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What Should I Do If I Think My Spouse is Hiding Assets?
When you are going through a divorce in DuPage County, both you and your spouse will be required to complete a financial affidavit that has been approved by the Illinois Supreme Court. In the financial affidavit, you will provide detailed information about your assets and debts, including funds in accounts, prepaid debit cards, stocks, bonds, investment accounts, mutual funds, real estate, motor vehicles, business interests, life insurance policies, retirement benefits, income tax refunds, lawsuit recoveries, valuable collectibles, and any other assets. The financial affidavit requires you to provide information about assets and debts — as well as any assets sold or transferred worth more than $1,000 in the last two years — that may be classified either as separate or marital property.
The court will use the financial affidavit and other supporting documentation to determine which assets and debts should be classified as separate property (and thus not distributed in the divorce) and which assets and debts should be classified as marital property and divided according to the terms of equitable distribution. Both parties are required to fill out the financial affidavit fully and accurately. Yet what happens if one spouse intentionally avoids identifying assets and may be trying to conceal property? Our DuPage County divorce lawyers want to provide you with more information.
Penalties for Failure to Pay Child Support
If you are going through a divorce and you share minor children with your spouse, your divorce case will include the allocation of parental responsibilities and a child support determination. Under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA), courts use an “income shares” model to determine the child support obligation. Under this method, both parents are responsible for paying a portion of the child support obligation based on their individual income and other factors such as the total number of overnights for which they provide caretaking functions for the child. With the income shares model, the court combines both parents’ incomes and uses that figure to determine the total child support obligation based on the Illinois guidelines. Then, each parent is responsible for paying a percentage of that total obligation.
Many different situations can arise that can result in a parent being unable to pay his or her portion of the child support obligation, but it is critical to understand that failure to pay child support can have serious consequences. Whenever you have questions or concerns about child support, you should seek advice from a DuPage County family lawyer to ensure that you are not subject to penalties under Illinois law.
Common Issues in High Asset Divorces
High asset divorces, or high net worth divorces, in DuPage County often come with their own complications and issues that make them distinct from more traditional or straightforward divorce cases. Whether you are currently in a marriage in which one of the spouses was the primary earner, or both spouses together have been high earners during the marriage, it is critical to learn more about the particularities of high net worth divorces in Oakbrook Terrace and throughout DuPage County.
At Farooqi & Husain Law Office, we know how important it is to have an experienced and dedicated attorney on your side who understands your situation. Our firm has been representing members of the DuPage County Muslim community for years, and our Oakbrook Terrace family law attorneys are here to assist you with your case. In the meantime, the following are some of the common issues that you might anticipate in a high asset divorce in Illinois.
What Are Caretaking Functions in Child Custody?
If you are going to file for divorce and you have minor children from your marriage, or if you are in the early stages of a DuPage County divorce case that will involve child custody, it is important to understand how Illinois law defines child custody and how courts in the state handle child custody cases. As you might already know, the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) governs child custody or the allocation of parental responsibilities. Rather than awarding child custody to one or both parents, Illinois courts allocate parental responsibilities, which include significant decision-making responsibilities and parenting time. Significant decision-making responsibilities are somewhat akin to what courts used to describe as legal custody, while parenting time is somewhat akin to what courts used to describe as physical custody and visitation.
Within the allocation of parental responsibilities, you might learn about something known as “caretaking functions.” What are caretaking functions in child custody in Illinois? In short, caretaking functions are the responsibilities that parents have for their children when they have parenting time. Our experienced DuPage County child custody lawyers want to provide you with more information about caretaking functions and how they might apply to your child custody case.
Steps to Take When You Have Been Served with Divorce Papers
Many DuPage County residents who are served with divorce papers already know that their spouse was planning to file for divorce, but some people are surprised. Regardless of whether you were expecting to be served with divorce papers or news of your spouse’s filing has come as a shock, it is critical to think about your next steps. Do you need to respond, and how quickly do you need to do so? Have you hired a divorce lawyer yet to work on your case? And what type of planning do you need to be doing in advance of a court hearing or family mediation? These are all important questions, and it is essential to discuss them with an Oakbrook Terrace family lawyer. Although the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) governs all divorces in the state, everyone will have a divorce case with its own set of facts. Accordingly, it will be important to make a plan that fits your needs.
In the meantime, the advocates at Farooqi & Husain want to provide you with some information about the general steps you should take after you have been served with divorce papers in Illinois.
I Have a Legal Separation But Want to Get Divorced
Many married couples in DuPage County opt for a legal separation instead of a divorce. Under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA), a legal separation can allow spouses to live separate and apart without actually going through the legal process of divorce while still asking the court to determine issues like support and the allocation of parental responsibilities. There are many different reasons that spouses opt for a legal separation instead of a divorce. For many Muslim families, legal separation is preferable to divorce for religious reasons, but you may also have other motivations for seeking a legal separation instead of divorce. For instance, one of the spouses may need to rely on the other spouse’s health insurance for major treatment or care, or the spouses may be thinking about tax considerations.
Regardless of your initial reason for seeking a legal separation instead of a divorce, you might now be considering a divorce and you may be unsure about the steps you need to take to move forward. It is important to discuss the particular facts of your situation with a DuPage County family lawyer, but in the meantime, we can provide you with general information about moving from a legal separation to a divorce.
What You Should Know About a Legal Separation
Many Muslim families in DuPage County struggle with the decision about whether a divorce is appropriate. Although two spouses might be having significant problems in their marriage, the prospect of going through a divorce can be unappealing for religious and cultural reasons. Yet for many Muslims, there is a need to move forward with a separation that involves the court making decisions about marital property and child custody. In some situations, there are allegations of family or domestic violence, and one of the spouses might not feel safe remaining in the relationship or in the same household. In other situations, the animosity between the spouses might have reached a level that requires a change.
For Muslim spouses in DuPage County who do not feel comfortable getting divorced, a legal separation might be an option. Although many states in the country do not have specific provisions for a legal separation, the state of Illinois does specifically consider legal separation in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA). Our experienced Oakbrook Terrace family lawyers want to help you gain more information about legal separation.
I Want to Hire a Divorce Attorney But Cannot Afford One: Can the Court Tell My Spouse to Pay?
There are many situations in which one of the spouses in a divorce case needs assistance from an experienced lawyer but cannot afford the same type of attorney or firm that his or her spouse will likely be able to afford. In many cases, this situation arises when one of the spouses was the primary breadwinner or earner in the family and the other spouse was a stay-at-home parent or has a job that pays significantly less money. Yet when issues of property division and child custody are at stake, we know how critical it is to have an experienced DuPage County family law attorney on your side who can represent you and your interests. Accordingly, we know that there are many DuPage County residents who are anticipating a divorce but cannot afford a divorce lawyer and are wondering whether they can require their spouse to pay for their attorney.
Although it might not immediately seem logical that one spouse could ask the other spouse to pay for his or her DuPage County divorce attorney, the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) does in fact allow a spouse to seek what are known as “interim attorney’s fees” in a divorce case. We want to provide you with more information about how this process works.
Can I Modify Spousal Maintenance?
There are many different reasons that an ex-spouse could seek a modification of spousal maintenance (also described as alimony or spousal support). In a divorce case in DuPage County, the court might award spousal support to one of the parties based on certain factors from the marriage, and that spouse’s ability to earn a living without obtaining additional education or training. In short, an Illinois court may determine that spousal maintenance is appropriate, and then it will award a specific amount of alimony. In most cases, the amount and the duration of alimony is based on a formula, so it is streamlined. Yet that formula considers both spouses’ incomes when determining the amount of the award.
Accordingly, if one of the spouse’s incomes changes significantly, it could be a reason to ask the court to modify the support payments. We want to provide you with more information generally, but if you have specific questions about your particular circumstances, you should seek advice from an Oakbrook Terrace divorce lawyer.
Enforceability of Religious Upbringing Agreements in Child Custody Disputes
If you are in the early stages of your divorce case, or if you are considering a divorce in DuPage County, you may have concerns about your child’s religious upbringing once you and your spouse are sharing parental responsibilities from different households. Many parents in the DuPage Muslim community have had similar concerns while going through divorce cases, and it is important to know that Illinois law does have specific elements to guide courts in determining how a child’s religious upbringing will be handled after a divorce.
Generally speaking, courts will respect any agreement the parents have made about the child’s religious upbringing, but it is essential to have an experienced DuPage County child custody lawyer on your side who can represent you. Even if you do have an agreement with your spouse, divorces and child custody cases can get contentious, and you will need an advocate on your side.
We serve clients throughout DuPage County and Cook County including Oak Brook, Lombard, Skokie, Elmhurst, Hinsdale, Glendale Heights, Oakbrook Terrace, Burr Ridge, Downers Grove, Glen Ellyn, Carol Stream, Addison, Westmont, Chicago, Wheaton, Des Plaines, Bridgeview, Lombard, Villa Park, and Illinois.
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