Modifications to a child support order in Illinois can be granted based on a “substantial change in circumstances” since the last child support order was entered. In addition, a child support order can also be modified if the petitioner can show that the obligor’s child support obligations differ from the guidelines set forth in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution …
Retroactive Child Support in Illinois
You might wonder if child support can be awarded retroactively. In short, it can. In deciding whether to order retroactive child support or not, the court considers the following factors: A determination of the factors specified in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act; The noncustodial parent’s prior knowledge of the fact and circumstances regarding the child’s birth; The …
Horses + Divorces, Grapes + Gripes, and Romantic Farmer Prenups
I’m talking the intersect between family/matrimonial law and agriculture in Tiffany Dowell Lashmet’s podcast “Ag Law in the Field”. I’m on Episode 4 and you can listen to the podcast interview here or download it via iTunes. I talk about why I love prenups and Alternative Dispute Resolution with divorce, especially in the contest of agriculture. I also give some …
Tips for Running a Family Biz
I was having my “Miracle Morning” this morning and catching up on the the news. I came this article in USA Today by Rhonda Abrams titled “8 Keys to Running a Family Business.” When I hear “family business,” I cannot help but think about multi-generational food and agriculture businesses. Here are Rhonda’s tips: Decides who does which job. Like a …
Ask Cari: Questions on Divorce, Debt and Prenups
Here are some recent answers from some questions I received on the Big D’s (Divorce, Debt, and Death): 1. What should people know when it comes to your spouse¹s debt when it comes to death or divorce? In most states, all debt obtained by either party after the date of the marriage is considered marital debt while debt incurred before …
Cari’s 6 Tips for Married Folks
I was recently interviewed regarding my “tips for married couples”. I’m a single gal and have never been married myself; however, I feel like I’ve learned a lot about married from my chair as being a matrimonial lawyer. For what’s it’s worth, here are my $0.02. (p.s. – Happy Pi Day!) 1. Talk About Finances. When people are going through …
Illinois Family Law: Was Your Marriage Invalid?
When two people are going through a divorce, one of the first things courts consider is whether the marriage itself was VALID. Albeit rare, under Illinois law, parties can assert a ground for dissolution of the marriage alleging that the marriage itself was not valid. Here are a few of the possible reasons: a party lacked property capacity to consent to …
Illinois Family Law: Common Law Marriage
Interestingly, Illinois does not recognize common law marriage (i.e., when two people cohabitate and hold the other out as a spouse for a certain period of time); however, Illinois WILL recognize a common law marriage in other state if that couple then moves to Illinois and then wants a divorce. Importantly, this doesn’t affect child support if there are kidlets …
New York Child Custody and Visitation Agreements – Think About Traveling with Children
The Courts have found travel to be in the best interest of the child. Consequently, a parent should not unreasonably withhold consent for the child to travel with the other parent. If the non-traveling parent unreasonably withholds consent then the court can override the non-traveling parent’s objection to the travel. See Matter of Arroyo v. Agosta, 2010 NY Slip Op …
New York Child Custody and Visitation Law: Agreements to “Electronic Visitation” or Parental Access
In this electronic age, parents can craft an agreement allowing the parent to have meaningful communication with the child(ren) using electronic methods (i.e., Parenting 2.0!) including: • Telephone (e.g., to the other parent’s phone or the child’s phone) • Video-conferencing (e.g., FaceTime, Skype) • Text messaging (e.g., WhatsApp, Viber) • Social media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat) • Electronic mail …
New York Child Custody and Visitation Law: Sibling Visitation
Siblings have a statutory right to visitation with each other. This is true whether the relationship be of full-blood siblings or half-blood siblings. There is a two-part analysis for evaluating sibling visitation. First, standing – or the right to be heard – has to be established. Second, the court must determine whether the visitation is in the best interest of …
Ask Cari: Common Mistakes in a Divorce
Here is a question that I recently received: “Hey Cari, What do people often do “wrong” when they’re about to file for divorce or in the midst of a divorce?” My response: People going through divorce sometimes believe that going to court immediately is the way to resolve things. To the contrary, mediation or the collaborative divorce process would be the …