Divorce is complicated, and many Muslim couples who make the decision to file for divorce in DuPage County wonder if they have really come to the right conclusion. In some cases, divorce seems like the best solution to the marital problems a couple is experiencing, but later on, that couple might decide that it makes sense to try to make the marriage work. Or, other extenuating circumstances might arise that could lead you to want to cancel your divorce proceedings once they have started. Can you cancel a divorce once it starts? And is there a specific point in the divorce process at which the proceedings cannot be stopped?

The short answer is that you can cancel your divorce once you begin divorce proceedings. Yet you should always work with an experienced DuPage County divorce lawyer on your case because Illinois divorce law is extremely complicated, and there may be implications that you have not yet considered.

Your Divorce Petition, Fees, and Other Costs

When you are filing for divorce in Oakbrook Terrace, it can be frustrating to think about property division and to have concerns about your spouse receiving a majority of the assets or money in a divorce. Many husbands want to know more specifically if their wives will be able to get all of their money in a divorce. In almost all divorce situations in Illinois, property is divided in a way that is fair to both parties. Keep in mind that “fair” does not mean “equal.” As such, one of the parties might end up getting more of the marital assets than the other based on factors in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA).

We will explain more about how money and other assets in the divorce are divided, and how a wife could seek additional money from the marriage by asking for spousal maintenance.

Concept of Marital Property and Equitable Distribution

There are many situations in which a wife wants to file for divorce, but the husband controls all of the money thereby making it difficult for the wife to afford an Oakbrook Terrace divorce lawyer to help with the case. For wives in DuPage County who want to file for divorce but have been stay-at-home parents throughout the marriage, or for another reason the husband controls the marital assets, it is important to know that there may be options to obtain attorney fees from the husband.

The dedicated family law advocates at Farooqi & Husain Law Office are committed to providing counsel for members of the Muslim community throughout DuPage County, and we can speak with you today about paying for your divorce when your husband controls the family’s finances.

Temporary Relief and Petition for Attorney Fees

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.

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:

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).

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:

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:

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.

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?

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:

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

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

Are you thinking about forming a not for profit corporation in Oakbrook Terrace or elsewhere in DuPage County? There are many benefits to establishing an organization that is incorporated under the Illinois General Not for Profit Corporation Act of 1986 (805 ILCS 105/). One of the first steps to forming a not for profit (or nonprofit) organization is to draft bylaws. According to the statute, bylaws are “the code or codes of rules adopted for the regulation or management of the affairs of the corporation irrespective of the name or names by which such rules are designated.” In other words, the bylaws provide important rules and procedures concerning how the not for profit will operate.

Drafting bylaws can be a complicated process, and there are numerous issues that the not for profit organization or corporation will need to consider as it writes its bylaws. Given the complicated nature of forming a not for profit organization, it is extremely important to work with an experienced DuPage County business law attorney as you are forming your organization or are revisiting your bylaws.

Business Law Attorney Can Help Address Significant Questions for Drafting Bylaws

If you live in DuPage County and have been thinking about filing for divorce, you may know that Illinois law recently changed when it comes to child support. In brief, as of July 1, 2017, Illinois now follows the “income shares” model when calculating child support obligations. Under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5/505), the court calculates both parents’ combined net income, and then determines the total amount of the child support obligation from the schedule. The court then calculates each of the parent’s percentage share of that child support obligation.

How does parenting time affect each parent’s percentage share of the child support obligation? When parents share parenting time equally, the court is unlikely to adjust a parent’s percentage share of the child support obligation based on parenting time. But what about when parenting time is not shared equally between the parents?

When the “Shared Physical Care” Formula Might Apply

Why do most people in DuPage County file for divorce? We often hear about couples deciding to get divorced after years of marriage, and sometimes the reasons are unclear. While every family’s situation is unique, there are sometimes similarities among the causes for divorce. We have gathered some facts about frequent reasons for divorce from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), MSN, and Divorce Magazine. Many of the top causes for divorce trend across these resources, and we have collected them for you here.

1. Lack of Commitment and/or Support for the Spouse and to the Marriage

Many couples who get divorced cite a lack of commitment from the other spouse—either to the marriage in general, or to the educational, professional, and/or personal goals of the other spouse. According to the MSN article, about 73 percent of couples who get divorced cite a lack of commitment from the other spouse as one of the reasons they filed for divorce. About 62 percent of those spouses indicate that they wished their spouse would have tried harder to make the marriage work, and anywhere from 21 percent to 37 percent of those spouses also blame themselves, wishing they had made their commitment to the marriage clearer.

When you lose a loved one in DuPage County or elsewhere in Illinois, how are assets of the deceased distributed? How do you handle the debts of your deceased loved one? Many Oakbrook Terrace residents assume that, as long as the person has a valid will, then assets simply can be distributed according to the terms of the will, and the family can begin moving forward after the death. However, it is important to understand that there is more to distributing someone’s assets than simply following steps laid out in a will. To be sure, in most cases, where assets either are distributed according to the terms of a will or the deceased dies without a will, the family members may need to prepare for a formal probate proceeding.

What is involved in probate, and will you need to go through probate in order for a family member’s assets to be distributed?

Probate in Illinois: What Do You Need to Know?

Buying or selling gas stations in DuPage County can be a lucrative business. However, for first-time buyers and sellers, as well as more experienced small business owners, it is important to have a dedicated Oakbrook Terrace small business law attorney on your side. The process of buying and selling gas stations can be complex, and it is a niche industry. With help from an experienced advocate, you can ensure that you are making the best possible deal with all of the necessary information.

Benefits of Comparison: Know What You Are Buying or Selling, and Know What It Is Worth

One of the most important steps in buying or selling a gas station is understanding what the best price might be, and how to read comparison numbers. According to an article in the Business Buyer Resource Center, it is often difficult for small business owners to assess the value of a gas station. Whether you are buying or selling, there are “many variables involved with gas stations for sale,” and as such, “prices and profits vary greatly.”

It is important for anyone who is filing for divorce in DuPage County to know that Illinois child support laws have changed. Governor Bruce Rauner signed amendments to the child support laws last year, and those changes took effect on July 1. As such, anyone who gets divorced and has children from the marriage will need to know more about the “income shares” model and how child support payments will be calculated.

Learning More About the Income Shares Model

We want to provide you with a clear example of how the new “income shares” model of child support works in Illinois, but first we want to ensure that you understand what it is. Until the new law took effect, Illinois used a child support system in which only one parent’s income—typically the noncustodial parent—would be considered for child support payments. Then, that parent would pay a percentage based on his or her income, as well as the number of children entitled to support. Recognizing that this system does not take into account the other parent’s financial responsibilities for the child, as well as different and varied models of parenting, the Illinois legislature made changes.

Buying and selling commercial real estate in DuPage County can be extremely complicated, and it is important to work with an experienced real estate attorney who has experience handling complex business transactions. Even if you have sold residential property in the past, and if you have experience buying and selling a home, you should know that the process is different — and much more complicated — when it comes to commercial space.

What Is Commercial Real Estate in Illinois?

Under Illinois law (770 ILCS 15/5), commercial real estate is defined as “any real estate located in Illinois other than (i) real estate containing one to 6 residential units, (ii) real estate on which no buildings or structures are located, or (iii) real estate classified as farmland.” To be clear, commercial real estate cannot be any of the following: