Category: Spousal Maintenance (Alimony)

In some cases during a divorce, a spouse may attempt to hide certain assets prior to or during a divorce to prevent sharing them. However, the other spouse often has the chance to use legal tools referred to as "discovery" to assist them in finding these hidden assets and income.

Pensions, which must be divided in Illinois divorces, may not be offset by the other spouse's future expected Social Security benefits. The amount of a spouse's future Social Security benefits may not be used to reduce the amount of marital assets that he or she receives in the property division portion of the divorce. This is true even in cases in which one spouse only makes contributions to Social Security while the other contributes to a government pension. Social Security may not be used to equalize the division of property in Illinois. Divorce lawyers may work to help their clients to negotiate fair property settlements that protect their clients' interests, including the division of pensions, retirement accounts, real estate and all other assets from their clients' marriages.