Posted on April 17, 2018 in Child Custody

Filing for divorce in Oakbrook Terrace is never an easy decision, but divorces often become more difficult and contentious when there are children from the marriage. In many cases, we work with mothers who want to get divorced and have serious concerns about whether their current husbands will be able to see the children after a divorce. There are numerous reasons to want to prevent your husband from seeing your children after the divorce is finalized.

For example, maybe your husband has indicated a desire to turn your children against you or has made negative remarks about you to your children in the recent past. Or, for instance, perhaps you have concerns about your husband’s ability to provide a nurturing home due to his heavy work schedule and lack of interest in parenting throughout the marriage.

Under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA), there is a presumption that parents will share in both parental responsibilities and parenting time. We will say more about how these matters are involved in the question of whether you can stop your husband from seeing your children after a divorce, and what factors the court uses to make such decisions.

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 Posted on March 31, 2018 in Business Law

What happens when owners or shareholders of a corporation have a business dispute? Does the dispute always result in litigation, or are there ways to manage disputes so as to avoid litigation entirely? Board of directors disputes happen more often than people might expect. In order to do what is best for the business, it is important to get these disputes settled as quickly as possible and to get back to work on the goals of the business.

What Does a Board of Directors Do?

Before we discuss options for handling board of directors disputes, it is important to understand exactly what it is that a board of directors does in a corporation. Setting up a corporate board of directors is one of the first steps when creating a corporation. The individuals who make up the board of directors have a number of different duties, including but not limited to:

• General responsibilities for the overall mission of the corporation;

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 Posted on March 16, 2018 in Business Law

When you go into business with another person in DuPage County, you may have entered into a partnership. However, there are many different kinds of business structures, and disputes among business owners are handled differently depending upon the type of business structure you have. To understand the different options for handling partnership disputes, it is important to learn more about partnerships generally. Then, we will explain the different ways that a partnership dispute can be addressed and how a DuPage County business law attorney can help.

What Is a Partnership and How Do Partnership Disputes Arise?

A partnership is a business structure that is owned by two or more individuals. There are two different types: general partnerships and limited partnerships. General partnerships are those in which the partners equally take responsibility for the business, meaning that they share debts and business obligations. Limited partnerships are a bit different in that they have general partners and limited partners. The general partners have similar obligations as partners in a general partnership, but limited partners typically invest in the company without having any control over it (or liability for it).

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 Posted on February 28, 2018 in Family Law

If you are thinking about filing for divorce in DuPage County, it is important to have an experienced advocate on your side throughout the process. At Farooqi & Husain Law Office, we regularly assist members of the Muslim community with family law matters, including the dissolution of marriage. Your Oakbrook Terrace divorce attorney can help to ensure that you are prepared for divorce and that you have taken all of the necessary steps, but in the meantime, we have some tips for making sure that you are on the proper track.

1. Get Your Finances in Order

Whether you handle the family finances or not, it is important to get your finances in order and to have a clear sense of marital property. As such, you should carefully consider your income and your budget, and you should also make a list of all marital property that you know about. When you make a list of property, be sure to include both assets and debts, and provide the following information:

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 Posted on February 15, 2018 in Family Law

When you are considering divorce or already have filed for divorce in DuPage County, you should be thinking about hiring a divorce attorney who can assist with your case. Divorce law in Illinois is complicated, and legal issues arising in a divorce can be particularly contentious. Nearly all matters pertaining to divorce are governed by the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA). Divorce attorneys should have experience handling cases similar to yours, such as those involving complex property division, high asset divorce, contentious custody issues, or concerns about maintenance and support. But how do you pick the best attorney for you? A publication from the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) provides some tips for choosing a divorce lawyer who is best for your case.

Seeking Out Particular Criteria in a Divorce Attorney in Oakbrook Terrace

To pick the best divorce attorney for your case, you should have a sense of some of the particular criteria you are looking for in an advocate. For example:

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 Posted on January 29, 2018 in Family Law

When physicians and other healthcare professionals who own medical practices decide to file for divorce, it is important to work with a DuPage County divorce lawyer who has experience handling similar cases. In some ways, divorces involving physicians are no different than divorces involving individuals within other professions. At the same time, however, divorces involving physicians also frequently involve complicated property distribution processes and property settlements — especially when the physician owns his or her practice — as well as potentially complicated plans involving the allocation of parental responsibilities.

Property Division for Physicians

One complicating feature of divorces involving physicians is determining how to distribute a medical practice in which one or both of the parties is an owner. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) governs property distribution. In Illinois, property is divided under a theory of equitable distribution, meaning that the property is distributed in a manner that is fair to both parties.

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 Posted on January 15, 2018 in Spousal Support

If you are currently paying alimony in Oakbrook Terrace  (or “spousal maintenance,” as it is known under Illinois law), or if you are planning to file for divorce in 2018, it is important to think carefully about how the new tax plan could affect alimony payments. In short, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 will change the way your spousal maintenance payments — whether you pay them or receive them — affect your total taxable income and thus the amount of tax you pay. To be sure, Trump’s tax bill will make 2018 an interesting year for those looking to divorce. What does this mean for Illinois residents, and is there anything you need to do before the tax plan takes effect?

Alimony, Tax Deductions, and Taxable Income

The new tax bill comes with big tax cuts for certain individuals and entities. In order to raise revenue that will be lost through the tax cuts, the Republicans who drafted the bill turned to alimony as a possible source of revenue. Under the new bill, spousal support paid by one spouse to the other will not be tax deductible, and the recipient spouse no longer has to pay taxes on it. How is this different from the current system?

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 Posted on December 29, 2017 in Business Law

What is alternative dispute resolution (ADR), and how can it help in DuPage County business law matters and family law cases? According to the Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII), alternative dispute resolution is defined as “any method of resolving disputes without litigation.” In other words, alternative dispute resolution allows for grievances, complaints, and disputes to be handled outside of the courtroom. There are numerous types of ADR, but the two most common forms are arbitration and mediation. How do these ADR processes work, and why should businesses use them?

Understanding Alternative Dispute Resolution Under Illinois Law

Chapter 70 of the Illinois Statutes governs alternative dispute resolution in the state. Examples that are often relevant to small business in DuPage County include but are not limited to:

• Uniform Arbitration Act (710 ILCS 5/1 et seq.): This statute clarifies, for example, when an arbitration agreement is valid, how proceedings to compel or stay arbitration must be conducted, how arbitrators will be appointed, how hearings are conducted, rights of the parties to be represented by counsel, how witnesses can be called before an arbitration hearing, and how arbitration awards are finalized.

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 Posted on December 15, 2017 in Family Law

The holiday season in DuPage County is upon us, and with it comes the looming threat of divorce. Whether you celebrate Christmas or are a member of the Muslim community of Oakbrook Terrace, the general holiday season in the country — from Thanksgiving through the New Year — is often a time in which married couples reevaluate their positions and consider the possibility of making a change as part of a New Year’s resolution. And it is not simply the winter holiday season that results in a spike in divorce rates. A recent divorce study concluded that a majority of divorce filings occur soon after the winter holiday season, and then soon after summer vacations come to an end.

What else should you know about filing for divorce after the holidays?

Divorce Day or the Beginning of the Work Week after the Holiday Season

Many family law advocates have begun to describe the first Monday after winter break comes to an end as “Divorce Day,” or “when the flood of divorce emails clog attorney inboxes.” While many DuPage County residents look forward to the holiday season and taking time off from work, the season is not always the happiest time of the year for couples. To be sure, one survey concluded that divorce filings jump by nearly one-third following the holidays.

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 Posted on November 29, 2017 in Family Law

How often do residents of DuPage County file for divorce, and how frequent are those divorce rates in comparison to the national average? We often hear that a high number of marriages end in divorce, but how often is that actually true? And for marriages that do end in divorce, are there certain predictors that might help us to determine a couple’s risk for divorce? We often hear similar questions from our clients, and we know that residents of Oakbrook Terrace who are thinking about filing for divorce have questions about divorce rates in the area.

We have some statistics to help you understand the facts and figures surrounding divorce in DuPage County, as well as across the country.

Getting the Facts About American Divorce

If you live in Oakbrook Terrace or elsewhere in DuPage County, what should you know about American divorce statistics? The following are some facts and figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

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