Divorce represents a significant shift in the life of everyone who goes through it, and while it’s an emotional journey, it also determines your parental and financial rights, which makes your divorce a critical matter that should receive your utmost attention. One of the most important steps you can take as you navigate the divorce process is reaching out for the skilled legal guidance of one of the best divorce attorneys near you early on.Â
If your divorce involves shared children, the matter of child custody is a primary concern. In Illinois, child custody is now addressed in terms of parental responsibility which encompasses decision-making and parenting time.Â
Parental responsibility determines who will be making important parenting decisions, such as those related to the following:
You and your spouse can make these decisions by consensus, or one of you may be awarded the authority to break a tie in those instances when your good-faith efforts to reach a consensus fail. Alternatively, one parent may be awarded sole parental responsibility.Â
Parenting time sets the schedule for dividing overnights with the children between you and your ex. Illinois courts are always guided by the children’s best interests, which means they make it their practice to maximize the amount of parenting time each parent receives – unless there is a significant reason for ruling otherwise. The basic options when it comes to parenting time schedules include the following:
Many factors go into calculating child support, but those that take precedence include each parent’s earnings and the number of overnights each parent has with the kids. Ultimately, the parent who earns more generally has the child support obligation.
In Illinois, alimony is called spousal maintenance, and it’s reserved for those occasions when divorce leaves one spouse with too few assets to continue supporting themself at or near the same level while the other spouse has the means to help. The goal of spousal maintenance is to provide the recipient with the time they need to become more financially independent through education, experience, or job training. While alimony doesn’t play a role in every divorce, it can be an important financial tool in specific divorce situations. The duration of your marriage, your incomes and assets will also be considered in the statutory maintenance calculation in Illinois courts.
The terms of your divorce are important to your future, and the focused Illinois divorce attorneys at WARD FAMILY LAW, LLC, are standing by to help. Our legal team is well-positioned to harness the full strength of our impressive legal skill and experience in pursuit of favorable terms that bolster your rights and work for you. We are on your side, so please don’t wait to reach out and contact us for more information about what we can do to help you today.
Love and marriage. We needed a prenup because our families made us do one just to be safe. The entire thing was smooth so we could focus on our wedding and not be too crazy with the prenup. The agreement was drafted and reviewed by each of our attorneys, we signed and we were married. Woo Hoo. Thanks again, Ward Family Law.
10/10 is my rating for Ward Family Law. Jennifer and Emily went above and beyond in my divorce case. I cannot say more praise.
I lost my job but still had to pay the child support. I was scrambling. I talked to Jennifer Ward and she explained the process and the need to quickly file to put the court on notice that my child support needed to change. She saved me so much money in the long run while I looked for a new job so that I could start paying to help my kids again. Losing my job was not in the plan but at least my kids are on track.
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