If you are considering the possibility of a divorce, or have reached the decision to enter the divorce process, the first thing you must understand is that you have certain rights and protections under state law. It is important to be familiar with these rights and make sure that your interests, be they personal, financial or business, are not compromised by a divorce. At Lavelle Law, Ltd., we will work with you to protect your rights and make sure that you do not surrender anything to which you are entitled in a divorce proceeding. Amil Alkass and the attorneys and staff at Lavelle Law, Ltd. will use their knowledge of family law to fully protect your interests.

Make sure that your rights are not compromised.

It is important to protect all of your assets, not only after a divorce settlement, but especially during the divorce proceedings when emotions are strained and a lack of knowledge can be exploited. Our first step will be to work with you to identify all individual and joint assets that need to be protected in a divorce. A divorce settlement will typically involve some negotiation over the distribution of assets. Assets in question may include houses, cars, furnishings, art, jewelry, property, investments, cash and business holdings. Because of our extensive experience in matters of taxation, finances and corporate structure, one of our initial steps will be to identify and place fair value on your assets. This means not only protecting your interests, but making sure that proper valuation is being placed on personal or business assets of your spouse.

In order to reach a fair and equitable division of assets, it is necessary to clearly and fully identify the assets in question. At Lavelle Law, Ltd., our experts will perform the due diligence to identify all assets and to further assess their value accordingly. We will take steps to ensure that no assets are moved to separate accounts, placed in business holdings or otherwise inappropriately hidden from evaluation.

Part of the divorce process includes an appropriate distribution of assets from the marriage. Unless there is a pre-nuptial agreement protecting certain separate property, all marital property is subject to division. Amil Alkass is experienced at protecting the physical assets of his clients in divorce proceedings. While the courts encourage settlements rather than court proceedings, you will have representation by Lavelle Law, Ltd. in both settlement discussions and in trial if necessary. Through detailed review, we will work to identify the property, furnishings, financial assets, even heirlooms and keepsakes, that must be protected through the divorce process on your behalf.

Ensure a fair division of marital property and retention of your separate nonmarital property.

Often the most difficult and contentious aspect of a divorce is the custody of children. The issue of custody is complicated and depends on many factors. In many cases, some form of joint custody is arranged, though in cases of abuse or other cases where cooperation of the parties in parenting matters is an issue, sole custody can be the appropriate alternative. There is no firm legal definition of joint custody; that definition is negotiated in each unique divorce proceeding. Amil Alkass is skilled in this area of law and can guide you carefully through the process. In the simplest definition, custody means decision making authority. It is advisable to have a document that sets forth what types of decisions require joint input. The custodial, or residential parent, should have authority to make all routine day-to-day decisions such as bed time, signing permission slips for class trips at school or making doctor appointments. Both parents might decide to share decision making authority on major issues such as elective surgery, religious upbringing and post-high school education options. In all instances, whether custody is sole or joint, the parents have an obligation to inform each other about matters affecting the children, including dates for parent-teacher conferences, school events and progress in school.

Develop a custody arrangement that meets your child's best interests.

The children will live with the custodial parent, who is also referred to as the residential parent. The parent with whom the children do not live is called the non-custodial or non-residential parent. The non-custodial parent has the right to visitation with the children. Lavelle Law, Ltd. is skilled at crafting fair and binding visitation schedules. These schedules are included either in the divorce judgment, or as a part of the Marital Settlement Agreement or Parenting Agreement which is incorporated into the judgment and has the full force of a court order. We will work to protect against unfair or inequitable terms in visitation agreements.

Amil Alkass can provide guidelines for visitation based on the ages of the children involved, the work schedules of the parents and the geographic distance between the custodial and non-custodial parents' residences. Some of the factors to be addressed are summer vacations, school vacations, holidays, travel, the activity schedules of the children and unique family circumstances.

A child is entitled to parentity time with both parents to foster a continuing, meaningful relationship.

While custody and visitation are issues open to negotiation, child support is one of the few straightforward issues in a divorce. Under state law, the minimum amount of child support is a percentage of the non-custodial parents' net income from all sources. While the percentages are fixed, Lavelle Law, Ltd. commits to a stringent review of income sources and proper reporting thereof to ensure a fair and proper calculation of the percentage takes place.

The custodial parent is entitled to a guideline percentage of the noncustodial parent's net income from all sources.

The amount of child support determined to be paid in a divorce proceeding is a binding court order. Any failure to pay can be considered grounds for being held in contempt. If you are not receiving support payments, Lavelle Law, Ltd. will send a Notice to Withhold Income for Support to your spouse's employer to garnish their wages. This notice requires the employer to withhold the appropriate amount from your spouse's paycheck and provide payment to the Illinois State Disbursement Unit (SDU) which cashes the check, records the payment and forwards a check directly to you. In cases of continued avoidance of payments, we can also seek attorney's fees and interest as well as further action, such as having the spouse's driver's license revoked, or in extreme cases, seek a jail sentence.

Enforce existing orders for support.

There are two major considerations for you relative to your primary asset, your home. The first is prior to a divorce being finalized. Should you choose to leave your house prior to a divorce we suggest that you have a full accounting of the property within the home that will be subject to review in the divorce settlement. If there are children involved and you take them with you out of the residence, it is essential that you notify your spouse as to where you and they will be living. You should work out a visitation arrangement that allows your children to continue to see your spouse on a regular basis. You should not keep your children away from your spouse unless you fear for your or their safety, in which case, you should contact the police, file a report, stay in a safe location and file for an Emergency Order of Protection. Similarly, while you can request that your spouse leave the home, you can not force them to leave without filing a petition and receiving a court order. In the petition, you must show that your spouse's continued presence in the marital home poses a threat to the safety of you and/or your children. You should not dispose of any of your spouse's possessions. This is called dissipation and could result in your receiving a reduced share of the assets when they are divided in the divorce judgment.

Whether you stay in the marital home after the divorce depends entirely on your overall financial situation. If your financial situation allows, you can buy your spouse's share of the equity in the home. You then need to have the ability to continue making mortgage payments on the home. If staying in the marital home is of the utmost importance to you, make that fact known from the beginning and we will work towards a settlement that seeks to achieve that goal.

In many cases, individuals have spent some or their entire work career building their own business or enterprise. Due to our extensive experience in matters of corporate structure and taxation, Lavelle Law, Ltd. will protect this valuable asset and make sure that the on-going operation of your business is not jeopardized by the terms of the divorce agreement. At no time should your ability to maintain your business be compromised through a divorce.

Once a divorce is final, you will likely want to change how your assets are managed and distributed should you become disabled or in the event of your death. The attorneys of Lavelle Law, Ltd. include CPAs, LLMs and experts in tax and estate planning. After your divorce is complete, we can work with you to implement appropriate estate planning strategies for you, your children and your business.

Should your divorce include concerns over your safety, or that of your children, it is essential that you file for an Order of Protection. Our attorneys can work with you to properly establish grounds for this type of order and to secure a prompt court order establishing protection.