Renewed Efforts in Illinois Toward Equal Parenting Time

Under Part VI of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA), courts presume that parents in Chicago who get divorced should both play a role in their child’s life unless there is a clear reason that one of the parents should be excluded. For example, in cases in which one parent has been convicted of a violent crime or has been tied to acts of family violence or child abuse, the court might determine that it is not[...]

Relocation Mid-School Year After a Divorce

If you are thinking about filing for divorce at the start of the New Year, if you plan to separate from your spouse, or if you have recently accepted a new job, you have likely been thinking about the potential impact that moving will have on your child. When you are divorced, moving mid-year with a teenager can present significant challenges. Those challenges can be legal ones—concerning Illinois law on relocation—as well as psychological or emotional challenges associated with a[...]

Recent Study Addresses Shared Parenting After Divorce

For many parents who have recently gotten divorced or are thinking about filing for divorce in the New Year, the prospect of shared parenting can produce anxiety and frustration. While some parents get along with one another throughout the divorce proceedings and continue to work together amicably afterward, this is not always the case. For many Chicago residents, it can be difficult to even imagine reaching a compromise with your ex-spouse about anything, especially an issue concerning the children. For[...]

Did No-Fault Divorce End Saturday Morning Cartoons?

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and other stalwart superheroes were once a fixture on Saturday mornings. Some people still wonder what happened to these shows, especially since many superhero movies are so popular. There is some evidence that no-fault divorce may have been at least partially responsible for the demise of Saturday morning cartoons. So, in a way, Cook County family law judges may have closed the Hall of Justice, thus achieving something that always eluded the nefarious Lex Luthor and[...]

How Do I Calculate Child Support Under the “Income Shares” Model?

Many families in Illinois are just learning about the new “income shares” model for child support that took effect on July 1, 2017. As we have previously discussed, Illinois child support used to work in such a way that the custodial parent paid child support to the noncustodial parent. This was known as the “percentage of obligor net income” model.  Now, however, the state uses an “income shares” model. This means that the net incomes of both parents are taken[...]