Our Divorce & Family Law team includes:

Divorce & Family Law

For a complete description of the services offered by the Divorce & Family Law Practice Group, please visit its Web site at McHenryDivorceLawyers.com .

For a magazine profile of the Zukowski, Rogers, Flood & McArdle’s divorce team — including Richard G. Flood, Melissa J. Cooney, Elizabeth Felt Wakeman, Anthony J. Sassan, and Timothy J. Clifton — please link to the reprint from the 2011 edition of Leading Lawyers Magazine Consumer Edition.

Zukowski, Rogers, Flood & McArdle’s Family Law practice group has over 60 years of divorce litigation experience, having handled more than 2,000 divorce cases. The ZRFM Family Law approach to divorce is to assist and counsel the whole person. We realize that divorce is a traumatic experience. You not only require advice about divorce issues, but also may require advice on reconciliation, taxes, real estate and business valuation, psychological and career counseling and child custody and care. Many of these issues can be handled by the ZRFM Family Law group. In addition, ZRFM, as the largest law firm in McHenry County, also has on its staff other attorneys with experience in many of these areas, including a CPA with an extensive tax and business valuation background and several attorneys with extensive real estate credentials.

In the end, the ZRFM Family Law group is here to help you through the difficulties of a divorce. Our goal not only is to negotiate a favorable financial resolution for you, but also to help you through the emotional difficulty attendant to a divorce.

Questions we can answer, most times at your first appointment:

Areas of Family Law

Dissolution of Marriage/Divorce

Going through a divorce can be very emotional and stressful. Throughout the divorce process, our attorneys guide you through your divorce with an individual approach in order to address the specific issues in each case. We will make sure you understand your options and what you can expect to receive. We feel communication is a high priority, and our attorneys are available for consultation by telephone, email or in-office visits.

Child Custody, Care and Visitation

Our firm is sensitive to the emotional stress and rigors of dealing with a child custody or visitation issue. The attorneys of Zukowski, Rogers, Flood & McArdle are experienced in handling these difficult and often traumatic events. We will guide you through court required mediation or custody evaluation if mandated. Our attorneys will actively consult with you about custody and visitation matters, putting your relationship with your child first.

Family Maintenance, Alimony and Child Support

Many times in a marriage there is one party who has sacrificed a career to provide for the children and family needs at home. Often this party has been the support that enabled the other to flourish in their career. The attorneys at Zukowski, Rogers, Flood & McArdle understand that the party who has provided the at-home support should also be compensated for their contribution to the family through an award of maintenance. Our attorneys seek to obtain maintenance for those clients who need assistance after the end of their marriage to enable them to continue in the lifestyle they have enjoyed during the marriage.

Post Decree: (After the Divorce) Issues

Issues arise in the years following the finalization of a divorce. Whether those issues are related to custody and visitation matters or financial matters relating to support or maintenance, our attorneys have experience in post-decree matters to get the issues resolved so clients can once again move on with their lives.

Pre-Nuptial Agreements

We consider all the assets of the parties, discuss which assets you are seeking to protect and which assets you wish to keep separate in the case of death, divorce or both. We also will advise you how to keep separate those assets obtained after the marriage so they will not be considered marital property.

Adoption

We will discuss with you all the issues involved in related and unrelated adoptions including whether the natural parent will consent, what proof is required to have parental rights terminated, and the process for adopting a child. We will also advise you about implications for support issues in related adoptions.

Free Resources:

Financial Affidavits: Various Illinois counties require forms to be filed whenever any party seeks any monetary relief from a court in a family law matter. This includes petitions for temporary support, temporary maintenance and college expenses.

McHenry County Financial Affidavit

Lake County Financial Affidavit

Kane County Financial Affidavit #1

Kane County Financial Affidavit #2

Child Support and Maintenance:

Cook County Asset Disclosure Statement

Cook County Family Support Affidavit

State Disbursement Unit for Payment of Child Support

Parenting Sites:

McHenry County Parenting Classes

Kane and DeKalb County Parenting Classes

Lake County Parent Education

While We Heal

Cooperative Parenting

Domestic Violence Assistance Resources:

peace4allonline.org

McHenry County Turning Point

Termination and Modification of Maintenance

1. Does maintenance terminate if I am living with someone?

In most cases in Illinois maintenance terminates if someone lives with another person on a “resident, continuing, conjugal basis” which translates to a relationship similar to a marriage. The courts will take into consideration if your relationship is like a marriage (sharing income, sharing holidays and vacations) or more similar to a room mate arrangement.

2. Does maintenance automatically terminate or do I need to go to court?

If you are paying maintenance to a former spouse who is living with another person on a conjugal basis, it is best to go to court to terminate your support obligation. However, you must be able to prove that the conjugal cohabitation exists.

3. Are there cases where maintenance does not terminate due to living arrangements?

If both parties agree, the marital settlement agreement can provide that maintenance will not terminate in the event of a “conjugal cohabitation.”

Removal of children from Illinois

1. I have sole custody of my children and would like to move to another state. Do I need a court order?

Illinois law does require a custodial parent to obtain a court order if they wish to move their children to another state.

2. When deciding on a removal petition, which is more important to the judge – the parenting schedule set out in the divorce decree or the actual time the non-custody custodial parent spends with the children?

The court will consider the time the non-custodial parent actual spends with the children and will take into consideration the time that parent was permitted to see the children pursuant to the Joint Parenting Agreement.

3. I was never married to my child’s father. Do I still need a court order to allow me to remove my child from Illinois?

Yes, in 2003 Illinois passed a law that provided that the provisions of Section 609 apply to the determination of custody under the Illinois Parentage Act.

Maintenance

1. What is maintenance?

Maintenance is what was formerly called alimony. It is a spouse’s right of support from the other spouse and is different from child support.

2. How does a court determine if maintenance is appropriate?

Some of the major considerations are:

The length of the marriage
The disparity in earnings of the parties
Whether the parties have children and whether one spouse has given up their career opportunities due to the marriage
The age and health of the parties Each party’s ability to acquire income and assets in the future
The standard of living established during the marriage.

3. Are there tax consequences to maintenance payments?

Generally the person receiving the maintenance pays taxes on the payments and the person paying the maintenance is able to deduct the payments.

4. I have heard the term “permanent maintenance.” When does that occur?

Courts may award permanent maintenance for marriages of 20 years or more subject to the consideration of the factors that are to be generally considered in awarding maintenance and limited to the extent that it will likely not continue once the payer has retired.

Enforcement of Child Support and Maintenance

1. Where can I find information about the State Disbursement Unit?

Their web site is www.ilsdu.com There you can find answers to frequently asked questions, view payments or disbursements made within the last 30 days, print forms, etc.

2. Does that State Disbursement Unit have the ability to transfer support payments electronically?

Yes you can obtain the form on line at their web site.

3. Are child support payments required to be made through SDU?

No, the parties can agree to have the payments made in another manner.

Child Support in Divorce

1. Does Illinois have minimum child support guidelines?

Yes, under most circumstances these guidelines are followed: Percentage of Supporting Number of Children Party’s Net Income

1 20% 2 28% 3 32% 4 40% 5 45% 6 or more 50%

2. What is the difference between gross income and net income?

Gross income is total income (prior to any deductions like taxes, etc.). Net income is the income after payment of deductions allowed by the child support guidelines.

3. What deductions do the child support guidelines allow?

Federal and state income taxes (properly calculated), mandatory retirement contributions, union dues, health care insurance premiums, previous order of support paid under a court order and a final deduction for “expenditures for payment of debts that represent reasonable and necessary expenses for production of income, medical expenses, expenditures necessary to preserve life or health, reasonable expenditures for the benefits of the child and the other parent, exclusive of gifts.”

4. Can my 401(k) contribution be deducted?

No, only if the contribution is a mandatory condition of your employment.

5. Who pays for daycare expenses?

Normally daycare expenses necessary for the custodial parent’s employment are divided equally between the parties.

6. What about medical expenses for the children?

The non-custodial parent is normally required to maintain health insurance for the children unless the custodial’s parent has better insurance coverage (in which case the non-custodial parent may be required to contribute to the insurance premium). Expenses not covered by insurance are normally divided between the parties in some proportion. If one parent has a significantly higher income than the other parent, the parent with the higher income could be required to pay a higher percentage of the unpaid expenses.

7. Who pays for extracurricular expenses for the children?

Courts are divided on this. In most negotiated agreements, these expenses are divided between the parents in varying proportions often consistent with the parents’ incomes or cash flow. There are often limitations placed such as requiring the agreement of the parties before a parent is responsible for paying for a particular activity, limiting the number of activities the children will participate in, or limiting the total amount to be paid per parent in a given season or year.

8. Can I avoid paying child support if I have equally time with the children?

The law provides that the nonresidential parent is required to pay child support and even with an equal division of time between the parents, a designated residential parent is almost always required. With truly equal parenting time and equivalent incomes, courts may deviate from the guidelines to some extent. If the child support amount is negotiated, the courts are inclined to accept the agreement if the judge is satisfied that the parties can adequately support themselves and the children with a deviation. If the judge decides the support issue, it will most likely be strictly compliant with the statutory guidelines.

Discovery of Assets

1. What documents should I bring to my first meeting with my lawyer?

If is not necessary to bring any documents to the first meeting. However, if available it is helpful to bring tax returns for the past 2 years, recent pay stubs and the most recent statement for any pension plans.

2. What if I don’t have access to my financial information?

The law in Illinois provides for the disclosure of assets or what is referred to as discovery. The usual tools in discovery are a notice to produce documents and interrogatories. A notice to produce documents requires a party to produce certain documents that are in his or her possession. Interrogatories are questions a party is required to answer.

3. What is a subpoena?

A subpoena is similar to a notice to produce documents in that it requires the production of documents; however, a subpoena is directed to a third party and not a spouse.

Distribution of property

1. Is there a presumption in Illinois divorce law that all property is divided equally in the divorce?

Illinois divorce law requires that property is to be divided equitably – which does not necessarily mean equally. There are a number of factors courts consider when dividing marital property.

2. If all the property purchased during our marriage was placed in my wife’s name, will this be advantageous to her?

No – if property was acquired during the marriage there is a presumption that the property is marital property. Some exceptions to this rule:

property acquired by gift or through inheritance
property acquired in exchange for property acquired before the marriage or in exchange for property acquired through gift or inheritance

3. How can I make certain that gifts and inheritances will remain my non-marital property?

The best way is to keep the property in your name only and not put it into any form of joint ownership and to never transfer any marital money into those accounts.

Our Practice Areas