At the first meeting, you and your attorney will discuss your goals for the case.  You should spend some time before the meeting thinking about your goals.  It is helpful to make a list and bring it to your meeting so you do not forget to tell your attorney any important points.  Your attorney can also help you develop your goals after you are more informed about the law and your situation.  One good way to save money in your case is to determine your goals early in your case.  You may incur more attorneys’ fees if you take one position, but change it at a later date because your attorney may need to change his or her litigation strategy.

If you will be involved in a divorce or custody action, your financial information will be very important.  You should save your earnings statements/pay stubs, financial statements, such as credit card statements, bank records, mortgage statements, etc.  These documents are often requested during a divorce or custody case, and you can save time and money if you are able to produce them right away, rather than having to search high and low for a document you might have thrown away.  You should bring these to your first meeting with your attorney.

Being organized in your divorce or custody case is essential.  If you are not a naturally organized person, now is the time to develop good organization skills.  Your attorney should keep track of deadlines, but it is also your responsibility to be aware of what you need to do in order to comply with these deadlines.  You will likely be informed in writing of any deadlines you need to meet.  You will receive copies of important documents and letters, and you should have a secure place to store these documents.  Consider buying an “accordion” folder with many pockets that will be solely devoted to your divorce or custody case.  You should have this folder by the first meeting with your attorney because he or she will likely give you papers to take home that day.  You should also maintain either a paper or electronic calendar so you can keep track of court dates and deadlines.

Being involved in litigation is not a passive experience.  Your attorney is there to help you through the process, and you must also do what you can to help your case succeed by carefully considering your attorneys’ advice.  If you have any questions about your divorce or custody case, call Chicago divorce attorneys The Witt Law Firm, P.C. at (312) 948-9884 or email info@thewittlawfirm.com.

The above blog post does not constitute legal advice.  Please discuss your specific rights with an attorney in your jurisdiction.

If you will be receiving a refund and you are still married, your spouse may be entitled to a portion of the refund.  Even if one spouse earns more than the other spouse, the court may not necessarily divide the refund based on each spouse’s earnings.  The court may order the spouses to equally share the refund.

A tax refund can also affect Illinois child support payments.  In Illinois, there are minimum child support guidelines which generally require a non-custodial parent to pay a percentage of his or her net income as child support.  For example, if there is one child, the non-custodial parent usually pays 20% of his or her net income to the custodial parent.  If a parent who pays child support pursuant to a child support order receives a tax refund, that refund may be additional income.  The custodial parent may have a claim to the other parent’s refund, depending on the child support order that is in effect.

If you have any questions about taxes and a divorce or custody case, call the Chicago divorce attorneys The Witt Law Firm, P.C. at (312) 948-9884 or email info@thewittlawfirm.com.

The above blog post does not constitute legal advice.  Please discuss your specific rights with an attorney.

Illinois divorce law has a residency requirement.  One of the parties to the divorce case must reside in Illinois for at least ninety days before filing the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage/Civil Union or ninety days before the entry of the final judgment by the Court.  If the person fulfilling the residency requirement has lived in Illinois for less than ninety days when he files the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage/Civil Union, he would need to wait to schedule the final court date until after he has lived in Illinois for ninety days.  This waiting period likely would not apply if the other party has lived in Illinois for more than ninety days.

Usually one or both of the parties to a divorce case meet the residency requirement before the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage is filed.  However, there may be a problem if only one of the parties resides in Illinois, and if he resides in Illinois on a temporary basis only.  A person’s “residence” is the place he calls home; it is his permanent abode.  If the party asking Illinois to grant the divorce knows that he will be moving out of Illinois in the near future, then he may not meet the residency requirement.  If the other party lives in Illinois, then it is probably not an issue.  However, if the other party does not live in Illinois, then Illinois may not have the power to award the divorce.

If you have any questions about filing for divorce in Chicago, call Chicago divorce attorneys The Witt Law Firm, P.C. at (312) 948-9884 or email info@thewittlawfirm.com.  The above blog post does not constitute legal advice.  Please discuss your specific rights with an attorney.

A parent seeking to establish or modify Illinois child support that takes into consideration a child’s special needs must present certain evidence to prove his or her case.  If you have questions about Illinois child support for your special needs child, call Chicago divorce attorneys The Witt Law Firm, P.C. at (312) 948-9884 or email info@thewittlawfirm.com.  The above blog post does not constitute legal advice.  Please discuss your specific rights with an attorney in your jurisdiction.

If you are still living with your spouse, it is important that you take precautions to protect your private information. Create a password on your private computer, your telephone, and any tablet or electronic devices that you can use to access sensitive information. Do not make the password something your spouse can easily guess and change your passwords frequently in case your spouse has become aware of it and has not told you.

Your e-mails are probably more private and protected if you read them in a secure internet browser and if you ensure the e-mails are not downloaded to your computer’s hard drive.  Always log out of your e-mail account before you walk away from your computer.  You can configure your computer to lock your screen and require a password after a few minutes of inactivity.  We have heard of many situations in which one spouse leaves his or her e-mail account open on a computer and the other spouse reads the e-mails.  Generally, e-mail providers, such as Gmail, cannot provide the contents of e-mails in a divorce case, even if they are served with a subpoena. However, if the e-mails are stored on your computer itself, your spouse may be able to seize your computer and retrieve the e-mails. The same may be true for your cellular telephone if you use a phone that downloads e-mails to your phone’s hard drive.  Speaking of cell phones, you should consider changing your settings so that text messages do not pop up and require a password to access.

If you are sharing a computer with your spouse, stop today. We recommend that you either use a private computer.  On your private computer, you should be listed as the only user and access should be password-protected.  We are not technology attorneys, but there is a higher expectation of privacy if you are the only user of a computer and if it is password-protected.  Ideally, you should have a unique username, a completely private password, and encryption on your computer. If you share a computer with your spouse, he or she may be able to argue that they can spy on your e-mails and chats because you did not have an expectation of privacy.

Some of the best Chicago divorce attorneys are using evidence gathered on Facebook and other social networking sites in divorce cases.  This kind of evidence is becoming more and more common.  Oftentimes, it is not what you post that is a problem, but it is posts in which you are tagged by other people.  Pictures and “timeline” posts can reveal things you would rather keep hidden and can harm your case.  It is likely that your spouse will search for something to use against you on Facebook or other social networking sites.  Even a Pinterest account and the images you save and publicly share may be used against you.  Attorneys have also been known to pull out Match.com profiles and other dating network profiles in court to show that a party claimed he or she was single when in fact he or she was still married.  Sometimes people also state on their Match.com profiles that they do not have children when they actually do.  If the person with this Match.com profile was fighting for custody, this could create a problem for them.  Therefore, it is important that you protect yourself and remove your Facebook profile and other social network profiles from visibility.  Try to wait until you are officially divorced before you create an online dating profile.

Illinois’s wiretapping law is a “two-party consent” law. Illinois makes it a crime to use an “eavesdropping device” to overhear or record a phone call or conversation without the consent of all parties to the conversation. The law defines an “eavesdropping device” as “any device capable of being used to hear or record oral conversation or intercept, retain, or transcribe electronic communication whether such conversation or electronic communication is conducted in person, by telephone, or by any other means.”

While you generally are permitted to photograph or record video of people without permission in most public places, it is illegal in Illinois to “videotape, photograph, or film” people without their consent in “a restroom, tanning bed, or tanning salon, locker room, changing room or hotel bedroom.” So if your spouse is going into a hotel room with a paramour, you cannot record their activity by placing a hidden camera in the hotel room.  If you obtain evidence in this manner, it will most likely be inadmissible in court. You also may face criminal prosecution.  It may also be a crime to install a program on your spouse’s computer that captures whatever your spouse types as he or she is typing and transmitting messages. You may face criminal prosecution for installing such a program and the evidence likely would not admissible in court.  There are other, legal ways to obtain information about your spouse.

If you are contemplating starting a Chicago divorce case or if you are involved in a Chicago divorce case already, you should take precautions to ensure your private data is protected. You should also act within the bounds of Illinois and federal law to ensure that you are not breaking any laws while looking into your spouse’s activities.  If you have any questions about divorce and technology, call the Chicago divorce attorneys at The Witt Law Firm, P.C. at (312) 948-9884 or email info@thewittlawfirm.com.  The above blog post does not constitute legal advice.  Please discuss your specific rights with an attorney.

Many people put provisions into their parenting agreements which state that any new spouse of a divorcing parent will not be called “mom” or “dad” because that would alienate the children’s natural mother or father.  Ensuring that the divorced spouses and the new spouse are “on the same page” regarding an existing parenting agreement or custody judgment helps avoid unnecessary conflict and instability.  Keeping dramatic situations between old and new spouses to a minimum can help avoid creating more stress for the children.

If you have any questions about parenting agreements, call Chicago divorce attorneys The Witt Law Firm, P.C. at (312) 948-9884 or email info@thewittlawfirm.com. The above blog post does not constitute legal advice. Please discuss your specific rights with an attorney.

A mediator will not make a decision after hearing both parties’ positions, but rather should attempt to guide the parties to a resolution.  There are many benefits to mediation.  It is usually much less expensive than a divorce trial, it is confidential, and you and the other party control the process of resolving your disputed issues.  Mediation can be particularly helpful in child custody cases because it encourages parties to communicate with each other, which will undoubtedly be useful as they continue to raise their child after the court case has been resolved.  In Chicago, the Cook County Circuit Court requires parties in a contested custody case to go to mediation before scheduling hearings or a trial on the issue.

Parties can meet with the mediator by themselves or they can bring their respective attorneys.  It is best to have an attorney with you during the mediation process so you can be fully advised of your legal rights while negotiating with the other party.  If you do not bring an attorney to mediation, you may benefit from reviewing the terms of the proposed agreement with an attorney after mediation is complete.  The attorney should go over the agreement with you and advise you about how the terms will affect you.  Even if the mediator is an attorney, they are not your attorney and they are not looking out solely for you.  Their job is to help you and the other spouse reach an agreement.  Your attorney should carefully advise you of what you need to know about your case and will help you assess whether the agreement you reached in mediation is in your best interests.

Mediation may not be appropriate in certain situations.  For mediation to be successful, the parties need to have somewhat equal bargaining power.  If one party has physically or emotionally abused the other party, mediation is not recommended.  Mediation may not work in this situation because the abused party may give in to the other party’s demands due to a fear that they will be abused again.

Mediation can be a great way for parties to resolve their family law case, and it is become more popular.  If you have any questions about mediation in family law proceedings, call Chicago divorce attorneys The Witt Law Firm, P.C. at (312) 948-9884 or email info@thewittlawfirm.com.  The above blog post does not constitute legal advice.  Please discuss your specific rights with an attorney in your jurisdiction.

The court can grant legal custody to both parents.  This is called “joint legal custody.”  The court can also grant decision-making power to just one parent.  This is called “sole legal custody.”  When a parent has sole legal custody, he or she usually does not have to consult the other parent before making major decisions for the child.  However, every case is different.  The court may require parties to make some decisions jointly, such as selecting schools for the child, but it may grant only one parent the authority to make decisions on other issues, such as medical-related issues.  Every parent with a custody judgment should be intimately familiar with its terms.  We recommend that parties re-read the custody judgment at least once per year.

The court does not have a specified preference for either joint legal custody or sole legal custody, though courts in Chicago tend to want both parents to be involved in the child’s life as much as possible.  The court awards one or both parents legal custody based on the child’s best interests.  The court examines certain factors when making this decision, and these factors are outlined in 750 ILCS 5/602.  Existing case law also affects the court’s analysis of these factors.  Joint legal custody works when parents are able to communicate with each other regarding the child’s well-being, regardless of whatever occurred between the parents to end their relationship. Parents who constantly fight and cannot agree even on small issues may not be good candidates to share joint custody.  Joint custody may also be inappropriate in situations where one spouse is abusive towards the other and uses his or her influence to force the other spouse to agree with him or her on all matters.

Parties can either agree on the issue of legal custody, or they can ask the court to decide on legal custody.  People who cannot agree on the issue of legal custody should be aware that contested custody cases are time-consuming, expensive, and very stressful.  A good family law attorney should be able to advise you on legal custody options for your particular situation and can tailor a custody judgment to meet your needs.  If you have any questions about joint legal custody or sole legal custody, call Chicago divorce attorneys The Witt Law Firm, P.C. at (312) 948-9884 or email info@thewittlawfirm.com. The above blog post does not constitute legal advice. Please discuss your specific rights with an attorney in your jurisdiction.