Sometimes during an Illinois divorce, an attorney fails to represent their client in an appropriate or adequate manner. Other times, a client may simply be dissatisfied with the level of service an attorney provides, or unhappy with how quickly the case is moving. Whatever your reason for firing your previous attorney, you will likely want their case records so you can begin working with someone new without having to return to square one. Even if you have not fired your attorney, you can request copies of your case files for any reason. 

Once a homeowning couple in Illinois decides to get divorced, further decisions must be made: Who is going to move out? Should one of us try to keep the house, or sell it and split the proceeds? While each couple’s answers will depend on their unique situation and long-term financial goals, there are some things every couple should think about before they make a major decision about homeownership after divorce. 

An overabundance of legal information and legal software services may make it seem as though getting a divorce in Illinois is a straightforward process that can be mostly done online. Do-it-yourself (DIY) divorce offers the promise of a quick, inexpensive alternative to hiring divorce attorneys and battling out your differences in court. 

Statistics suggest that more couples than ever are getting divorced later in life. While many couples still divorce when they have young children, there is an increasing number of couples who get divorced after their children leave the home. Known colloquially as “gray divorce,” these couples are over age 55 and have often already retired.

Like many other states, Illinois no longer uses the term “custody” as it pertains to a parent’s legal relationship with their child. Instead, when parents get divorced or otherwise determine parenting arrangements, Illinois law divides what was formerly known as custody into two separate categories: parenting time and parental responsibilities. In our last blog post, we discussed the concept of parental responsibilities in detail. This blog will focus on parenting time and what parents can expect from this area of Illinois law. 

A common reason couples in Illinois cite for their divorce is substantial differences of opinion when it comes to raising the children. While these differences can make being married challenging, they do not necessarily get better during or after a divorce. Parents may no longer share a household, but they still have to negotiate a parenting agreement and communicate with each other about the children, often for many years into the future.