For Illinois parents that are no longer together or facing divorce, understanding the basics of child custody law is important. First, the term “custody” no longer exists in Illinois. The State of Illinois changed its laws regarding custody in 2016, and child custody is now officially called “allocation of parental…

“I had the state represent me in a child support case. Now it’s over. I am named the custodial parent, but does that mean I have sole custody? Should I hire a lawyer to petition for sole custody if I don’t have it right now?” Recently this question was posted…

If you want to be on social media these days, there are many platforms available — Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Tik Tok, LinkedIn, YouTube — the list goes on. Social media helps people share content, communicate, and just catch up on news or an occurrence in someone’s life. However, social…

Divorce can be ugly, there is no doubt about it. Furthermore, not everyone plays “fairly” throughout the process. With couples no longer getting along, strained finances, and worries about who gets what, there are definitely some “dirty tricks” that repeatedly show up in divorce cases. Here is a list of…

In a recent Illinois child support modification case, the Illinois Appellate Court reviewed a trial court decision where a father’s income increase from $138,000 a year to $2.2 million a year was found to be “no substantial change in circumstance”. After review, the Appellate Court reversed the trial court decision. …

The legal term “best interests” is a concept that comes up in almost all child-related areas of family law. When making essentially any decision on behalf of a child, the court is going to look at what is best for that child and allow that to guide their rulings. Some…

Maintenance, formerly known as alimony, is a relief granted to a party in a dissolution of marriage case that equitably restores to the party a standard of living to which they became acclimated during the marriage. For spouses going through a divorce in Illinois, questions arise around including maintenance in…

Visitation interference occurs when the custodial parent in some way interferes with your ability to spend parenting time with your child or visit with them. In Illinois, a parent has a couple of options when the other parent interferes with their parenting time. You may proceed with a criminal prosecution…

We receive inquiries regularly from parents of children in Illinois regarding whether or not they can remove their child from the state of Illinois when they are estranged from their child’s other parent. The answer varies, depending on different situations. Temporary Removal for a Vacation or Trip Parents are free to…