Palatine Divorce Lawyer

Many people put off divorce because they want to avoid the drama and upheaval of their lives. However, when the time comes to end your marriage, you have no choice but to face the legal process. Fortunately, an experienced Palatine divorce lawyer can help you navigate that process.

Your Divorce Terms

Your divorce will not take the same course or look exactly like anyone else’s. You are a unique family, and your divorce will be similarly unique. The terms of your divorce, however, will fall into the same categories that everyone else’s does (as applicable), including:

• Child custody and visitation arrangements (called parental responsibilities and parenting time in Illinois)
• Child support
• The division of marital property
• Alimony (called spousal maintenance in Illinois)

Those terms that you and your divorcing spouse are able to work out on your own will remain your decisions to make. Those terms that you are unable to resolve will need to be determined by the court on your behalf.

Parental Responsibility Arrangements

Also known as child custody, your parental responsibilities can be either sole or joint, and they refer to who makes the important decisions that relate to the following on your children’s behalf:

• Their education
• Their medical care
• Their extracurriculars
• Their religious upbringing

Parenting time, on the other hand, dictates when your children are with you and when they are with their other parent. You can split this time fairly equally between the two of you, or one of you can become the primary custodial parent (while the other has a visitation schedule). You are free to shape this schedule however you would like – if you can reach a meeting of the minds on the arrangements. If you’re not able to manage this, the court will do so on your behalf.

Child Support Payments

Child support is the manifestation of both parents’ responsibility to support their children financially. Child support is calculated according to Illinois guidelines, and it is based on each parent’s relative financial ability to pay. Generally, if one parent is the parent with a majority of the parenting time, he or she will receive child support from the other. Illinois uses an income-sharing approach to determining support, so both parents’ incomes will be relevant to calculating child support and contribution to child expenses such as health insurance premiums, uncovered medical expenses, school expenses, and extracurricular activity expenses. 

The Division of Your Marital Property

With some exceptions, those assets that you and your spouse came to own over the years of your marriage represent marital property that is to be divided between the two of you equitably – fairly given the specifics – in the event of divorce. Those assets that either of you owned before the marriage or received individually by gift or inheritance during the marriage may be treated remain your separate, non-marital property upon divorce.

Alimony / Maintenance

Alimony or spousal maintenance is by no means a right or guarantee. The court will look at various factors including the length of the marriage, the income of the parties, the age and health of the parties to determine whether maintenance is appropriate. If it is, the court will often follow the guidelines set forth in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act to calculate how much maintenance will be paid and for how long.

An Experienced Palatine Divorce Lawyer Can Help

The dedicated Palatine divorce lawyers at SLG Family Law understand how important it is for you to obtain favorable divorce terms and are committed to using our impressive experience and legal insight to help you do just that. To learn more, please don’t wait to contact us today.