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Showing posts from February, 2021

Dads Can Obtain Child Custody

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I agree that in most situations, dads seem to get less parenting time than mothers do, but generally, there is a reason for that.  When it comes to child custody, mothers fight harder for the majority of the parenting time and typically do more of the day-to-day care for the minor children. Dads are making changes however to the way they parent. In the trend I see, dads are coming away with either the majority of the parenting time or at least close to equal parenting time. In years past, there was a division of labor within the household.  Dads were going off to work and the mothers stayed home with the children and took care of the household.  Even when women entered the workforce, their roles still included taking care of the children.  In a divorce situation then, the woman was obtaining the majority of the parenting time, and rightly so.  After all, the custody arrangement is supposed to revolve around the best interests of the child and custody went to ...

How Do I Obtain Custody of a Child that Isn’t My Biological Child?

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  Many times parties will want to file for custody of a minor child that is not their own biological child.  Aunts, Uncles, siblings, grandparents, and other adults often times will find themselves in circumstances where they wish to file for custody.   In Illinios there are certain situations where they possibly can obtain custody, but it depends on whether or not they have the standing to file a petition or a new case.   "Standing" and Seeking Custody of a Minor that is Not Your Biological Child In Illinois, you must have standing in order to file for custody of a minor child that is not your biological child.  Illinois law prescribes specific situations where a specific type of non-parent may file for custody of a minor child.  Generally, if you are a non-parent that wishes to file for custody of a minor child under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, you may only do so if the minor child is not in the physical custody of one of t...

Distributions from an Inherited IRA is Income for Support & Maintenance

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An opinion from the 5th District was recently decided in the case of Sandra Schell v. Mark Schell regarding whether an inherited IRA was considered income for child support purposes.    The court was required to decide whether mandatory distributions or withdrawals taken from an inherited IRA - individual retirement account - containing money that has never been imputed against the recipient for the purposes of maintenance and child support calculations constitute ‘income’ under 750 ILCS 5/504(b-3) (West 2018) and 750 ILCS 5/505(a)(3) (West 2018).  It was held that  “gross income” and “net income,” as defined in sections 504 and 505 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (Act) (750 ILCS 5/504(b-3), 505(a)(3) (West 2018)), includes distributions or withdrawals taken from a party’s IRA when said IRA only contains money received via inheritance and said inheritance has not previously been imputed on the party as income for the purposes of calculating...