Will County Divorce Lawyers - Andreano and Lyons - Attorneys

Illinois had a major change in the method of setting spousal maintenance (alimony) in 2015. At that time, maintenance was changed from the court giving factors to set an amount and duration to a system that kept the factors but added specific mathematical calculations to set both the amount and length of a maintenance award based on income and length of marriage. Now those guidelines will be slightly modified in 2018 forward. Section  750 ILCS 5/504 of the divorce  statute dealing with maintenance raises the ceiling for cases where the guidelines are to be applied. Before, guidelines did not apply if the parties combined income was under $250,000 - now that ceiling is $500,000. So if you and your spouse's combined gross incomes fall under $500,000, the statute may apply.  Also, under the old guidelines expiring in 2018, the duration (or length) of maintenance would jump at each 5 year anniversary of being married. Now the calculation of the length of maintenance is ...

On July 1, 2017 Illinois laws on child support will drastically change. Depending on your income, the other parent's income, child care costs health insurance costs and the amount of parenting time, there could be a major change in the support you pay or receive. ​The basic change is that Illinois will now use what is called an "income shares" model for setting child support. This is a major change from the percentage model that based child support only on the net income of the parent paying support that essentially ignored the income of the parent receiving support. One of the goals of this change is to address situations where the person receiving support had much higher income that the person paying support. Those situations could mean the person paying support could barely survive on a relatively lower income AND with an obligation to pay percentage support. ​Thus the income shares model factors in BOTH parties income and is meant to address the needs of both t...

The 2017 Order has been issued reassigning Will County Judges. For the Family Courts, there is only one judge reassignment. Judge Victoria Kennsion (Room 306) will be replaced by Judge Zalazo ORDERS OF PROTECTION: Associate Judge Jessica Colon-Sayre (Courtroom 300) and Associate Judge Elizabeth Hoskins Dow (Courtroom 301).

Several times a year, the Will County Court issues a new list of court-approved mediators. Here is the latest list from March 2016. NOTE: it is subject to change without notice and if you want an updated list, either get one from a courtroom or obtain a list from the law library at the Will County Courthouse, Fourth Floor or the clerk's office on the second floor. The law library is open to the public.

Illinois' Supreme Court Rules require that anyone getting a divorce complete parenting classes before the divorce is granted. In Will County judges often require that the parents complete the parenting classes in paternity cases as well. Sometimes the requirement can be waived when the only minor child is 17 years old. IMPORTANT: You will not be able to complete your divorce unless the parent that files for the divorce completes the parenting class and has his or her certificate of completion at the final court date. If the parent that didn't file the divorce refuses or fails to complete the class, the judge usually suspends his or her court-ordered parenting time/visitation - at least  until the class is completed and the certificate filed with the court. Pareting Classes are now sponsored by Catholic Charities in Will County and requires you to regtister online at  https://catholiccharitiesjoliet.org/project-protect/  - The cost of th...

The revised Illinois divorce law, enacted January 1, 2016, eliminates all of the fault-based grounds for divorce and left us with a single, no-fault ground for divorce, "irreconcilable differences". The revised law also eliminates the two (2) year separation period that was required to dissolve a marriage, and replaces it with a six (6) month separation period which reads as follows, "If the parties live separate and apart for a continuous period of not less than 6 months immediately preceding the entry of the judgment dissolving the marriage, there is an irrebuttable presumption that the requirement of irreconcilable differences has been met." As a result, you only need to state in your initial petition that irreconcilable differences have led to the irretrievable breakdown of your marriage and that you and your spouse have lived separate and apart for six (6) consecutive months by the time a judgment of divorce is entered. However, don’t panic if both you an...