Divorce Lawyers

The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act that went into effect on January 1, 2022 contains a number of added provisions that, depending on your circumstances, might impact your divorce a great deal.

The new rule that went into effect that has the most broad impact concerns having the opposing party pay for a divorce attorney. Through motion to the court, one spouse can ask the court to have the other party cover the cost of an attorney. Illinois is a state that seeks to distribute resources equitably — meaning as fairly as possible rather than equally — it makes sense that the court would want to ensure both sides have representation when the only thing preventing it is ready money.  At Marder and Seidler we have divorce lawyers who understand how to accomplish it. #divorcelawyers,

Initial consultation with a family lawyer

Top 5 questions to ask a family law attorney

You should always have an initial consultation before hiring a family lawyer. Prepare a list of questions to ask your potential family law attorney when you meet them for the first time. Their answers can help you decide if you would like to continue working with them.

How long have you practiced family law?
How regularly do you deal with many cases like mine?
Will you be handling my case, or will I be dealing with someone else in your office?
What are your payment options?
What special expertise can you bring to my case?

Contested Divorce

Contested divorce can be described as a process where both parties may want the divorce, but cannot agree on all the issues necessary in order for a divorce to be entered such as: child custody, child support, spousal support and property division. Sometimes one spouse does not want the divorce, but a divorce will happen if pushed for by either spouse. Every divorce, contested or uncontested, begins with the filing of a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage. Every divorce ends with a court date, either a “prove up” or a ruling for a judge. In the interim the lawyers and spouses attempt to settle their case and may have interim or temporary hearings on issues with the Judge before case is finalized. This process can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of years. There are many variables to how long a divorce will take to be resolved.

Changes to Illinois child support laws for 2017

Effective 7-1-17, a new child support law will become effective. Under the "income shares" model, the divorce court is instructed to refer to economic tables that will be put forth by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services to determine how much money would be allocated for the care of the child if a similarly situated couple were living together based on the combined income of the couple, the cost of living, and the number of children.  Each parent is responsible for their prorata share of this amount based on their relative incomes (or potential incomes if the parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed).  Depending on the relative incomes of the parents this may cause some parents to pay more and some to pay less in child support than under the previous law.