority to deport an immigrant spouse without extreme circumstances.  The possibility of deportation depends on the spouse’s status. If the spouse has no status (they’re undocumented) or the immigration status they once had has expired, then there is no deportation trigger.
Continue Reading Can I Get My Husband Or Wife Deported?

Too many family law attorneys treat trial like a school project—summarize the facts, cite the law, hand it to the judge like a term paper. But Illinois divorce trials don’t grade on neatness and organization. Illinois trials require evidence, foundation, and admissibility. Evidence must be admitted consistent with the Illinois rules of evidence. Every little item you want the court to take notice of must be properly admitted which requires laying foundation and establishing authentication while being free from evidentiary objections (or subject to an exception to an objection). In a divorce, if the marital estate includes assets and sources…
Continue Reading Charts, Summaries and Calculations In An Illinois Divorce Trial

Indemnification is an important concept in contract law. Most divorces are finalized by a contract which divides assets AND debts. Indemnification provides the functionality of how those debts are paid back and by whom. Debts, Divorce And Indemnification In Illinois Illinois divorce courts “shall divide the marital property without regard to marital misconduct in just proportions” 750 ILCS 503(d) “”[M]arital property” means all property, including debts and other obligations, acquired by either spouse subsequent to the marriage” 750 ILCS 503(a) (emphasis mine) “It is well settled that marital debts as well as marital assets must be distributed equitably.” In re Marriage of Lees, 224…
Continue Reading Indemnification And Divorce In Illinois

A subpoena is “[a] writ or order commanding a person to appear before a court or other tribunal, subject to a penalty for failing to comply.” Black’s Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019) Before email subpoenas really would make people come into court (or the lawyer’s office) with all the documents requested and then the lawyer who issued the subpoena would question the producer under oath. Today, most subpoena’s just request documents to be emailed with a certification by the custodian of records. People respond to subpoenas because if they do not reply to the subpoena as requested, the subpoena issuer can…
Continue Reading How To Issue A Subpoena Outside of Illinois For An Illinois Divorce Case

A closing argument is “[i]n a trial, a lawyer’s final statement to the judge or jury before deliberation begins in which the lawyer request the judge or jury to consider the evidence and apply the law in her or her client’s favor” Black’s Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019) In an Illinois divorce hearing or trial there is no jury. “There shall be no trial by jury” 50 ILCS 5/103. In an Illinois divorce, the closing argument is solely for an audience of one: the judge. The closing argument should apply the evidence presented to the law and present the judge with an…
Continue Reading Closing Arguments In An Illinois Divorce

Divorcing people are more reasonable than you would think. 95% of divorces end up settling out-of-court. But, there are divorce litigants who are so inflamed about the divorce that they refuse any and all attempts to settle. For the spouse who is willing to settle their divorce case, the refusal to adopt or consider a reasonable settlement is worse than frustrating…it’s horribly expensive. Without a settlement, every little issue must be proven up to the judge using the formal rules of evidence. This is enormously time consuming and divorce lawyers charge a lot of money for their time. A spouse…
Continue Reading Failure To Compromise In An Illinois Divorce

Being a real estate agent, also known as a realtor, is like being the world’s friendliest gambler. You might sell a house for a client, you might buy a house for a client, or you might not. Either way, real estate agents have to keep smiling through it all. Smiling through challenges is a distinct advantage real estate agents have in an Illinois divorce. Real estate agents are agreeable people who have wildly varying incomes. This creates a particular challenge when a realtor gets divorced because they want to make a deal…but cannot predict their income in order to sell…
Continue Reading What A Real Estate Agent Needs To Know In An Illinois Divorce

Child support and maintenance (formerly known as alimony) in Illinois are determined by both parties’ incomes. A business owner does not receive just a check every two weeks and a W2. A business owner has ongoing revenue and expenses that have to be calculated to determine the business owner’s income. Beyond that, business owners have future income and expenses in the form of accounts receivable and accounts payable. Some of these sources of income and some of these expenses are under the control of the lawyer…and some are not. How does one accurately determine a business owner’s income in an…
Continue Reading Determining A Business Owner’s Income In An Illinois Divorce

During and after divorce proceedings an attorney can request attorney’s fees from the opposing party, his own client or both parties. An attorney’s time and expertise as an attorney will be compensated via court order. But what about the attorney driving to the courthouse? Can expenses for travel time be ordered by an Illinois divorce court? Reasonable Attorney’s Fees And Divorce In Illinois An Illinois divorce court has great powers to award fees for almost any reason. However, the ordered attorney’s fees must be “reasonable.” “The court from time to time, after due notice and hearing, and after considering the…
Continue Reading Travel Time And Attorney’s Fees In An Illinois Divorce

Note: this article was largely inspired by a lecture made by David Del Re at the Lake County Family Law Conference in February of 2025 which I attended. Mr. Del Re does excellent work and I endorse him and his firm for all family law matters. There’s an old adage in family law courts that “children should have a voice but not a choice”.  Children are also highly discouraged from testifying in divorce cases. Without testifying, anything a child alleged said is impermissible hearsay. So, how do children make their wishes known to the court in an Illinois divorce. Why…
Continue Reading Children’s Hearsay Testimony In An Illinois Divorce Or Parentage Case