Anderson & Boback Family Law Attorneys

  There are many things that parents do when they are going through a separation from a partner or a divorce where a parent could lose custody - or impact their rights to make decisions for their minor children going forward, or which could thwart their parenting time schedule.  Illinois no longer uses the term “custody". Instead, the major decisions that need to be made relative to a child’s healthcare, education, extra-curricular activities and religion are now allocated as “parental responsibilities” between both parties, or to one party.  This was formerly what we called legal custody .  There is also now a parenting time schedule in Illinois that dictates where the minor children are on which days, and with which parents, which is called the parenting time schedule.  Both of these things can be severely impacted when two parents cannot “play nice in the sandbox” and it is important to know situations where your rights could be impacted, based upon your beha...

  In my experience as a Chicago divorce attorney , when it comes to which spouse initiates a divorce in a marriage it is more often the wife.  Of course, there are plenty of husbands who file for divorce but in a typical case, it is the wife. Insights from a Chicago Divorce Attorney I presume that the reason for women filing first is because it is more often the wife who will search out an attorney to talk to about divorce and schedule a consultation with a divorce lawyer to talk about what is going on in the marriage and her reasons for thinking of filing for divorce .  Once the wife has the consultation with a lawyer and gathers the information, she has the tools to move forward and has started to develop a relationship with an attorney who can represent her so she feels more comfortable filing.   Men also initiate divorce and they also are the ones who have reached out and obtained information through a consultation with a divorce lawyer .  Once either...

Once people get engaged, they often start getting all the planning and details of the wedding ready. There are plans for the wedding dress, the bridesmaids, planning the honeymoon, and the gift registry, but very little planning goes into whether a premarital or prenup agreement is needed.  If you are a young Chicago couple and have no assets, then maybe you will elect not to get a prenuptial agreement. However, even young couples with no assets can benefit from a prenuptial agreement .  There should at least be a discussion as to whether a prenup agreement may be necessary long term or not. What Are Some Reasons Why You Would Want to Consider a Prenup Agreement?  First of all, you should know what a premarital agreement is and the implications of having one or not having one.  A prenup or prenuptial agreement - also called a premarital agreement - is a document that lays out the financial terms of a marriage. It is a contract between the two of you.  People en...

As Chicago divorce attorneys one of the common questions we're asked by clients is how the credit card debt gets divided in a divorce. When you get a divorce in Chicago the Illinois law requires all debts and assets accumulated by you and your spouse to be divided equitably.  Equitably is not necessarily equally, however it could be.  Dividing Credit Card Debt in a Divorce There are many factors that are considered when dividing credit card debt and other debts in a divorce and the court will look at all the circumstances surrounding the debt that was incurred. If the debt was incurred during the marriage before anyone filed or before the marriage broke down, then it is likely considered a marital debt that has to be equitably divided based mainly upon each party’s income and ability to pay the debt.  Once parties separate and accumulate debt after the separation, often times this is considered to be each spouse’s individual debt because it was accumulated after the br...

Divorce is never an easy decision. However, should you have to stay in a toxic marriage for your child's benefit?    I am sure that you could ask this question to many different people and receive a different answer from everyone.  Some people are committed to staying in a marriage even if it is toxic because they took a vow on their wedding day.  I will not go as far as to say that this is just silly, but my answer would be very close to that view. 5 Toxic Marriage Situations Where Divorce May Be the Answer 1. Some Marriages Can Be Saved   The question is, which ones are those?  If you are merely bored or think your new co-worker is your new “soul-mate” then you might want to consider some counseling.  I am a big fan of counseling and/or therapy to save your marriage.  It does not happen a lot in my practice, but some people realize once they have decided to divorce that maybe the breakup was not such a good idea.  We put those types o...

Selecting an attorney to represent you in your divorce is an important step that can have a lasting impact on your future.  To aid you in the process we have prepared a list of questions important to ask in a divorce attorney consultation . 1. How long have you been practicing divorce law in Illinois?   The most important question to ask during a divorce attorney consultation is about that attorney’s experience with Illinois divorce law .  You want to make sure that the attorney that you hire to represent you in your divorce knows the divorce laws, the judges, the other attorneys in this arena and has several years of experience in representing litigants in divorce.   2.  In what counties do you practice and where are most of your cases?   You also want to ask the attorney about the geographical area that they practice in most often.  This will give you the information you need about their familiarity with the judges, rules, and practitioners in ...

Generally speaking, when there is an issue relative to the allocation of parental responsibilities and/or parenting time (formerly known as custody and visitation), the Courts in Illinois will first send the parties to mediation, prior to adjudicating any of the issues in Court. Using mediation in allocation of parental responsibilities disputes can be very effective.  What is Mediation? Mediation is the process where the two litigants meet with a neutral third party, a trained mediator, to try and resolve their differences prior to having hearings before a Judge. The only time mediation is waived is when there is a significant hindrance or impairment in the parties’ ability to participate in mediation, such as an order of protection, for example. However, in some cases, parties with an order of protection between them can still mediate. Some mediators will put these parties in separate rooms and shuffle back and forth so that they can still participate in this process. In Cook Co...