Many couples end up dissolving their marriages on relatively good terms. In these cases, the divorce is often uncontested. An amicable divorce is one in which both spouses agree to the terms without contesting such matters as division of marital property, child support, child custody, visitation, and spousal support. There are many positives to an amicable divorce, including significant time savings. Amicable divorces are generally much less stressful than contested divorces. And, amicable divorces are usually much less expensive. After all, 40 percent of Americans do not have enough money in reserve to cover an unexpected $400 bill, and the average cost of divorce, per person, is $15,000. However appealing an amicable divorce sounds, it may not be a good idea to sign divorce papers without first talking to an attorney.

Why an Attorney Is Still Necessary

Shockingly, 40 percent of couples take a very large risk by not using a divorce attorney when they get divorced. Amicable divorces do not require an attorney to argue your case in front of a judge, but there may be reasons to work with an attorney regardless. It is true that you and your spouse can write up an agreement and submit it to the court for the court’s approval and a final divorce decree. Yet, some spouses end up regretting their decision to trust their partner with such openness. After all, the other spouse may have kept some aspects of their lives hidden from you. For example:

• They may have hidden assets that you do not know about;
• Some of the assets that ended up getting divided may not actually be marital property, such as inheritance or personal injury settlement money;
• Their future living situation, work schedule, and lifestyle may not be as ideal as they lead you to think regarding parenting time;
• The alimony decision that the two of you came up with may not be fair to one of the parties;
• The child support that the paying parent provides may not be adequate for the new living expenses that the custodial parent is now faced with; and
• Much more.

A Hinsdale Divorce Attorney Can Answer the Important Questions

Divorce should never be rushed because that is when mistakes are made that can haunt you for years to come. Let the experienced DuPage County divorce attorneys at the Law Offices of Martoccio & Martoccio thoroughly review your case before you take any further actions that could inadvertently harm your child or yourself. Call 630-920-8855 to schedule a free consultation today.

With summer right around the corner and school just weeks away from being over, your parenting plan needs to be discussed with your child’s other parent. Summer parenting time is different than during the school year for the obvious reason that your child now has a lot more free time. First of all, the parenting plan needs to define when the summer schedule will start and end. Do not assume that it starts on the last day of school and ends on the first day of school in the fall.

Vacation Time

Seventy-two percent of American families take summer vacations. As such, a parenting plan should clearly lay out the dates of planned vacations, which need to be discussed and agreed upon by both parents beforehand. To keep things fair, and to ensure that one parent does not monopolize on time with their child by taking an extra long vacation, trip times should remain equal or as close to equal as feasible. Or, the non-traveling parent should be awarded make-up days at the end of the vacation if they do not plan to take one themselves.

Traveling Out of State and Out of the Country

Unless the parenting plan specifically states that children cannot be taken out of the country or state, you do not need to worry about where your vacation is limited to. However, it is particularly important for long trips or overseas trips with various destinations for the traveling parent to give dates, locations, hotel phone numbers, and other information to the other parent. Furthermore, if you believe there is a risk that the other parent will simply vanish out of the country with your child, you need to contact an attorney to rewrite the parenting plan to ban overseas travel.

Surveys have shown that 10 to 15 percent of married women admit to cheating on their spouses, while men double that statistic, with 20 to 25 percent of married men admitting to cheating on their partners. How does infidelity affect divorce? After all, cheating is something that most married couples never get over and is one of the leading causes of divorce.

What Adultery Does Not Affect During Divorce

It is easier to first list the aspects of divorce that are not affected by adultery because adultery has no effect on most of the things that people typically assume that it does. For instance, adultery does not sway a court one way or the other when it comes to child custody unless it can be proven that the cheating spouse’s affair somehow put the child at physical or emotional harm, which is extremely rare. Similarly, adultery has no effect on child support or the parenting plan. Asset distribution almost always remains the same whether marriage end because of infidelity or some other unrelated reason. It may seem like a cheating spouse put less effort into the marriage or is setting a horrible example for his or her children, and therefore is less equipped to be a parent, but the courts generally treat a cheating spouse better than a spouse with a gambling addiction, for example. Only when the infidelity is proven to have directly affected the child in a negative way, such as exposing the child to a prostitute, will a court use infidelity to make a custody decision. The same goes for asset division. However, there is one exception to the later.

Dissipation

Illinois is an equitable distribution state, meaning that property is divided “fairly.” Under 750 ILCS 5/503, the court “shall divide the marital property without regard to marital misconduct in just proportions considering all relevant factors.” As such, adultery does not affect property distribution. However, the court does recognize the misuse of marital assets, called the “dissipation” of marital assets. One type of misuse is spending marital assets on another sexual partner. For example, the court may choose to reduce the property distributed to the husband if it can be proven that he spent money on hotel rooms, jewelry, and dinners for his mistress.

In many divorce cases, an ex-spouse is required to pay child support. If your ex-spouse owes you child support and you have remarried, you may be wondering whether your child support payments will change. The answer is that your remarriage may have an effect on the amount and duration of child support you will receive.

Child Support Calculations in Illinois

The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act dictates how child support works in the state. It uses the net income of the non-custodial or parent who does not have legal custody of the child and the number of children they are responsible for to determine how much the non-custodial parent must pay in child support.

In addition, the court considers other factors such as the financial resources of the child, their education needs, the child’s standard of living before the divorce, and the needs of the custodial and non-custodial parents. Although both parents may agree on a certain amount for child support payments, their agreement must meet minimum requirements and be approved by the court.

A New Spouse’s Income and Its Affect on Child Support

In the past, a new spouse’s income did not play a role in changing child support payments because child support was viewed as the financial obligation of both parents and based on a child’s best interests. That being said, new spouses or step parents were not legally obligated to support their stepchild.

However, in more recent years, Illinois Appellate Court has ruled that a court may consider the income of a parent’s new spouse in determining a child support amount.

The case placed emphasis on both parents’ financial obligations to assist their child with college-related expenses. It brought light to the fact that all financial resources available to parents should be considered when calculating child support payments.

Today, the income of a new spouse can serve as a valid reason to alter an existing child support agreement. This is especially true if the new spouse’s income is exceptionally high because their additional income allows the parent to meet their needs and as a result have more money available to pay child support.

Contact Our DuPage County Child Support Lawyers

If you have children or a spouse that wants you to leave your family home before your divorce is over, think twice before you do it.

For many reasons you may wish to remain in the home until the divorce is completed. Particularly with children, the number of days that you spend with your kids may well factor into the amount of child support you pay (or receive) under the new Child Support Laws in Illinois. In addition, the time that you are spending with your children may well determine the parenting schedule of the time you will be granted with your children AFTER the divorce.