After a couple with children gets a divorce, one parent is often ordered to pay the other child support. Typically, a child support order remains in effect until the child is no longer considered a minor, but when a child attends college or university, that could change. Paying college expenses differs slightly from standard child support, and it is important that all parents understand what child support may entail if their child pursues post-secondary education.

Contributions to College Expenses for a Child

In 2016, the Illinois legislature passed a law that gave the courts the authority to order the parents of a child to pay for a child’s education expenses until the child turns 25 years old. Most orders of this type will expire when the child turns 23 years old, but parents have the right to request payments for an additional two years.

 While Illinois courts use a specific formula to determine the amount of child support a parent must pay prior to the child’s 18th birthday, the same is not true of support paid to contribute to college expenses. When determining the amount of support a parent must pay for post-secondary education, the court will consider the financial resources each of the parents will have in the future and use that to determine how much each parent will be required to pay.

A collaborative divorce is one in which each party agrees to come to an agreement outside of the courtroom. However, a collaborative divorce has some significant differences from mediation, another form of alternative dispute resolution. If you and your spouse are considering collaborative divorce, it is important to understand how the process works.

Choosing the Right Lawyers

During a collaborative divorce, you and your spouse will only meet with each other and each of your attorneys. It is essential that you work with a lawyer that understands how the collaborative divorce process works. Collaborative lawyers have special skills, including conflict management and guiding negotiations. If the collaborative divorce process does not work and you have to enter litigation, your lawyer will not be able to represent you, so it is important that your lawyer is just as committed to the process as you are.

Professionals Involved

Unlike mediation, there is no neutral third party involved in a collaborative divorce that helps you and your spouse come to an agreement. However, professionals are sometimes called in to help with the process. These professionals may include a parenting allocation evaluator that can advise on child custody decisions or appraisers and accountants that can help with property division matters. Although these professionals come with an added cost, they can still save you money because you and your spouse do not have to hire experts on your own, but can share in the cost during collaborative divorce.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected people in a number of ways. Layoffs and the permanent closure of certain businesses have received most of the attention, but there is another effect going on inside the homes of individuals that is not getting much attention. That is the fact that the pandemic has caused an increase in divorces, and it has left many people wondering why.

Financial Problems

Money has always been one of the main reasons couples get divorced, and that has been exacerbated during the current pandemic. Millions of people have lost their jobs and even when they are eligible for unemployment insurance, those benefits still only provide a fraction of incoming money couples are used to receiving on their paycheck. A loss or serious reduction of one or two incomes in the home can result in increased stress and more fighting, which can lead to divorce.

More Time

Whether people are sheltering in place or have nowhere to go because they have lost their job, there is no doubt that couples are spending more time together these days. All of that time together can result in increased fighting over small things that the same couple may not have fought over before the pandemic. When there are already problems in the marriage, the increased time spent together will only shine a light on those and make them worse.

Everyone knows that divorce is expensive. However, even after you have gone through the process and paid attorneys’ fees, court fees, and more, you will still have additional costs related to the end of your marriage. If you are going through a divorce, it is essential that you understand what these costs are, so you can prepare for them and prevent yourself from falling into financial difficulty. You may find that there are many hidden costs of divorce, but the five most common are found below.

Moving Expenses

After a divorce, one or both spouses will move out of the home and if you are planning to relocate, you must be prepared for those costs. You may have another down payment on a home, rent, and security deposits you must pay. Although these are the obvious costs of moving, there are others, as well.

Prepare to pay for movers, new furnishings for your new home, deposits for utilities, and even groceries to fill your new cupboards once you move in. All of these costs quickly add up, so it is important to itemize what you will need so you will understand just how much the move will cost you.

In an Illinois divorce, one spouse may seek spousal maintenance, also known as alimony. Spousal maintenance is intended to help one person in the divorce become financially stable so that in the future, they are able to support themselves. In many cases, one spouse may have given up their job to stay home and care for the children, go back to school, or another endeavor that kept them from working. Although in some cases, a judge may award one spouse alimony on a permanent basis, these cases are very rare. Truthfully, there are instances in which alimony can be terminated in the state, and it is important that both the receiver and the payer know when this may occur.

When Either Party Dies

When either spouse dies, spousal maintenance is terminated. Naturally, if the payer dies, they are no longer able to pay alimony, and if the receiver dies, they no longer need it.

When the Recipient Remarries

Spousal maintenance is only intended to help one spouse get back on their feet financially after a divorce. When a recipient of alimony gets married to another person, the court will assume that there is now another income to help support the recipient. As such, a judge will usually terminate a previous alimony order at that time. The termination will likely not occur until the remarriage is final.