Recent Blog Posts
Your Illinois Divorce: Fault, No Fault, and Child Custody
Divorce is one of the most stressful and mentally exhausting chapters in a person’s life. It comes with a long list of life-changing considerations, such as where each spouse will live, how to survive on a single income, and what the child custody arrangement will entail.
The legal side of divorce can be just as overwhelming as the personal challenges. This is especially true in contested divorces when couples cannot agree on asset division, child support, or other factors.
Fault vs. No-Fault Divorces
According to current Illinois law, a divorce will fall under one of two categories: “fault” or “no fault.” In no-fault divorces, there is not a fundamental issue that caused the divorce. As such, the marriage is ending due to “irreconcilable differences.”
Fault divorces, however, involve a clear reason for the separation. This may include adultery, physical or emotional abuse, or drug addiction. The cause of the divorce could affect the outcome as it relates to asset division, alimony, and child support. It is important to note, however, that all grounds for divorce, besides irreconcilable differences, will be eliminated January 1, 2016 due to the implementation of Senate Bill 57.
Will I Lose My House if I Declare Bankruptcy?
Many people mistakenly assume that bankruptcy is financial suicide. However, the truth is that bankruptcy has helped millions of Americans start their path toward a debt-free life.
There are several chapters of bankruptcy, with Chapters 7 and 13 being the most common. The eligibility criteria and consequences of filing each chapter vary, and one factor that sets them apart is the possibility of liquidating assets.
What Will Happen to My Property if I File for Bankruptcy?
According to Uscourst.gov, Chapter 7 bankruptcy involves the liquidation of assets to pay off creditors. As a result, filers may need to sell their home or other properties to pay debts.
Every case is unique, and not all Chapter 7 filers will have to sell their home. Also, there is a homestead exemption in Illinois bankruptcy cases which will allow you to preserve a portion of your home's equity. Depending on the details of your mortgage, the trustee may decide not to group your home with the liquidated assets.
Can You Spy on Your Spouse During a Divorce?
When you feel that your marriage is over, you may be tempted to spy on your spouse. However, spying can be legally risky and may not even benefit you in the divorce. Therefore, it is important to know what the law says about spying on your spouse.
What Are You Hoping to Prove?
The most common reason for spying on a spouse is to uncover proof of his or her cheating. However, now that Illinois is a no-fault divorce state, whether your spouse is cheating or not will not affect allocation of parental rights, visitation, child support, spousal maintenance, or the division of property.
If your spouse is spending marital assets on someone with whom he or she is cheating, you should try and uncover how much is being spent. The same is true if your spouse is spending money on drugs or gambling. These actions may be considered dissipation of marital assets—your spouse is wasting marital assets on things that do not benefit the marriage, nor have you agreed to this spending. It is possible to get some or all of these funds back in a divorce.
When Should Retirees File Bankruptcy?
Retirement is often considered a chance to sit back and relax—a long-awaited opportunity to spend time with your grandchildren, take a dream vacation, or busy yourself in the garden. However, your pension may not have gone as far as you had hoped, you were burdened with expensive medical bills, or perhaps you just fell on hard times. Sadly, this is all too common and countless U.S. seniors are grappling with overwhelming debt. Filing for a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, however, may be the answer.
According to the The New York Times, bankruptcy is a chance to hit the financial reset button. It is an opportunity to rebuild your life, and to ensure you leave behind money—not debt—for your grandchildren.
Protecting Your Assets
In tough times, seniors may be tempted to spend their retirement assets. However, retirees risk a downward financial spiral from which they are very unlikely to recover. A better strategy may be to protect those assets by filing for bankruptcy.
Illinois Child Support Services: Why They Exist and How They Can Help
The Illinois Child Support Service division reports that almost half a million children in the state receive public assistance. Taxpayers are responsible for the non-payment of child support, picking up the slack for parents who do not hold themselves accountable financially for the care of their children. While this statistic is sad and unfortunate, the state thankfully has an organized, efficient system in place to address the needs of children and families who struggle with such circumstances.
The Purpose of State Child Support Programs
Due to the overwhelming need of single parents raising children with no support from the other parent, child support programs are utilized to ease the burden and ensure that children are properly cared for, safe and protected. Since the Illinois program began in 1976, the department has successfully collected more than 3 billion dollars for children in need.
What Happens During the Post-Bankruptcy Debtor Education Course
Bankruptcy gives you the chance at a fresh, new start, but it is up to you to ensure you make the most of that start. This means you have to do things different and ensure you protect yourself from unnecessary or excessive debt in the weeks, months, and years to follow. Bankruptcy counseling, which is required before and after bankruptcy, can help you obtain the skills and knowledge you will need to restart your credit and maintain it, long into the future.
Why Do I Need Bankruptcy Debtor Education?
The U.S. Bankruptcy Code mandates that you receive two types of bankruptcy counseling: credit counseling before you file, and debtor education after. Although they sound similar, they are actually quite different. Credit counseling examines your financial situation before bankruptcy to determine if a budget or repayment plan can help you avoid filing. Debtor education, done after you file, is designed to help you focus on building credit and healthy debt management practices. Failure to comply and complete either course could result in a denial of your bankruptcy discharge.
Legal Separation or Divorce – Which One is Right for Your Case?
Every marriage is unique. Every couple’s beliefs, goals, and concerns are different. So, really, it only makes sense that, when suffering from irreconcilable differences, some will choose legal separation over the traditional divorce. This is not a “wrong” path. It is just different than divorce. Unfortunately, many couples are confused about those differences and are uncertain when it comes to deciding which option is most appropriate for their situation. The following information can help clarify the difference between legal separation and divorce, and may even give you some insight as to which path is right for you.
Legal Separation
Less extreme, and ultimately less permanent, a legal separation does not dissolve the marriage. It does offer certain benefits, however. For example, during a legal separation, couples can pursue a court order for child support, spousal support, and a determination of parenting time and allocation of parental responsibilities. In addition, legal separation can give couples time apart to decide whether or not they truly want to proceed with a divorce. Some find, after time apart, that their differences were merely situational. Others do eventually decide to move forward with a legal divorce. In either case, the parties are able to walk away, certain that they did everything they could to resolve the issues in their marriage.
Repairing Your Credit After Bankruptcy
The decision to file for bankruptcy is not an easy one, and it can drudge up fears about what happens once it is all over. Namely, consumers frequently experience concerns over how bankruptcy will affect their credit. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to answer this question since every situation and case is unique. However, there are cases in which the purported damage of bankruptcy may be negligible, or possibly even non-existent.
Putting Things into Perspective
Despite the common misconception that bankruptcy wreaks havoc on everyone’s credit, it is sometimes actually more beneficial than continuing down a path of late payments and unpaid bills. Each hit to your credit – each missed payment, charge-off, and collection – has a negative impact on your credit. If you have enough of these, and they are frequent because you simply cannot keep up with your debts after a job loss, illness, divorce, or other financial issue, then your credit score is constantly being attacked.
Coping with Divorce during the Holiday Season
Divorce is a difficult process any time of the year, but the holidays can be especially challenging. Many experience loneliness and depression. Others feel more overwhelmed than usual and may be more prone to mood swings. Whatever the situation, however you are feeling, know that there are ways to cope. The following information may be able to help.
http://www.fox2detroit.com/good-day/weekend/218714775-story
Residential Custody: Your Child’s Right to Choose
Determining child custody in a divorce can be a lengthy and emotionally taxing process. In Illinois, the judge will consider many factors, including the testimonies of each parent, as well as the physical and mental health of the child and parents, when awarding custody.
However, your children will not be voiceless throughout this process. As outlined in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, the judge may take into consideration the child’s wishes.
Children ages 14 or older may choose which parent to live with, but a judge can overrule this decision if he or she decides the child’s choice is not in their best interest. There are a few questions that judges may consider when adjudicating a case where a child has strong preferences toward a particular parent:
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