Stetler Law Group: Divorce, Family Law & Estate Planning

05/17/2022

A new Public Act is modifying some of the minutia regarding modifying child support in Illinois. The law will now allow modifications for foreseen or foreseeable events unless specifically excluded.

The logic here is probably part of the reason people find lawyers tiresome, but there's an explanation of how this came to be. Generally child support or alimony can be modified if there is a change in circumstances. Case law holds this general rule does not apply if the change is foreseen or foreseeable. This was generally accepted for decades. However, the appellate court recently held that a parenting agreement that discussed the possibility of the custodial parent seeking or obtaining other employment prohibited child support modification, even though at the time of the agreement the parties did not know if or when she would obtain employment. More importantly, they didn't know how much she would earn and therefore couldn't calculate child support or maintenance on the new amount. When she obtained employment, she ended up earning significantly more than she had earned previously. The court denied the husband's request for modification citing the contemplation in the parenting agreement that employment could change in the future.

Now, I'm seeing lawyers trying to prevent modification of child support upon the emancipation of child on the basis that everyone knew the child would eventually turn 18 and therefore it was a foreseen event and cannot be the basis for a modification. Luckily, this hasn't worked yet. This new statute should fix this and re-institute the previous status quo.

A new Illinois law fixes child support modifications allowing modifications even where a future event is foreseeable, unless otherwise agreed

05/13/2022

A very interesting case was published by the First District (Cook County) today. For the first time, an appellate court specifically approved the use of a receiver or trustee taking control of all of a party's assets in a post-judgment divorce case. Now, this is extreme and I don't think anyone should get the idea this will be common. An extremely difficult (and fraudulent) obligor required an extreme divorce judgment enforcement remedy. More information and link to the text of the case on my blog.

Involved in a difficult divorce judgment enforcement case? New Illinois court case approves use of trustee or receiver to take control of assets.

05/10/2022

When you first start a divorce case, a lot starts happening. All court cases proceed in phases, some with more activity, some with less. My blog has a brief description of some of the major steps at the very beginning of a contested divorce in McHenry County, Illinois. Of course, every case is unique and each situation requires its own consideration. If you need more information tailored to your situation, contact us to set up an appointment.

A lot happens at the beginning of a divorce. SLG is there to make sure things are done right and you're kept fully informed throughout.

05/02/2022

Child support is one of the big issues that needs to be resolved in every divorce involving children and every parentage case. However, once incomes have been determined and the child support set, that may not be the end of the story. Other expenses, such as health insurance, uncovered medical expenses, educational costs, and extracurricular expenses may be decided and addressed separately or in addition to child support. The court's have a lot of discretion in this area. For more information, check out my most recent blog post where I discuss some expenses and my expectations based on my experience with McHenry County judges on this topic.

In Illinois divorces, other expenses of the children may be divided in addition to child support

04/25/2022

Divorce law in Illinois shifts fairly frequently. A few years back, there was a small change to Section 503 regarding the characterization of marital and non-marital property -- particularly retirement plans.

Under the old law, any accounts started before the marriage were non-marital subject to the marital estates right to reimbursement for contributions during the marriage. The law reversed that general rule for retirement accounts.

Now, if any contributions to a retirement account are made during the marriage, the entire account, regardless of how much existed before the marriage, is presumed to be marital and subject to division. While certainly believe the old presumption was unfair to the marital estate and could end up with under counting the marital estate, the revision has essentially swung the pendulum completely to the other end of the spectrum, instead of attempting to reach a fair result.

This assumption can be overcome, but in marriages of several years or more, few clients have kept the documents they would need to protect the pre-marital portion of the assets and, unfortunately, most banks and investment firms do not actually keep all of your statements perpetually.

03/20/2020

Important for all family law clients:

The order issued today contains a lengthy list of exemptions. Among the exemptions is included "Following the direction of law enforcement or court order, including to transport children pursuant to a custody agreement."

If you are a custodial or non-custodial parent, this order does not prevent you from traveling for parenting time.

03/20/2020

With the courthouse closed at this time, there are questions about whether we can continue with cases. To help you decide, consider the following:

1. About an eighth of a lawyer's work for you involves court appearances. There's a lot of paperwork, telephone calls, research and other necessary activities to be prepared for those court appearances. All of which can still be done.

2. When a new case is filed, it is assigned a 90 day case management conference. That means if you need to file, delaying until later just sets you further back in line. All the work needed to start proceedings can be done remotely by email, telephone or mail. Filings, including new filings, are still being accepted.

3. Certain emergency matters are still being heard. Emergency orders of protection continue to go forward. If your or your child's personal safety is at issue, don't wait.

4. If you have completed your case and are a child support or maintenance obligee or obligor, nothing that has occurred changes your rights or obligations. That means that if your income has decreased dramatically, you are still fully on the hook during this period and could receive a contempt petition. Filing later will be inadequate because statutory law only gives the court the ability to modify obligations retroactive to the date of filing. If this is your case, you need to file now. The court has discretion to make the final order retroactive.

5. As to meetings, most lawyers, myself included, can consult with you over the phone. I'm still taking appointments at the office (but hopefully you'll understand if we're not shaking hands). Pretty much everything you need to do can be done over the phone or by email.

I'm wishing everyone best of luck and good health moving forward. Though many things have stopped, the important legal matters in your life need not come to a complete standstill.

12/21/2017

So, several big changes coming.

1. No more dependent exemptions.
2. Beginning with orders entered after January 1, 2019, maintenance will no longer be deductible for taxes.
3. Beginning January 1, 2018, Illinois statutory guideline maintenance will be applicable up to $500,000 in total income (to make it consistent with child support guidelines).
4. The term of maintenance will still depend on the length of the marriage, but each year will now incrementally increase the percentage of the length of the marriage as the award for maintenance (i.e. 5 year marriage = 20% or 1 year of maintenance, 6 year marriage = 24% or 1.44 years of maintenance).

There's still a number of legislative changes on the horizon so if you are divorced, getting divorced or anticipate a future divorce, keep paying attention.

11/03/2017

While divorce and tax law often intersect, the currently proposed tax bill may make one of the biggest changes to divorce taxation in a long time. In its current form, the deduction for alimony or spousal payments is eliminated. However, the receipt of alimony will no longer be taxable.

The net tax effect on a single earner family following a divorce in which guideline maintenance is awarded could be as high as $4,000 per year. That's $4k more in taxes the divorced individuals would pay compared to current law.

If you're already divorced, you may not need to worry- the law would only apply to future decrees. But if you get divorced after the law passes (if it passes in its current form) or modify spousal support afterwards, keep the change in tax treatment in mind. And also be prepared for both parties to cumulatively pay more in taxes.

05/27/2016

Since when did Memorial Day become a four day holiday? No one seems to be around today. It seems like no other firms have been willing to take care of business since Thursday, some since Wednesday. Legal problems don't take a day off on holidays (though the courts do, I suppose).

08/27/2015

Big news for the Stetler Law Group! We are moving! (About 60 feet east of our current location :)) The build out on our new unit started Monday. The new office will boast a conference room, welcoming greeting area, high tech copy and file center, and three law offices. All while maintaining our convenient location just a mile south of the court house in Woodstock, Illinois. We will still have our location in McHenry as well. Throughout McHenry County, if you need a divorce, custody, child support, alimony or family law attorney, Stetler Law Group has the facilities, locations, hours, and expertise to help you.

Stay tuned for pictures of our new office!

06/06/2015

Knowing your divorce judges can have a significant impact on your case. No, I do not mean having a personal relationship with the judge -- judges doing favors for lawyers and deciding cases in favor of friends is (mostly) unfounded. But each judge has his or her particular leanings and preferences. There are good judges and bad judges, both over all and for your particular case. For more on what I think makes a good judge, check out my blog post.

http://www.slgdivorce.com/2015/divorce-judges-can-impact-case-know-judge/