Divorce & Family
Law Attorneys
Serving Illinois
Divorce
A competent attorney is key in settling your divorce in a timely manner. We can help you navigate your divorce and work towards a fair resolution.
Child Custody
Allocation of Parental Responsibilities, formerly known as child custody in Illinois, refers to the care, maintenance, and control of a minor child.
Paternity
Our firm supports clients who are facing a paternity case. We devise a legal strategy to help protect your parental rights.
Prenups & Postnups
If you and your partner are looking to create a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, our firm is here to help. We work hard to ensure your contract serves your best interests.
Child Support
We offer assistance to those who need to determine child support. Our skilled attorneys are prepared to represent you in court.
Same-Sex Marriage
Our divorce attorneys work with cases involving the dissolution of same-sex marriages and civil unions. We provide you with the guidance that you need.
Domestic Violence
We have extensive experience as advocates for those who experienced domestic violence. You can depend on our attorneys for sound legal advice during this challenging time.
Guardian Ad Litem
As your child’s Guardian Ad Litem, we represent their best interests in child custody cases and fight for the best outcome.
Mediation Services
Divorce can be a complex process. If there is an ongoing dispute between you and the other party, you may benefit from our mediation services.
Property Division
We are experienced negotiators and have successfully settled cases involving marital and non-marital property.
Spousal Support
Spousal support is a complicated area of family law. We will guide you through the steps and help you determine an appropriate amount of maintenance.
Chicago
Divorce Attorneys
WARD FAMILY LAW, LLC was established to provide clients with access to excellent advocates, negotiators, mediators, and experienced litigators. Ms. Ward, a skilled Chicago divorce lawyer and the founder of WARD FAMILY LAW, LLC, has exclusively practiced matrimonial and family law nearly 20 years and continues as Adjunct Faculty at The John Marshall Law School teaching family law legal writing to law students since 2005; the legal writing program is ranked #6 in the country for law school writing programs by US News & World Report (2019). Ms. Ward also had the honor of speaking at the “Leaving a Long-Term Marriage” workshop produced by The Lilac Tree, an Evanston-based not-for-profit resource for women contemplating divorce. She has also provided a matrimonial-related lecture series at The Latin School of Chicago Adult Education Program and on more than one occasion has lent her commentary to Chicago Tribune related publications on family law articles and topics of interest. The classroom, lecturing, publishing and courtroom experience provides clients with well-rounded representation, finesse at settlement negotiation, precise drafting skills, and litigation expertise.
The Typical Divorce
Process In Illinois
Consult with an attorney at one week prior to needing to initiate any action.
Signing off on an engagement letter, information intake sheet and payment of a retainer formalizes the attorney-client relationship to commence a case or initiate any action with the court.
Completion and exchange of financial affidavits, preparations of balance sheets, calculations of support, and issuance of formal discovery.
If minor children are involved, these two components are key aspects to an allocation judgment.
Reviewing settlement options with the client to discuss global settlement of terms taking Illinois law into consideration.
If there remain items of concern then sometimes mediation will allow the parties to reach an agreement outside of the courtroom.
Court intervention can occur at any stage wherein the parties are unable to reach an agreement.
Marital settlement agreement and formalization of settlement terms for entry by the Judge.
Formalization of parenting time and decision-making for entry by the Judge.
The parties either proceed to prove-up or the next stage is preparations in setting the case for trial, including formal discovery completion, depositions, subpoenas, witness lists, expert reports and the like.
Our
Practice
Areas
Divorce
Our firm represents clients of various personal and professional backgrounds with each client having their own unique issues and concerns, but all are going through the same divorce process.
Attorney
Profiles
Client
Reviews
I am writing a review because I think a lot of times people make the same mistake that I did at the beginning of my case. I had a wonderful talk with Jennifer before my case started and I was very comfortable with her demeanor and her explanations of the Chicago Divorce process. I decided to go with another lawyer because the retainer was a little lower. Big mistake. I didn’t really like the lawyer when we spoke but I was more focused on the money instead of the big picture. I felt like there was no communication during my…
Chris J.
My Husband, now ex, and I wanted a friendly, fast divorce. We had nothing to fight about and nothing really to divide. We thought that would make it easy but when we saw all the paperwork we knew that we needed help. It takes one piece of paper to get married and 100 pieces of paper to get divorced in Chicago!! Ward Family Law made the divorce a smooth process for us and got it done faster than we thought. If you want to be friends with your ex but still want the divorce then look no further and call…
Allie J.
I had a very complicated divorce with a lot of family-owned businesses and assets. Jennifer and her team of professionals help navigate the formal discovery and litigation process with great knowledge, strategy, and patience with all our questions. My family was very concerned about the impact and outcome and we are all pleased with the results. From the appraisers to the business valuators, Jennifer utilized the right people at the right time to shore up our case for the best settlement position at pre-trial. We were happy with the Judge's recommendations, we believe, based on all her hard work and…
Alin M.
Highly recommended! We waited until the last minute to get our prenup done. Jennifer stepped in and got everything put together. We got to focus on the wedding and she got our prenup drafted and finalized with time to spare. If you want professional, trustworthy and thorough then go to Ward Family Law.
Richard W.
My girlfriend and I had a baby and broke up just after he was born. I did not realize that I was not automatically the dad in the Chicago system even though I was on the birth certificate. I am glad I reached out to Jennifer - she explained the process for unmarried parents and options to establish me as the Dad through paternity in the court system. She also helped with parenting time. Huge thank you.
Steve M.
It was harder than I thought to find the right family lawyer for me. She understood the underlying issues presented by my family and her being educated on the LGTBQIA2S+ community is hugely important to us. Strongly recommend her and the Ward Family Law team to anyone looking for the perfect fit for ALL
Rick Q.
I knew that our custody case was going to be long and we would both be fighting hard for our kids. What I did not know is that the laws in Chicago had changed for custody and how that is handled in court. Jennifer took the time to explain the new legal terms like allocation judgment and parenting time and decision making and the steps that a case will require when the parents do not agree on anything for the kids. Once she knew how I felt and what I wanted, Jennifer and her legal team worked hard for me…
Jose M. A.
My boyfriend and I had a kid a few years ago. He was on the birth certificate so I thought we were fine and we were not. When it came time to get child support I needed to establish him as the dad with the court. After talking to WARD Family Law I knew that I needed a lawyer to get the paternity test, get child support and other money from him and set a schedule. They helped me understand how to help move the case forward so that we could get it over quickly and I really needed the…
Lossom D.
I chose to hire Jennifer Ward after speaking with attorneys at several different firms. I chose her because 1) She's brutally honest, even when information being shared may not be what you want to hear. 2) She's very intelligent and experienced. 3) She's dedicated and tough as nails. On our initial phone call, after I'd shared with her some details of my separation, she shared some truths that hurt but were necessary for me to hear. I knew she wasn't going to be someone to hold my hand and soothe me (I have friends and a therapist for that!), but…
Brad E.
Jennifer represented me during a very difficult case and time in my life. I cannot thank her enough for her thorough representation of my case. She is definitely someone I would highly recommend to others!
Janet M.
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Attorney Advertising. This information is designed for general information only. The information presented should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship. Past results and testimonials are not a guarantee, warranty, or prediction of the outcome of your case, and should not be construed as such. Past results cannot guarantee future performance. Any result in a single case is not meant to create an expectation of similar results in future matters because each case involves many different factors, therefore, results will differ on a case-by-case basis.
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