Naperville Divorce Lawyer

Over the years, Naperville has grown from tiny Naper’s Settlement into the third-largest city in the Prairie State. During this journey, Naperville has overcome many challenges and addressed many issues. 

A divorce case is much the same. Unless the parties had a prenuptial agreement or the marriage lasted less than a year, these matters usually involve significant and divisive emotional and financial issues.

The diligent Naperville divorce lawyers at SLG Family Law are able to face all these challenges. Over the years, we have developed proven methods which produce cost-effective and long-lasting results. So, we are able to produce outcomes that exceed our clients’ expectations.

Emotional Issues

Illinois law requires child custody decisions to be in the best interests of the children. Most parents want to do what is best for their children. However, most parents also have differing opinions about what is best.

To help translate this overall agreement into an agreement on specific, real-world issues, Illinois law sets forth a number of factors to consider in this area:

• Child’s Preference: Contrary to popular myth, this factor is not always dispositive. Since many children do not want to choose sides, many do not express a preference. Furthermore, the judge always has the final say in these matters, no matter what the children prefer.
• Parental Preference: Sometimes, parents directly express their custody/visitation preferences. Some parents are perfectly fine with being weekend parents. More commonly, the preference is indirect. Parents who took little interest in child-related activities during the marriage may make poor residential parents.
• Child’s Relationships: Not all blended families get along like The Brady Bunch. In fact, conflict is the norm in these situations. If this conflict affects a child’s physical or emotional health, it could be a factor to consider, especially in subsequent modification actions.
• Current Environment: Most judges prefer to leave well enough alone. If the current arrangement is working, even if it is far from perfect, most judges want to keep it in place.

Since Illinois is an income share state, the parenting time division often affects the amount of child support.

Financial Issues

The child support guidelines in Illinois account for things like the parenting time division, the income of both parties, the age of the children, and some other factors. The guidelines are presumptively reasonable.

Spousal support determinations are a lot like child support determinations. In Illinois, a formula which considers the length of the marriage and income disparity between the parties is usually controlling. Judges can deviate from the guideline amounts in certain situations.

Child support and alimony deviations are often the keys to an equitable property division. Before marital property is divided, it must be classified. The classification process is often tedious and time-consuming.

Emotional and financial circumstances almost always change. If this change is material and substantial, a Naperville divorce lawyer typically must file a motion to modify.

Reach Out to a Savvy Attorney

Most marriage dissolution matters involve emotional and financial issues. For a free consultation with an experienced Naperville divorce lawyer, contact SLG Family Law. We routinely handle matters in Cook County and nearby jurisdictions.