New Maintenance Calculation Taking Effect June 1, 2018

Domestic violence is an unfortunate reality that many people live with on a regular basis. In Illinois, Orders of Protection are designed to try to help victims of domestic violence escape their abusers and prevent any further abuse from occurring. An Order of Protection is a Court Order that res...

 Lollapalooza kicks off tomorrow, August 3rd! By now youre probably on your way home from work, wondering what, if anything, you should bring with you tomorrow and what the day four day music fest will bring. Here are some of my tips for what to bring, what to do, and more importantly, what not ...

Although we mostly discuss the law in our blog, here at Holwell Law Group, LLC we also like to take a step back and enjoy all the different festivals, parades, and other events happening right here in Chicago. This week, Chicago kicks off one of its largest festivals of the summer: Lollapalooza. ...

In my last blog post, we discussed the main differences between Parentage and Divorce cases. Although Parentage cases deal with unmarried parents whereas Divorce deals with married couples, there are several similarities between the two types of cases, especially when it comes to child support an...

In Illinois, Parentage actions are cases filed between two parties who have a child together, but are not married, in order to either (1) establish the existence of a parent-child relationship (i.e., determine that someone is the biological mother or father of a child), or (2) declare the non-exi...

By now, most people with pending child support cases in Illinois know that the law drastically changed on July 1, 2017. As of that date, the State of Illinois officially changed to an “income shares” model, which calculates child support by looking at the gross incomes of both parties as well as ...

Not just yet. The Court in New Jersey has determined that lawyers may not fee-share with online client services like Avvo or Rocketmatter. While this is not the case for divorce attorneys or any attorney for that matter in Illinois, it has certainly sparked an interest in the arrangements.  F...

There are only two ways to get a divorce in the State of Illinois: (1) you and your spouse agree on the terms of the divorce, and enter into a Marital Settlement Agreement, which the Court incorporates into a Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage; or (2) you and your spouse do not agree, your case...

When you are served with a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, the Petition should come with a Summons indicating you must appear in the case and write a written response to the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage. However, did you also know that you have a right to file your own Petition for ...

In a blog post dated June 5, 2017, I discussed some of the changes to the maintenance provisions of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act that took place in 2015. In particular, I discussed how the statute was changed to make it clearer how long a party would have to pay maintenan...

Unfortunately, sometimes in divorce cases one party will try to hide assets from the other party in order to deprive the other party of their share in the assets. This is most commonly seen with undisclosed financial accounts, unreported and/or diverted income, or other hidden valuables. The deve...

When initiating a divorce, I find that most clients expect they will have to divide their larger items of property, such as bank accounts, retirement accounts, and real estate, and that issues may arise in dividing these types of assets. However, many of my clients are caught off-guard when issue...

Rarely do both partners reach the decision to divorce at the same time. Usually one of the partners decides that she just can't live with the marriage any longer, and despite the loss and feeling of failure that most times accompanies divorce, decides that it would be better than staying in the m...

In my last blog entry, I discussed whether the parties are allowed to date during the pendency of their divorce, and how the concept of dissipation can come into play if either or both parties are dating during their divorce. Although we discussed dissipation in terms of an affair, dissipation is...

My clients often ask me, am I allowed to date? Or even more common, is my spouse allowed to date? Although dating during a divorce can be emotional, and finding out that your spouse is dating can be painful, the answer is yes – either one of you are allowed to date. Essentially, it is not the Cou...

June is Pride month and, here in Chicago, that means its parade time. Chicago has a longstanding tradition in celebrating the LGBTQ community's strides for equality. This year marks the 48th annual pride parade, which will take place this Sunday, June 25, 2017. The parade begins at noon at Montro...

As an animal lover and pet owner, I understand that pets aren't things, pets are family. It is very common for my clients to tell me “I want custody of my dog” or “I want the cat,” only to find that the other side also wants “custody” of the family pet. Knowing how important pets are to families,...

In my last blog post, we learned what can happen to your retirement account during a divorce, depending on whether your account is marital or nonmarital property. As we discussed, if any portion of the account is marital, odds are you will have to give a portion of the account to your spouse, unl...

For many clients, the asset they wish to protect most is their retirement account.  I find this to be particularly the case with clients who have municipal pensions (such as a Fireman's or Policeman's pension, which can be quite valuable). However, retirement accounts are property just like anyth...

Over the last two posts, I've discussed appeals and the various reasons a client may choose to appeal their case.  Although appeals in general are rare, and appeals to the Supreme Court of Illinois are even more uncommon, I am currently litigating an appeal with the Supreme Court of Illinois. As ...

In my last blog entry, we discussed what an appeal is and how the appeals system works. Now that you know what an appeal is, you may be asking yourself, should I appeal my case? It is important to note that appeals are uncommon and most clients will not appeal their case, but there are some insta...

Throughout my career, I have placed much of my focus on drafting and litigating appeals to the Appellate Court of Illinois. So what exactly is an appeal? In order to understand what an appeal is, it is important to know that there are three separate Courts in the State of Illinois that have diffe...

Depending on the circumstances of the case and the parties' finances, in some cases, it is simply a given that one party will have to pay the other maintenance. The question then becomes how much and, more importantly, for how long? Although the current law provides a clear answer to this questio...