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How to Avoid Common Mistakes in High Asset Divorces
After years of building a successful career, managing investments, and establishing a comfortable lifestyle, it can be difficult to adjust to the sudden change of a high asset divorce. The life you have carefully constructed now sits under a legal microscope. Property, savings, and even the family business are up for division, and each decision made could alter your financial future. Given the immense emotional strain, it is easy for a simple oversight to result in costly consequences.
To avoid these errors, it is important to work with a skilled attorney who will ensure every detail is considered when dividing your assets. An Illinois high net worth divorce lawyer can navigate the financial and emotional challenges of the process and address frequently overlooked issues.
Are You Overlooking Assets During Divorce?
A common mistake in high-asset divorce is failing to account for all marital assets. In Illinois, nearly all assets acquired during the marriage are considered marital property, regardless of whose name is on them. If one spouse was not involved in financial management, they may overlook assets like:
How Does Joint Custody Affect Child Support in Illinois?
When parents go through a divorce, their biggest concern is how the separation will impact their children. They may agree that joint custody is the best arrangement for their children, as it allows both parents to stay involved. As they work through the details, questions about child support quickly arise. How does sharing custody impact the amount of child support owed? What role does each parent's income play in the decision?
Understanding these factors is essential for parents navigating a joint custody arrangement. A skilled Illinois family law attorney can provide guidance in this situation to help fairly allocate financial responsibilities.
What Is Joint Custody?
Joint custody, often referred to as shared parenting, means that both parents have legal responsibility for their child and typically share physical custody. However, joint custody does not always mean equal time with the child. Instead, the court will establish a parenting plan that outlines how much time the child will spend with each parent. The percentage of time each parent has with the child is vital in calculating child support payments.
How Long Does It Take to Get Divorced in Illinois?
Divorce can be a difficult and emotionally charged process, and the most common concern people often have is how long it will take. The length of a divorce can vary depending on a number of factors, including the complexity of the case and whether both parties are in agreement.
In Illinois, the divorce process is governed by state laws that outline specific requirements, like waiting periods and other procedural steps. If you are considering divorce, a knowledgeable family law attorney can help you get a better understanding of the timeline.
What Is the Minimum Waiting Period for Divorce in Illinois?
In Illinois, the law requires a minimum waiting period before a divorce can be finalized. However, this requirement has become more flexible under recent updates to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. If both spouses agree to the divorce, there is no mandatory waiting period, and the process can move forward immediately. If the divorce is contested, meaning one spouse does not agree, a six-month separation is required.
Do I Get Half of My Spouse's 401(k) in a Divorce?
Divorce often involves complex financial matters, especially when it comes to dividing retirement accounts like 401(k)s. Retirement savings accounts typically contain a significant portion of a couple's assets, which makes them a key focus during divorce proceedings. Many people wonder whether they are entitled to half of their spouse's 401(k) or how to divide these accounts. While a simple 50/50 split might seem fair, the division of a 401(k) is more intricate than it may seem. An experienced Illinois divorce attorney can help you understand your rights, negotiate the division of your spouse's 401(k), and ensure you receive your fair share of marital assets, including retirement savings.
Are 401(k) Accounts Considered Marital Property in Illinois?
In Illinois, 401(k) accounts are treated as marital property if contributions were made to it during the marriage. Under state law, marital property includes any assets or income acquired by either spouse during the marriage. This means that any contributions to a 401(k) throughout the marriage are considered marital property and are subject to division during a divorce.
How Is Hidden Cryptocurrency Addressed in Divorce?
As cryptocurrencies become more popular, they are increasingly common in divorce settlements. Hidden assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other digital currencies can create complications during property division. Because of their decentralized and often anonymous nature, cryptocurrencies can make it difficult to determine a person’s true financial status. An Illinois divorce attorney can help you ask the right questions when addressing potential hidden cryptocurrency assets.
What Are Cryptocurrency Assets, and Why Are They Often Hidden?
Cryptocurrency is a digital form of currency that uses cryptography for security, making it challenging to track in comparison to a traditional bank account. Unlike conventional financial assets, cryptocurrencies are stored in digital wallets, often without the oversight of banks or centralized institutions. These relatively anonymous qualities can tempt spouses to hide cryptocurrency assets during divorce proceedings, with the hope that they will not be discovered.
How Does Divorce Affect FAFSA and Financial Aid?
Divorce can significantly alter a family’s financial future, making it difficult to plan ahead for the various needs that will arise. One often overlooked matter is the divorce’s effect on paying for a child’s college education. A once-solidified plan may unravel, leaving families scrambling to adjust to new financial realities. This shift can be overwhelming for parents and students alike, but an Illinois divorce attorney can help you understand how divorce impacts college funding strategies.
What Is FAFSA and Why Is It Important for Divorced Parents?
FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is a form used by the U.S. Department of Education to determine eligibility for federal student aid, which includes grants, work-study, and loans. For divorced parents, it is crucial to understand how FAFSA evaluates parental information. More specifically, only the custodial parent's financial details need to be reported on the form. This can work to the student's advantage if the custodial parent has a lower income, as it may increase their eligibility for need-based aid.
How Much Alimony Will I Need to Pay in Illinois?
Many couples end up unhappy in their marriage, but some decide to stay together out of fear of the financial burden divorce could bring. If you are constantly worrying about what it would be like to split up your assets and have to pay child support and alimony, it can keep you from taking steps to live your best life away from your current partner.
Often, people think about worst-case scenarios and convince themselves they will end up much worse off financially after divorce than they truly might. If you feel stuck in your marriage because of this, a knowledgeable Kane County, IL divorce lawyer can offer some clarity by explaining how alimony is calculated, which might put you at ease.
How is Alimony Entitlement Decided?
There are several common misconceptions about alimony, officially referred to in Illinois law as maintenance. Many people mistakenly believe that alimony is automatically included in divorce and that it is a gender-specific obligation, with the ex-husband always needing to pay alimony to the ex-wife. In practice, the court will examine various factors before deciding whether either spouse should be awarded alimony. These factors include:
Legal Obligations for Parents of Child Influencers
Back in the day, many kids had a newspaper route, mowed lawns, or babysat to make some extra cash. Today, there are so many children with their own monetized social media platforms and massive followings that the law has had to evolve to address it. Children with millions of followers and subscribers, with posts that get hundreds of thousands of views, are earning significant, life-changing money at a scope that has never been seen before. On average, child influencers can make between $600-$20,000 per post, and one of the most popular child influencers who is not yet 13 years old has earned an estimated 100 million dollars over the past few years.
Recent efforts to regulate this field have resulted in new laws being passed to protect children, with various requirements for parents. If your child is an online influencer, speak with a qualified Kane County, IL family law attorney to understand your legal obligations.
What Should You Not Say During Divorce Mediation?
During a turbulent divorce, mediation can be a real lifeline, allowing a couple with a contentious relationship to resolve disputes in a way that does not escalate hard feelings. When mediation works as it should, a divorce agreement can be crafted so that both parties can live with it while avoiding a long, expensive courtroom battle. Although divorce mediation is a more peaceful process, there are things you should avoid saying to ensure the most productive mediation experience.
If you are considering mediation, having an experienced St. Charles, IL mediation attorney from Shaw Sanders, P.C. will ensure the procedure goes smoothly and the outcome benefits you and your future. Our firm has extensive family law experience and can help determine whether mediation is the right choice. It is important that you are fully prepared for the mediation experience to reap the maximum benefits from the process. So, what should you avoid saying during your mediation meetings?
How Can I End My Civil Union in Illinois?
Often, when a man and woman fall in love and think they want to spend the rest of their lives together, they get married. However, until recently, this was not a possibility for gay couples. For a long time, they had no option for being legally recognized as a couple. Then, on January 31, 2011, the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Bill was signed into legislation and enacted later that year.
This bill essentially made it legal for same-sex couples to enter into a civil union, which was to be identical to marriage. By June 1, 2014, a bill went into effect that enabled same-sex couples to get legally married. And just as same-sex marriage is legal, so is same-sex divorce. If you have questions about civil union dissolution, speak with a skilled Kane County, IL family law attorney to learn more.
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