By Margaret Bennett, Nancy Chausow Shafer, & Hon. Pamela Loza
December
2016
Article
, Page 26
Effective July 1, Illinois will implement a major change in how child support is computed. Here's how the new guidelines will work and why they'll make divorce practitioners' lives easier.
Citing the State's unquestionable interest in the creation, regulation, and dissolution of marriage, the Illinois Supreme Court reaffirmed its 1979 Hewitt v. Hewitt holding that Illinois public policy precludes unmarried cohabitants from bringing claims against one another to enforce mutual property rights rooted in a marriage-like relationship.
Q. Under the new parentage act, a man can bring an action against a pregnant woman under 46/602(d) as a "man....alleging himself to be the parent of the child"....Is that the only reference?
Though the term "joint parenting" has replaced "joint custody," the joint-custody concept survives under the new law - which means judges must continue to put kids first when making parenting decisions.
In Blumenthal v. Brewer, the Illinois Supreme Court held that Hewitt v. Hewitt is good law and unmarried cohabitants can't enforce marriage-like property rights.
In In re Scarlett Z.-D., the Illinois Supreme Courtrefused to grant equitable adoption rights to a nonparent who had played a childrearing role. The author looks at the policy issues surrounding the role of nonparents in childrearing.
On May 27, 2016, the Appellate Court of Illinois held that the court may award attorney fees to a party in cases involving termination of parental rights and adoption proceedings under section 508 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA).
The Department of Children and Family Services ("DCFS") adopted amendments that change pertinent definitions to 12 Parts. 89 Ill. Adm. Code 300 (eff. May 16, 2016).
On May 3, 2016, the Third District Appellate Court affirmed the circuit court's denial of a husband's motion to vacate judgment for dissolution of marriage claiming that the parties' postnuptial agreement was unconscionable.
On September 28, 2015, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court issued several rulings in a consolidated appeal addressing the modification of a permanent maintenance award and an award for prospective attorney fees.
The Illinois Supreme Court has released two required statewide forms for divorce cases, and legislators have introduced a bill to remove ambiguities in last year's IMDMA rewrite.
On February 26, 2016, the Second District Appellate Court affirmed the circuit court's allocation of property in its order of dissolution of marriage and denial of attorney's fees to the wife.
Under Section 1041 of the Internal Revenue Code, property transfers between ex-spouses are tax free if they happen within a year of divorce. But Section 1041 can also apply to some transfers that take place after a year. Here's how it works.
In a ground-breaking ruling, the second district in Miller found that an intimate dating relationship was not a de facto marriage that triggered termination of maintenance after divorce. The ruling is a step forward, the authors argue.
The Department ("DCFS") has adopted amendments concerning contact and visitation between siblings when some or all are in DCFS custody and not living in the same household.
In In re Squire, the appellate court expanded the reach of the IMDMA's "leveling the playing field" provision by requiring a spouse's attorney to disgorge already earned fees to the other side.
Should I call one of the kids to testify in a custody case? Can a lawyer contact the opposing party’s
family? Can my client get an extension of time to complete traffic school?
On September 14, 2015, the First District Appellate Court held that funds in an inherited IRA are not exempt from collection under the retirement plan exemption of section 12-1006 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure.
The author explains how custodial parents are entitled to support payments for an emancipated child's expenses the summer before college and while on break.
