The new Act, effective January 1, is a complete rewrite of Illinois parentage law that reflects changes in cultural norms and reproductive technology in the past 30 years.
The rewrite of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, effective January 1, fundamentally changes family law practice. Here's a summary of key provisions.
Thanks to a recent Illinois Appellate Court case, grandparents have a roadmap for using expert testimony to win court-ordered visitation with their grandchildren.
On June 18, 2013, the First District of the Appellate Court held that in disputes regarding the disposition of pre-embryos, the court would honor any prior agreement between the parties.
The Illinois spousal maintenance guidelines were enacted to provide clarity and uniformity in maintenance calculations. But they raise their own set of questions.
If a spouse gets a government pension instead of Social Security, can the pension be protected in a divorce settlement to offset the other spouse's Social Security? No, the Illinois Supreme Court held.
In McCormick, the Illinois Supreme Court rules in an interstate custody dispute that subject matter jurisdiction comes from the constitution, not from a statute.
In addition to seeking spousal maintenance, divorcing immigrants might have another, and perhaps better, way to seek support – suing to enforce the affidavit of support signed by their spouses.
On December 23, 2014, the Fifth District Appellate Court held that Illinois law applies to custody proceedings when Illinois is the child's home state under the Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act, 750 ILCS 36/101 et seq. ("UCCJEA")
What changes under the new law apply retroactively - i.e., to maintenance awards entered before January 1 - and which apply only prospectively? Here's a point-by-point analysis.
Under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, if the guardian of a ward's estate or person petitions a court on behalf of the ward, the court may permit the guardian to file for dissolution of marriage, legal separation, or declaration of invalidity for the dissolution of a marriage.
Parties in juvenile and divorce cases sometimes want to challenge a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity under the Illinois Parentage Act. Find out when and why these efforts succeed.
On June 19, 2014, the Illinois Supreme Court held that section 505 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act allows courts to award child support to non-custodial parents.
This amendatory act to the Adoption Act adds several categories of people eligible to petition state courts for the appointment of a confidential intermediary to: (1) exchange medical and identifying information with mutually consenting biological relatives; and (2) arrange contact with consenting biological relatives.
A new law, effective January 1, removes uncertainty from most maintenance decisions by creating a formula for determining the size and duration of awards.
On May 22, 2014, the Illinois Supreme Court found that a constitutional challenge to section 607(e) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (the "Act") became moot when the affected parent established compliance with the statute. See 750 ILCS 5/607(e).
Illinois' new same-sex marriage law leaves in place the Civil Union Act and provides for voluntary conversion of civil unions to marriages, among other important changes.
