Anderson & Boback Family Law Attorneys

  Your High Asset Divorce can have pitfalls that are more damaging than a divorce case with little to no assets. There is just so much more to lose in high asset divorce. Many high asset clients are very savvy about their finances, which is how they fall into the “high asset” category to begin with. So, there are certain issues in which these individuals need to exercise extreme caution to ensure that they are obtaining everything that they can during their divorce proceedings. 4 Things to Avoid in Your High Asset Divorce Do not let yourself fall victim to these common mistakes: 1. Completing Discovery, even if the relationship is “amicable” Some parties to a marriage may believe they know everything about their and their partner’s finances. Other parties may know nothing about each other’s finances. Frankly, it doesn’t matter either way, because in both scenarios it is very important to complete discovery. Waiving a right to discovery means there is a possibility that...

  A business valuation helps plan for unforeseen circumstances, details an exit strategy for the owners and lays out an execution plan for expansion; Business valuations use many different ways to come up with a value but what is always relevant is the business assets, liabilities, income, benefits and the current market in and outside of any particular industry sue. Benefits of a Business Valuation An unforeseen circumstance can devastate a company and a business valuation helps determine the price in the event a sale becomes an option. Someone who is interested in purchasing that business needs to know a value so that a sales price can be negotiated, and that value can be determined through a business valuation. As a business grows and expands through the years, an owner could use a business valuation to keep employees motivated by offering stock options or additional compensation which would be directly related to the value of the business. A valuation also gives leve...

  Text messages in divorce court can be important evidence to bring before a Judge. When you are in the middle of a dispute with your spouse (or soon-to-be ex-spouse) you may find yourself receiving numerous texts. Perhaps many of the text messages are harassing and show that your ex-spouse is not being the great person he tries to portray to the Judge when you are in divorce court. When that happens, you need to preserve these harassing text messages so that you can use them as evidence and get them before the Judge. Preserving All Text Messages for Use in Court Text messages are being used in court to support a person’s story. If you are in this situation you should and have text messages you think would be helpful in court, be sure to keep all of your messages intact on your phone. This way you have the messages showing a complete chain of events – a complete story if you will. Do Not Omit Any Texts You do not want to give your lawyer just some of the text messages ...

In Illinois, child support can include paying a child’s college expenses as provided in Section 513 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Effective January 1, 2016, Section 513 is the child support law that is used to require the parents to contribute to their child’s college expenses. This college education expense law provides who is to contribute (mom, dad and/or child), how much each contributes, and for how long the contribution is necessary. The obligation terminates at age 23 unless there is good cause shown why it should continue, and then the termination date is 25 regardless of circumstances. Contribution to Child’s College Expenses Contribution to college expenses is different than child support in that each parent’s contribution to college is not determined by using guidelines or a formula. The court will consider the present and future financial resources of both parents in determining how much, if anything, they are each to contribute. Court’...

Partner Jessica C. Marshall recently represented a Father in a Parentage case filed before the minor child in question was even born, settling the matter for an extremely reasonable child support amount, as well as a very substantial parenting time schedule for the Father. Mother Filed Child Support and Parentage Case Prior to Child's Birth Father and Mother were never married, and Father lived out of state. Mother resided in Illinois and prior to the child being born, the Mother filed a Child Support and Parentage case. After the child was born, the Father began exercising parenting time by flying to Illinois as often as he could to visit with his young child, but the parenting time schedule was not enough. Mother continued to unilaterally exercise major decisions for the minor child throughout the pendency of the case. Father Relocates to Illinois to Be Close to His Minor Child Father obtained new employment and relocated to Illinois approximately two (2) years into ...

  In Illinois, the parent paying child support cannot modify support using the other parent’s increased income as a substantial change in circumstances. While the new support law takes into account the income of both parents, there still needs to be a substantial change in circumstance to ask the court to modify the child support. It is problematic since every person who pays the support, wants the court to take a fresh look at the support obligation to include their ex’s income. For those earning about the same about of income, or a bit more, can easily determine that their support obligation would go down if their ex’s income was now a part of the calculation. How does an obligor get the court to review it though? It does seem unfair to watch some people modify their support obligation while others are still required to pay more than they should under the new statute. Shouldn’t the new statute be applied equally to everyone and allow everyone to pay the required amount un...