F.A.Q.'s
FAMILY LAW FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR CHICAGO, ILLINOIS FAMILY LAW CLIENTS AND PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS
The following information is general in nature and may or may not apply to the specific circumstances of your case. Contact Nancy C. Murphy & Associates for a consultation and evaluation of your legal needs at 1-866-435-1788 or complete the contact form on this site.
- What are the legal grounds for divorce in Illinois?
- How are Custody and Visitation issues decided?
- What about visitation?
- How can a parent remedy the frustration of visitation rights?
- What is Child Support?
- What is Child Support used for?
- How is the amount of the Child Support determined?
- My Ex Has Threatened To File Bankruptcy. What Effect Does Bankruptcy Have On Child Support?
What are the legal grounds for divorce in Illinois?
In Illinois, you may file for divorce under the following grounds:
Physical Cruelty: To prove physical cruelty you must document several violent physical acts committed by your spouse toward you. You must also state that you have emotional or physical harm and be free from fault.
Mental Cruelty: To prove mental cruelty you must describe repeated behavior by your spouse that made you feel depressed, nervous, upset etc., and state that you did not instigate the behavior.
Irreconcilable differences: To prove that this ground exists, you must state that both of you have made all efforts to try and work out any problems, and have found no way to repair the marriage. You and your spouse must have been separated for more than two years, or more than six months, as long as each spouse signs a written waiver of the two-year separation requirement.
How are Custody and Visitation issues decided?
No area of family law brings to the courtroom the tension, anxiety, hostility, volatility and raw emotion as child custody and visitation litigation. Rare is the divorce, dissolution or custody determination in which the parties have been able to set aside personal differences to reach the goal of what is best for the children involved.
Most often, a judge will take great pains to get parents themselves to come to a mutually acceptable custody agreement if that is possible. A decision made by a stranger is rarely completely acceptable to all if the attempt has not been made in earnest. The family court systems in Illinois have usually have several layers of counseling, mediation and conciliation to attempt to bring warring parents together for the purpose of resolving the issue of what it is in the best interests of their children.
Generally a court will grant reasonable visitation rights to a parent unless it is shown that the visitation will be detrimental to the best interests of the child. A non-parent can, in the discretion of the court, also be granted visitation rights if they have an interest in the welfare of the child; this is generally divided into the area of grandparents, step-parents and other non-parents. It should be noted that this is discretionary. The court may also approve visitation plans and restrictions considering factors relevant to the best interests of the child.
How can a parent remedy the frustration of visitation rights?
A variety of remedies are available to provide relief to the non-custodial parent who has had visitation rights frustrated. The non-custodial parent can commence an action to show cause concerning contempt for violating a court order pertinent to visitation. Another alternative is to ask the court to require the custodial parent to post a monetary bond, which would be forfeited if the custodial parent frustrates visitation. Usually a history of frustration of visitation is the threshold which must be shown to the court, not a sole incident.
Child support is a payment by one parent (often the non-custodial parent) to the other parent for the support of their common children. (See Child Support and Visitation.) It is in the best interest of a child for both parents to be obligated to pay for the support of their child. An order for child support transfers the income/wealth from one parent to the other so that the combined incomes/wealth of both parents is available to use for the support of the child.
What is Child Support used for?
Child support covers everything a child needs during the growth and formative years. Keep the following in mind:
A parent’s first and principal obligation is to support his or her minor children according to the parent’s circumstances and station in life; and children should share in the standard of living of both parents. Thus, the amount of a child support award is more than a question of bare necessities.
If the child has a wealthy parent, that child is entitled to, and therefore needs something more than the bare necessities of life. Where the supporting parent enjoys a lifestyle that far exceeds the custodial parent’s living standard, child support must to some degree reflect that more opulent lifestyle.
Children should share in the standard of living of both parents. Child support may therefore appropriately improve the standard of living of the custodial household to improve the lives of the children. Children are entitled to share in non-custodial parent’s elevated standard of living despite custodial parent’s substantially lower income. Awarding supported children a percentage of a non-custodial parent’s future bonuses ensure they will share in his standard of living.
How is the amount of the Child Support determined?
Federal law now requires that the amount of a child support payment be set in accordance with a guideline. Having a guideline is believed to prevent widely different amounts of child support being ordered from courtroom to courtroom. Guidelines provide an objective basis for the determination of the amount of support to be paid. As a result, most states have established formulas that are used to determine the amount of the payment from one parent to the other.
My Ex Has Threatened To File Bankruptcy. What Effect Does Bankruptcy Have On Child Support?
Filing for bankruptcy protection does not allow your ex to discharge past due child support obligations. Any back payments owed for child support cannot be included as a debt and cannot be discharged in a bankruptcy proceeding.
However, the filing of a bankruptcy petition automatically stops collection activities on a support order. Since there are legal procedures that must be followed in order to lift the stay regarding the payments, it is crucial to retain an attorney who has expertise in bankruptcies.
Contact Nancy C. Murphy & Associates, for a consultation at 1-866-435-1788 or complete the contact form on this site. Please visit the Practice Areas page for a full description of the services offered. In addition to Chicago, Attorney Nancy C. Murphy and Diana E. López-Hofbauer serve the surrounding areas of Chicago as well as Cook, Lake and DuPage Counties.
