Representing Clients throughout the Divorce Process in Wilmington, Illinois

If you are facing a divorce, you are facing a lot of unknowns. Because the outcome of your divorce will affect your financial future, it’s important to pay careful attention to the details and know your rights throughout the divorce process. Whether a divorce is highly adversarial or relatively agreeable, the legal process of ending your marriage can be complicated and confusing. Whatever your situation, it’s in you and your children’s best interests to work closely with an experienced Wilmington Divorce lawyer to help ensure that your rights are well-protected. 

Divorce and Your Children

If you are divorcing, you’re also focused on your children’s well-being, and determining child custody arrangements is an important component of divorce. Instead of declaring one of you the custodial parent, the State of Illinois takes a more modern approach and instead focuses on the allocation of parenting time and responsibility. 

Your parenting plan will reflect the days that each of you will have physical custody of your children and the important decisions that you will be responsible for making on your children’s behalf, including decisions related to education, religious upbringing, and/or extracurricular activities (many parents share these responsibilities). If you and your spouse can’t reach a decision on these important issues, the court will decide for you. The judge, who has considerable discretion in the matter, will base his or her decisions on the best interests of your children – while considering several important factors:

• The wishes of you and your divorcing spouse
• The work schedules of you and your divorcing spouse
• How far you and your divorcing spouse will be living from each other
• How far your homes are from your children’s schools
• Your children’s extracurricular activities (locations and schedules)

Divorce and the Division of Your Marital Property

Another important element of any divorce is the division of marital property, which are all the assets and debts that you and your spouse acquired during the course of your marriage, as well as your debts. Illinois is an equitable division state, so instead of dividing your assets exactly evenly between the two of you, the court will divide them in a manner that it considers fair given the circumstances, if you and your spouse cannot come to an agreement. The court will consider several factors in the process:

• Your separate contributions to your marital property
• Your personal assets and your spouse’s personal assets
• Your marriage’s duration
• Your personal economic circumstances and your spouse’s personal economic circumstances
• Payments – such as child support and/or alimony – made to a former spouse by either of you
• Any preexisting agreement between the two of you – such as a prenuptial agreement
• Any unique circumstances that play a relevant role in your divorce
• Any wasting or hiding of marital assets by either of you

The court will not, however, factor fault into this calculation.

If You Have Divorce Concerns, Consult with an Experienced Wilmington Divorce Lawyer Today

The dedicated divorce lawyers at Sabuco Beck, P.C., in Wilmington, Illinois, have the experience, knowledge, and commitment to skillfully advocate for results that work for you and your children. Our compassionate legal team is here to help, so please contact us today.