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When parents who are divorcing cannot come to an agreement on their parenting plan, the courts will take a series of steps to help them come to an agreement. Those steps typically include sending the couple to mediation, appointing a child representative, and appointing a parenting coordinator. The goal in these cases is to help the parents come to a decision about their parenting plan, all while protecting the child and the child’s relationship with both parents.
When a couple heads towards divorce and one party was the stay-at-home parent or homemaker, the courts take into consideration the non-monetary contributions to the home when considering things like alimony, distribution of property, and determining earning capacity. In Illinois, protections are in place to ensure the stay-at-home spouse is able to return to the workforce and succeed after the divorce is final.
When one of the six million I-Pass users in Illinois faces divorce, their private and personal information is put at risk. Unfortunately, the transponders that track the movement of vehicles and conveniently take out the toll money when drivers drive on toll roads also record personal information, and that information is readily available to anyone who has a warrant, court order, or subpoena. This includes an ex-spouse in a divorce, raising privacy concerns for divorcing spouses.
The way gifts are treated in an Illinois divorce depends on how they are classified, whether they meet the definition of "gift" under state law, and whether the assets were co-mingled with marital property. Gifts that are determined to be marital property are divided equitably. Assets that are non-marital property stay with the owner. Understanding what Illinois state law considers a gift will help divorcing spouses know what to expect.