Anderson & Boback Family Law Attorneys

  This is a review of the Illinois family law case of In re Marriage of Portillo for an order of protection and supervised visitation. The opinion was filed on September 23, 2021. Case Background Julie Portillo filed a petition for an order of protection and a petition for supervised visitation against her former husband and father of her children, Daniel Portillo Martinez. The trial court granted both petitions and entered an emergency order of protection. Both orders limited Daniel’s contact with the children, and he appealed. The Appellate court reversed. THE ORIGINAL JUDGMENT Under the original judgment, the parenting plan gave both parents joint decision making of their two minor children. As part of the Parenting Plan , a schedule was created that specified dates and times when each parent was responsible for the care of the minor children. JULIE SEEKS EMERGENCY RELIEF FROM THE COURT Daniel started the litigation with a petition to modify his parenting time. Julie filed a mo...

One of the costliest parts of divorce litigation is discovery . Written Discovery is the request for you to answer questions in detail about your income, assets, standard of living, etc. These request will ask you to produce a detailed list of documents usually spanning several years. There is no way around discovery if the parties wish to proceed in this fashion and it is often advisable to request documents so that you can confirm details about assets and liabilities and the value of the marital estate. The best way to keep the cost in check is to provide all the documents that you are asked to produce. If you produce them electronically, produce them in a form that can be easily saved, reviewed, and summarized, and if you produce the documents in paper format, it is best to produce 3 copies of each document so that your attorney has a copy to provide opposing and a copy for the court in the event the case proceeds to trial. This will s ave your attorney time and you money in gettin...

  The question “ How can I modify my child support ” is one of the most frequently asked questions in family law. Child support is often a hotly contested issue, as many parents feel like they are paying too much, or their ex-partner is paying too little.  But, opinion has little to do with it. Child support is set by Illinois state guidelines, so it is usually just a matter of doing the math based on what each party is earning and how much time they spend with the child under the current law. That said, there are important deviations, credits, and other nuances that an experienced family law attorney can educate you about, as well as providing you with assistance in navigating your case through the court system expediently and efficiently. The Recent History of Child Support Law in Illinois The first thing to know is that in the fall of 2016, the Illinois legislature made a major change to how child support is calculated. Prior to 2016, the state would only look at the income...

  Second Parent Adoptions are typically done when a spouse has a child from a previous relationship and the circumstances allow that child to be adopted by the other spouse.  As an example:  Wife and Husband get married and Wife has a child from a previous relationship.  Wife wants Husband to adopt this child which can happen if the child’s biological father consents to the adoption.  However, there are situations where the biological father’s consent is not possible and that is when the biological father has passed away or is unknown. Once the adoption is completed both parents will stand equal as far as parental rights, responsibilities and obligations related to the child. The adoption grants the second parent the same rights as the biological parent.   Second Parent Adoption in Illinois A Second Parent Adoption - when one of the parents is biologically related to the child - requires a court proceeding with the proper paperwork prepared and filed w...

If you’re convinced that your marriage is irretrievably broken and divorce is coming, there are things you can do now to prepare and protect yourself in the divorce process. Here are 10 steps to take if you believe your spouse is about to file for divorce : 1. Consult a Divorce Attorney Start doing research on divorce and family law attorneys in your area and make appointments for consultations. Being adequately informed as to your legal rights and responsibilities is very important. Ask your attorney for more details on what to do before the divorce is filed and hope you can prepare for divorce . 2. Copy Important Documents And/or Obtain Documents Online Go through the house and make copies of all documents that are relevant to your divorce case. These documents will include things like tax returns, paystubs, title documents for real estate and other property, retirement account statements, investment account statements, mortgage documents, wills, credit card statements, bank stateme...

  A cohabitation agreement is an agreement or contract entered into between two people living together in the same household who are in a romantic relationship but not married. With more millennial couples choosing to live together, whether planning to marry or not, commingling property can get complicated in the event the relationship ends.  A pre-nuptial agreement - or prenup - is an agreement or contract entered into by two people who are getting married. For prenups, the agreement is only valid in the event the marriage actually takes place. Cohabitation Agreements in Illinois Cohabitation agreements are not very common in Illinois due to an Illinois Supreme Court case in 1979, Hewitt v. Hewitt. In the Hewitt case, the Illinois Supreme Court held that the courts cannot resolve a property dispute between unmarried couples. Victoria Hewitt lived with Robert Hewitt from 1960 until 1975 in a family-like relationship, they had three children but were never married. Virginia ...