If you are facing a divorce, it can be difficult to wrap your head around the range of legal complications involved in the face of the emotional turmoil that tends to accompany this difficult transition. It’s important to recognize, however, that an experienced Chicago divorce attorney has the legal skill and insight to help.
Every divorce is unique to its own circumstances, but every divorcing couple must resolve the same terms – as applicable – including:
Each of these terms has the potential to become exceptionally challenging over the course of your divorce.
The assets that you and your spouse come to own while you are married are considered marital property, which means that they – or their value – will need to be divided between you fairly upon divorce. While this can mean an equal division, this isn’t necessarily the case.
Anything that either of you owned prior to marriage and kept separate while you were married remains the separate asset of that spouse, but the dividing line between separate and marital assets can be less distinct than you may realize.
Parental responsibilities refer to your decision-making power when it comes to raising your children, and it addresses primary parenting concerns such as the following:
You and your ex can make these decisions together, can afford one of you tie-breaking authority, can divide them between you according to topic, or can assign sole parental responsibilities to one of you.
Parenting time, on the other hand, sets the schedule for when your children are with you for overnights and when they are with their other parent. You’ll either split your parenting time fairly evenly or one of you will become the primary custodial parent who has the children for the majority of overnights throughout the year.
Illinois implements a child support calculation process that takes a wide range of relevant factors into consideration in the process of balancing this financial responsibility across each parent’s ability to pay. Ultimately, the parent who is the higher earner typically makes the child support payments.
In Illinois, alimony is called spousal maintenance, and it is only awarded in those divorces that leave one spouse unable to continue supporting themself financially while the other has the financial ability to lend assistance. Alimony is generally ordered for an amount and duration that affords the recipient the opportunity to become more financially independent through further education or job training.
If you are considering divorce or have already been served with divorce papers, the practiced Chicago divorce attorneys at Hammer Serna & Quinn are well prepared to help protect your financial and parental rights in pursuit of advantageous divorce terms that support you and your children’s brightest future. To learn more, please don’t delay contacting us today.
Call or email Hammer Serna & Quinn, LLC today to schedule a consultation.