In many modern marriages, prenuptial agreements are used to provide spouses with protection and make decisions about how certain issues will be addressed if the couple chooses to get a divorce. A prenup can make sure spouses can continue to own certain types of property after their divorce, or it can decide whether a spouse will receive spousal maintenance. A properly executed prenuptial agreement can help spouses avoid uncertainty during their divorce and make sure their financial interests will be protected. However, if disputes arise about the terms of a prenup, spouses should be aware that there are certain issues that may cause an agreement to be invalid.

Enforceability of Prenuptial Agreements

When a couple signs a prenup before getting married, this indicates that they both understand the terms of the agreement and are satisfied with the decisions made. However, disputes can sometimes arise during a divorce in which a spouse may claim that the agreement should not be enforced. When these types of disputes are addressed through litigation, there are only a few reasons why a prenup may be found to be invalid. These include:

• The agreement was not executed correctly - Both parties must sign a prenuptial agreement before getting married. If one spouse did not sign the agreement, or if it was signed after the date of the couple’s marriage, it may not be valid.

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UPDATE: In most cases, non-minor support that is paid after a child reaches the age of 18 is related to college expenses and other costs involved in the child's post-secondary education. Parents who are looking to make sure their child will have the necessary financial resources to pursue a college education will want to understand exactly what types of expenses this support will cover. 

Parents may agree on the amount they will each contribute toward their children's college expenses, or a court may order non-minor support to be paid based on the property owned by the parents or the income they earn. After determining an appropriate amount that parents should contribute, this amount will be equitably divided between the parents. 

Spouses need to address many different types of legal and financial matters when getting divorced, and attempting to understand the laws that apply to them and the terminology used in their case can sometimes be overwhelming. Spouses who own assets such as retirement accounts or pensions may have heard that they should use a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO). By understanding what this type of order covers and when it should be used, spouses can make sure they will be able to divide their marital assets correctly while addressing any related financial issues.

Using a QDRO to Divide Retirement Assets

All assets acquired by spouses during their marriage will need to be fairly and equitably divided during the divorce process. In addition to physical property, assets may include retirement savings or benefits that may not be accessible by the spouses at the time of their divorce. Contributions made by a spouse to a retirement savings account or pension benefits that a person earned while married may need to be divided either at the time of divorce or in the future.

Typically, the administrator of a qualified retirement plan that is covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) can only pay benefits to the person participating in the plan. A QDRO will allow benefits to be paid to an alternate payee. This order will provide instructions to the plan administrator stating that either a specific monetary amount or a percentage of benefits should be paid to a person’s ex-spouse.

While it is not ordered in every divorce case, spousal maintenance (which may also be known as alimony or spousal support) can be an important factor for some couples. This form of financial support will allow a spouse who relied primarily on their partner’s income during their marriage to support themselves and maintain their lifestyle. However, spousal maintenance will usually only last temporarily, so it is important to understand when it will end and make plans accordingly.

Types of Spousal Maintenance

Depending on a couple’s situation, different types of spousal support may be awarded, and the type of maintenance will affect how long it will be paid. These types include:

• Temporary maintenance - One spouse may be required to pay support to the other during the divorce process to ensure that they will be able to cover their ongoing expenses. These payments will be terminated when the divorce is finalized, and at that point, any support arrangements included in the divorce decree or judgment will go into effect.

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If you are a parent who is getting divorced, issues related to your children will be some of the most important matters that you will need to resolve. As you work to negotiate a divorce settlement with your spouse, you will create a parenting plan that fully details all decisions related to the allocation of parental responsibilities (child custody) and parenting time (visitation). The determination of how you and your spouse will divide the time that your children will spend in each of your homes will affect many other issues in your case, so you will want to make sure you have addressed this issue properly and made arrangements that will provide for your children’s best interests.

Common Parenting Time Arrangements

There are a multitude of different ways that parents can divide parenting time. When making these decisions, parents should consider the roles that they have played when caring for their children in the past, the feasibility of a proposed schedule, and how they can maintain consistency for their children and work together as co-parents to meet their needs. Some common ways of dividing parenting time include:

• 50/50 schedules - If both parents have played equal roles in raising their children and providing daily child care, they may be able to maintain these roles by creating a schedule in which they will each have equal amounts of time with the children. In these cases, parents will need to make sure arrangements are in place for transporting children to and from school or daycare, and they will both need to have time in their work schedules to care for their children on a daily basis and on weekends. Parents may use a 2/2/3 schedule in which children stay at each parent’s home for two days during the week while alternating three-day weekends between parents, or they may alternate weeks with each parent or use other arrangements for sharing equal amounts of parenting time.

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Even if you and your spouse own significant assets, you may experience financial difficulties after your divorce. This can occur because of large costs during the divorce process, due to wasting or dissipation of assets by one spouse, or because you have trouble covering your ongoing expenses on a single income. The situation can become even worse if the IRS informs you that you owe money based on tax returns that were filed while you were married. Fortunately, you may have options for addressing this issue and ensuring that you will not be penalized for your spouse’s actions.

Understanding Post-Divorce Tax Debts and Innocent Spouse Relief

Both you and your ex-spouse are responsible for taxes on any joint tax returns you filed while you were married. This means that if the IRS decides to audit you based on any of these tax returns and it determines that taxes are owed, it can take action to collect the amount owed from both you and your spouse. Even if your divorce decree states that your spouse will be solely responsible for these tax debts, the IRS can disregard the court’s orders in these matters and collect money from both of you.

However, if errors on your tax returns were the sole fault of your ex, you may be able to avoid liability through innocent spouse relief. To qualify for relief, you will need to show that any underpayment of taxes occurred because of errors made by your ex-spouse on a joint tax return. At the time you signed the tax return, you must not have known or have had any reason to know about these errors. If the IRS determines that the tax debts are the fault of your ex-spouse and that it would be unfair to hold you responsible for these errors, you will not be required to pay these debts.

Every year, we publish dozens of blogs about a wide variety of topics related to divorce and family law. Our goal is to provide people with helpful information about issues that they may need to address when getting divorced, settling disputes over marital property or child custody, or handling other matters in family court. Our most popular blogs that people have read over the past year have covered many areas of the law and other issues that affect families, and we encourage you to read these articles and share them with those who may find them helpful:

1. When You Can Extend Child Support Beyond Age 18 - We look at when divorced parents may be required to contribute to their children’s college expenses or provide other forms of financial support.

2. Remarriage Can Affect Child Support Payments - While child support payments are typically based on parents’ incomes, in some cases, a parent’s marriage to a new spouse may affect the amount they will be required to pay.

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When you get divorced, you will likely be concerned about your finances. Shifting from sharing financial resources with your spouse to supporting yourself on a single income can be a difficult adjustment, and the decisions made about how you and your spouse will divide your marital assets can also affect the resources that will be available to you. Unfortunately, these issues can become even more complicated and difficult if your spouse has spent, wasted, or destroyed your marital property or if you are worried that they plan to do so. However, with the help of a skilled attorney, you can protect against the dissipation of marital assets and make sure you will have the financial resources you need.

What Is Asset Dissipation?

If one spouse uses marital funds or property for their sole benefit and for purposes unrelated to their marriage during the period where the marriage is undergoing an irretrievable breakdown, this is considered asset dissipation. For example, a spouse could spend marital funds while pursuing an extramarital affair, such as by buying gifts for someone other than their spouse or going on trips with that person and paying for plane tickets, hotel rooms, and meals. Dissipation could also include spending money on gambling or to further a drug addiction, buying expensive items solely for one’s own benefit, or intentionally destroying property.

If one spouse has dissipated assets, the other spouse can make an asset dissipation claim during the process of dividing marital property, asking the court to address this issue by requiring the spouse to reimburse the marital estate for the dissipated assets or grant the other spouse a larger share of marital property. A dissipation claim must be made at least 60 days before a divorce trial begins or 30 days after the end of the discovery process. Dissipation must have occurred after the date that the couple’s marriage began undergoing an irretrievable breakdown, and a spouse cannot make a dissipation claim more than three years after they knew or should have known about the dissipation or for an incident more than five years before either party filed a petition for divorce.

Following your divorce, it is likely that you or your ex-spouse will plan to move to a new home at some point. This is a normal activity, and a relocation may be planned for multiple reasons, such as to begin a new job, to be closer to family or a new partner, or to live in a larger, more comfortable home. However, parents should be aware that a move may require them to make changes to their parenting plan, and in certain cases, they will need to get approval from the court to complete a parental relocation.

When Is Approval Required for Parental Relocation?

A move to a new home is only considered parental relocation if a parent who has the majority of parenting time or shares equal amounts of parenting time plans to move to a new home a certain distance away from the child’s current home. For those who live in counties around the Chicago area (Cook, DuPage, Kane, Will, Lake, or McHenry), a move of at least 25 miles will be considered a relocation. Relocation rules will also apply to a move of 50 miles or more from another Illinois county or a move of at least 25 miles to a location outside of Illinois.

At least 60 days before moving, or at the earliest practical date within 60 days, a parent must notify the other parent and the court where their divorce case was heard. If the other parent does not object to the relocation, and a judge agrees that the move would be in the child’s best interests, the relocation will be approved. If the other parent objects, a court hearing will be held, and the judge will decide whether to grant the move based on a consideration of several factors, including the reasons for the planned move, the reasons the other parent is objecting, the ways the move is expected to affect the child, and whether changes can be made to the parenting plan that will minimize the negative effects on parent-child relationships.

Divorced parents will usually share custody of their children, and when doing so, they will follow the parenting plan that was included as part of their divorce decree or judgment. This document will address the allocation of parental responsibilities (commonly known as “legal custody”), and it will include schedules for parenting time (also referred to as “physical custody” or “visitation”). A parenting plan will provide a framework for how parents will work together to raise their children. Because parents’ and children’s lives may change in the years following a divorce or breakup, modifications to child custody arrangements may be needed. Parents should be sure to understand when these types of changes may be made and the steps they will need to take to do so.

Modifying a Parenting Plan Because of Changed Circumstances

Illinois law states that changes to the allocation of parental responsibilities cannot be made within the first two years following the issuance of a divorce decree or child custody order, although exceptions may be made if the court determines that a child would be at risk of physical or emotional harm in their present environment. Parenting time, on the other hand, can be modified at any time, either by an agreement between the parents or because of a “significant change in circumstances.” After the first two years, legal custody modifications may also be made based on changed circumstances.

Significant changes in circumstances may include any issues that affect either the parents or the children and require changes to how parents make decisions about the children or adjustments to the time the children spend in each parent’s care. For example, one parent may begin a new job that will require them to work during their scheduled parenting time, and they may ask that the schedule be changed to ensure that they can continue to spend the same amount of time with their children. Legal custody may be modified if children experience changes that affect the parents’ ability to make decisions. For instance, a child may experience a serious illness or health condition, and the parent who primarily provides care to the child may ask for the sole authority to make the necessary decisions about the medical care the child will receive.

Most people are familiar with prenuptial agreements that may be signed before a couple gets married. While these agreements can be especially beneficial in situations where one or both spouses own substantial assets before they get married, a prenup can help any couple decide how they will handle certain matters if they ever get divorced. However, what many people may not know is that these types of agreements can also be made after getting married. While some may wonder why a postnuptial agreement would be necessary if a couple did not create a prenuptial agreement, there are many different reasons that couples may choose to enter into these types of agreements.

Situations Where a Postnuptial Agreement May Be Needed

As with prenups, postnups can specify how the division of marital property will be handled during a potential divorce, as well as whether either spouse will pay spousal support to the other. Some examples of cases where spouses may wish to create a postnuptial agreement include:

• Business ownership - If either spouse starts a new business venture during their marriage or acquires an ownership interest in a business, the business will be considered marital property that may be divided between spouses in the case of divorce. This can raise concerns about whether the business will be able to remain operational, which may also affect the income-earning potential of the business owner. To protect a business from dissolution, a postnuptial agreement can specify how the spouses will divide business assets if they get divorced, such as by stating that one spouse will retain ownership of the business, while the other will receive other assets of a similar value.

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When spouses choose to end their marriage through divorce, they will need to address and resolve multiple different financial issues. During the process of dividing marital assets, real estate property owned by either or both spouses will be one of the key issues to consider, since these are likely to be some of the most valuable assets a couple owns. In addition to determining how to handle ownership of their marital home, couples may also need to consider other properties they own, such as vacation homes or commercial properties. To ensure that these assets are addressed properly, it is important to work with an experienced divorce lawyer, as well as other experts who can perform appraisals of property and provide guidance about financial decisions.

Factors to Consider When Dividing Real Estate and Other Marital Property

If a couple’s marital home or any other piece of real estate property was acquired during their marriage, it will usually be considered a marital asset that will need to be divided along with other property. However, even if real estate was owned by one spouse before getting married, it may be converted from separate property into marital property if both spouses used the property, made improvements, or contributed to mortgage payments and other expenses related to the home. In some cases, a spouse who owns real estate that is considered separate property may be required to repay the other spouse for their contributions to increased property values or equity in the home.

Divorcing spouses may sell their marital home and divide the proceeds from the sale, or one spouse may retain ownership of the home, while the other spouse receives other marital property of a similar value. When selling real estate property, spouses should be sure to understand whether capital gains taxes will apply to the profits they earn. If one spouse will own the home, the mortgage will usually need to be refinanced, and the other spouse will need to be removed from the home’s title and deed. A spouse who plans to maintain sole ownership of their home should be sure they will have the financial resources to make mortgage payments and pay other ongoing expenses, including utilities, maintenance, and property taxes.

During a divorce, child custody is often one of the most important concerns that a couple will need to address, but it can also be one of the most divisive issues. When the relationship between parents has broken down, they will be unlikely to agree about what is best for their children, and each parent may believe that they should be granted sole or primary custody. Those who are going through a divorce will need to understand how the law applies to their situation, and by working with an attorney, they can ensure that their parental rights will be protected while also arguing for what is in their children’s best interests.

Allocation of Parental Responsibilities and Parenting Time

Child custody consists of two separate, but related, issues. Legal custody, which is known in Illinois as the “allocation of parental responsibilities,” addresses the decisions parents make about their children’s lives, including their education, the medical care they will receive, religious practices or training, and the extracurricular activities they will participate in. Physical custody, which is known as “parenting time,” is the time children will spend in the care of each parent. During their parenting time, each parent will have sole responsibility regarding the routine decisions about children’s day-to-day lives, as well as the right to make emergency decisions about children’s health and safety.

While it is possible for one parent to be granted sole legal custody, courts usually believe that it is in children’s best interests for both parents to be involved in children’s lives, and parents will usually share parental responsibilities. However, different areas of responsibility may be allocated solely or primarily to one parent in some cases. For example, if only one parent had been involved in the children’s education during their marriage, such as by helping with homework and attending parent-teacher conferences and school events, that parent may be allocated sole responsibility in this area.

If you are like most people living in the United States in the 21st century, you use social media on a daily basis. Apps and websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok allow you to connect with friends and family, follow news stories, and communicate with others who share your interests. However, this level of connection may also have its drawbacks, especially if you are going through a divorce. As you go through the process of ending your marriage, you should take steps to protect your privacy and avoid any issues that could affect your divorce case.

Social Media and Privacy Concerns

During the divorce process, making sure your personal information is private is likely to be a major concern. If you and your spouse have shared a computer or other electronic devices, you may have had access to each other’s social media accounts. To ensure that your spouse cannot log into your account to view your personal information or make posts in your name, you will want to change your passwords, and you may also want to update your account settings to make sure you can only log in from certain devices.

You should also be aware of privacy settings on the posts you make. While you may be able to restrict access to certain posts so they can only be viewed by your close friends or family members, you should be prepared for the possibility that your spouse could still view this information. For example, a mutual friend may decide to take a screenshot of a message or photo you posted and send it to your spouse. To make sure your privacy is protected, you may want to avoid posting or sharing any information that you would not want your spouse to see.

In most situations, the divorce process will involve multiple different financial issues that will need to be addressed. When determining how to divide marital property, spouses will need to consider their physical belongings, financial accounts, real estate property, retirement savings and benefits, and debts. Business interests owned by spouses, either together or separately, will be a major factor in these considerations, especially for those who own professional practices. For doctors, dentists, therapists, chiropractors, accountants, or other professionals, a business will not only represent a significant investment of time, money, and effort, but it may also be a primary source of income. Because of this, professionals will usually want to determine how they can continue owning and operating their practice after their divorce is complete.

Addressing Ownership of Professional Practices

Family-owned businesses are treated the same as other types of property, and a professional practice that was founded during a couple’s marriage will be considered a marital asset, while a practice that was owned by one spouse before getting married will usually be considered non-marital property. However, in situations where a spouse contributed money or work that helped a business owned by the other spouse grow or increase in value, the spouse who owns the business may be required to reimburse the other spouse for their contributions.

During the divorce process, a business valuation will need to be performed to determine the full monetary value of a professional practice. Different approaches may be taken during this valuation, including looking at the business’s assets and liabilities, the amount that could be received if the business was sold, or the business’s projected earnings over the next several years. Personal goodwill is another factor that may need to be considered when addressing professional practices. For example, a doctor may have built up a good reputation among their patients, and the value of their practice may be based on their ability to continue to provide medical care to clients.

For many parents, the identity of a child’s father is not in question. In fact, under Illinois law, a mother’s spouse is presumed to be her child’s legal parent, as long as the child was born during the couple’s marriage or within 300 days after the couple was separated, got divorced, or one partner died. However, this means that if a child is born while a couple is unmarried, or if a situation does not meet the criteria described above, paternity will need to be established to ensure that the father will be recognized as the child’s legal parent. Paternity may also need to be addressed if the identity of a child’s father is in doubt or is known to be someone other than the mother’s spouse.

Establishing Paternity in Illinois

The simplest and most common way of establishing paternity is for both parents to fill out and sign a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity (VAP) form, which can be done at any time after their child is born. This form can be provided by a hospital, and it is also available on the website of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, at a local county clerk’s office, and other sources. By filling out this form, the parents will both recognize that a man is the child’s father. This will allow him to be listed on the child’s birth certificate, and he will have full parental rights regarding the child.

Paternity can also be voluntarily acknowledged if the biological father is a person other than the child’s presumed parent. In these cases, the presumed father may submit a Denial of Parentage form, and the biological parents may submit a VAP. The mother, the presumed father, or the child may also submit a petition in court to declare the nonexistence of the parent-child relationship. This type of legal action must be initiated within two years after the petitioner knew or should have known the facts of the case. For example, a presumed father must file this type of petition within two years after he first discovers that he is not a child’s biological father.

2020 has been a difficult year for many families. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a great deal of stress for many people, requiring them to stay at home and avoid contact with others whenever possible. Parents have had to determine how to provide for their children’s educational needs as they learn from home or attend in-person classes part of the time, and they may have struggled to balance these concerns with the need to work from home or follow the proper safety measures while in public. On top of everything else, many parents have had to deal with financial difficulties due to layoffs, business closures, or restricted working hours. Divorced or separated parents will want to understand how changes to income or other financial obligations will affect the child support they pay or receive, and they may need to take steps to pursue a modification of their child support orders or other terms of their parenting plan.

Modifications Based on a Change in Circumstances

Typically, the terms of a divorce decree or child support order will only be changed if it can be demonstrated that a parent has experienced a significant change in circumstances. A change in the income earned by either parent will usually qualify as a significant change. For example, a job loss may cause a parent to be unable to meet their child support obligations, and they may ask for a reduction in the amount they will be required to pay. If a parent who receives child support suffers a loss in income, they may ask for an increase in the amount of child support payments to ensure that they can continue to meet their children’s financial needs.

Parents are required to continue to pay child support until a modification goes into effect. To ensure that they do not suffer legal consequences, a parent may need to use unemployment benefits, personal savings, or other financial resources to pay child support. If a parent owes child support, any COVID-19 stimulus payments they receive from the government may be intercepted and applied toward the amount owed.

Getting a divorce will require spouses to address many different legal and financial issues, and this process can become very complicated, especially in cases where a couple has a high net worth. Sometimes, a spouse may try to take advantage of the complex nature of these proceedings and attempt to unfairly influence the division of marital property by hiding certain assets from their partner. If you believe that your spouse is concealing assets from you or is otherwise refusing to meet their legal obligations during the divorce process, you will want to work with an experienced divorce attorney to determine how to proceed.

Common Methods of Concealing Marital Assets

A spouse may attempt to hide money, property, or other assets because they do not think their former partner should receive certain items, or they may do so out of an attempt to make things more difficult for the other spouse. A person may also believe that they should receive a greater share of the marital estate because they earned the majority of the family’s income. However, attempting to illicitly claim assets outside of the standard procedures for dividing property is illegal. All of a couple’s assets, including their marital property and the separate property each spouse owns, should be disclosed during the divorce to ensure that all aspects of the couple’s financial situation are considered when dividing marital assets.

Some ways that a spouse may attempt to conceal marital property include:

When parents choose to get divorced, they will need to address a wide variety of legal issues related to their children, and they will need to determine how they can continue to work together as co-parents to meet their children’s needs in the years following the end of their marriage. Since divorce can be an emotional and stressful process, parents’ negative attitudes toward each other may spill over into their interactions with their children and affect children’s relationships with both parents.

When one parent attempts to negatively influence their children’s attitudes toward the other parent, this is known as parental alienation. Whether it is done intentionally in hopes of gaining an advantage in decisions about child custody or is a by-product of a parent’s emotional difficulties during the divorce process, parental alienation should be addressed promptly to ensure that it does not cause harm to the children or affect the other parent’s parental rights.

Signs of Parental Alienation

Parental alienation can take a variety of forms. It can involve overt comments by a parent about their former partner to their children, such as blaming them for the divorce or claiming that they do not love their children or want to spend time with them. In many cases, parental alienation is more subtle, consisting of activities such as removing a parent as a contact at children’s schools or scheduling activities that the children would enjoy during the other parent’s parenting time.

Getting divorced can have a major impact on your finances. You will probably need to make a number of adjustments as you shift from managing a home using the income that you and your spouse earned together to using a single income to cover your ongoing expenses. If there is a disparity between the income you earn and the amount your spouse makes, this could introduce additional complications into your divorce proceedings. In these cases, spousal maintenance, which is sometimes referred to as spousal support or alimony, may be appropriate.

When Is a Spouse Eligible to Receive Maintenance?

Spousal maintenance is not appropriate in every divorce, but it may be awarded if one spouse earns the majority of the family’s income or if the other spouse has been reliant on the wages and benefits earned by their former partner. For example, a stay-at-home parent may not currently earn any income, and their former spouse may be required to make ongoing payments to ensure that they can maintain their accustomed standard of living following the divorce.

Spouses may agree in their divorce settlement that maintenance will be paid, or the decision about whether to award maintenance may be left up to the judge in their case. This decision will be based on a number of factors, including the income each spouse earns, their ongoing needs, their ability to find work and earn suitable wages and benefits, and decisions about child custody and parenting time. A judge may also look at whether a spouse made sacrifices to their career because of the family or whether one spouse helped the other obtain education or training that helped them advance their career.