Anderson Boback & Marshall Blog
How to Avoid a Default Judgment
When a divorce or family law case is initially filed with the court, the filing party must provide the other party with notice. This is called Service of Process. This is done by serving the other party with a Summons and a copy of the document that was filed. (Example: Petition for Dissolution of Marriage). A Summons is an official
Ways To Avoid Indirect Civil Contempt
Contempt is the primary means that family law courtrooms use in Illinois to gain compliance with temporary orders and Judgments. In the event someone willfully and without compelling cause or justification, violates a court order, then they could be subject to indirect civil contempt, under Illinois law. However, indirect civil contempt is different than criminal contempt, because indirect civil contempt
Can My Spouse be Forced to Pay for My Attorney’s Fees?
For many people, wives in particular, their spouses control most of their family’s finances. As a result, these spouses can feel stuck in a relationship without the means to hire an attorney. To alleviate these problems, the courts have created a provision to allow one spouse to contribute to the other spouse’s fees. Pursuant to Section 508(a), “the court
Naming a “Custodial Parent” in Illinois
Illinois has now abolished the term “custody” in parentage and dissolution of marriage actions. Instead, the Court can allocate parental responsibilities for major decisions for minor children to one or both of the parents, including major decision making authority for religion, extra-curricular activities, medical and education. There is no longer “custody” over a child. There is a “parenting time” schedule
Accuracy in Disclosure Statements
Any family law case in Illinois which involves financial issues will require the parties to exchange Financial Disclosure statements. The Financial Disclosure statement is designed to tell the court, in a snapshot, what your income, property, expenses and debts look like at a particular moment in time, on a monthly basis. Since financial situations can be extremely fluid, the financial
Can My Criminal Record Be Used Against Me In My Divorce?
One of the first things a spouse going through divorce will tell us is all of the wrong things their spouse has done, especially if they have a criminal past. As such, we have had to deal with researching and knowing the rules around another person’s criminal record. It is safe to say that if there are issues regarding the
Discovery of Documents from Subsequent Spouses
Parties who divorce or otherwise separate in family law cases oftentimes will remarry, or cohabit with new significant others. This can mean some financial comingling as they establish new joint accounts, file joint tax returns, take out joint credit cards, and the like. When their finances are intertwined, it could subject them to later discovery in subsequent actions, which aren’t
