Divorce

Making the decision to get a divorce can be one of the most important and emotional decisions you will ever make. The process is often more difficult and more emotionally charged when children are involved. An experienced family law attorney from our firm can help you approach the emotional, financial, and legal matters involved in a divorce in a rational manner.

Grounds for Divorce

In Illinois, you do not have to prove someone is at fault to get a divorce. In a no-fault divorce either spouse can obtain a divorce without proving the other spouse did something wrong, even if the other spouse does not consent to the divorce.

In Illinois you can also allege grounds, or fault, to obtain a divorce. Some of the more common reasons for obtaining a fault-based divorce include adultery, mental illness, mental cruelty, and abandonment. In Illinois, courts should not consider fault in determining issues related to support and allocation of assets.

Alimony, Spousal Support, and Maintenance

When one spouse is required to pay financial support to the other spouse it is called maintenance. Maintenance is also known as alimony or spousal support. Maintenance can be permanent or temporary. Permanent maintenance is most often ordered when a long-term marriage comes to an end. There must be proof that the spouse seeking permanent maintenance needs ongoing support and that the spouse making the payments has the financial ability to make ongoing support payments.

Temporary maintenance, sometimes known as rehabilitative maintenance, is often ordered when one spouse needs support to obtain the necessary skills to reenter the job market or to obtain training that allows them to enhance skills so they can support themselves after the marriage ends.

Illinois judges consider many factors in determining if maintenance should be paid and if so how much. The length of the marriage, the parties ages, employability, health, education and financial status are some of the factors considered. Payment of maintenance can be one of the more difficult issues to resolve when dissolving a marriage.

Division of Property

Another difficult issue to resolve is how to divide marital property. It is not unusual for the parties to have emotional attachments to property which often causes difficulty in reaching an agreement. Using the services of an experienced divorce attorney from our firm to help resolve these issues can make the process much smoother.

Illinois is a community property state. This means that property obtained during the marriage will be split between the parties in an equitable fashion. There is no set formula judge will apply in determining how to distribute the property but factors such as the length of the marriage, ability of the parties to replace items, and financial status of each of the parties will be considered.

Contact a skilled and compassionate divorce lawyer at Mirabella, Kincaid, Frederick & Mirabella. today.