Family Law Attorneys in Schaumburg

If you are facing a family law matter, it’s both personal and primary, and having professional legal counsel on your side is always well advised. While divorce, the specific terms of divorce, post-divorce modifications, and child custody issues outside of marriage are all common to family law, there is more to this broad branch of the law, including enforcement and paternity. If you have a family law concern, an experienced Schaumburg family law attorney can help.

Child Custody Arrangements

In Illinois, child custody is addressed in terms of parenting time (physical custody) and parental responsibilities (legal custody). Parental responsibilities allocate primary parental decision-making power regarding matters such as the following:

• Your children’s schooling
• Your children’s healthcare needs
• Your children’s extracurriculars 
• Your children’s religious education

Often, parents make these decisions together, but one parent is sometimes assigned tie-breaking authority. Assigning sole parental responsibilities is also a possibility – as is the division of this responsibility according to the kind of decision that needs to be made. 

Parenting time refers to the schedule that guides when you have the children and when they are with your ex. The basic options include dividing your parenting time evenly (or somewhat evenly) or assigning the role of primary custodial parent to one of you.

Child Support

Child support is calculated in accordance with careful state guidelines that incorporate a wide range of relevant variables. The primary concerns, however, include the number of overnights you each have with the children and your income relative to your spouse’s (the higher earner generally makes the child support payments). 

The Division of Marital Property

Marital property refers to those assets that came to either of you or to both of you while you were married – regardless of who made the purchase or whose name is attached. Upon divorce, these assets – or their attendant value – must be divided between you and your ex in a manner that is considered equitable (or fair) in light of the given circumstances. 

Alimony

Alimony is reserved for only those instances when divorce leaves one spouse unable to financially support himself or herself while the other has the income to help. 

Paternity

When parents are not married at the time of a child’s birth, the father of the child is not automatically presumed (the way it is done when the parents are married). When this is the case, paternity (or fatherhood) must be established through the courts. This can be accomplished by simply filing a form with the court (when both parents agree on the matter of paternity). Otherwise, however, the court is likely to require DNA testing to help establish who the child’s father is. 

You Need an Experienced Schaumburg Family Law Attorney in Your Corner

The practiced family law attorneys at SAM LAW OFFICE, LLC, in Schaumburg, Illinois, are well prepared to harness their impressive experience in focused pursuit of your case’s best possible resolution. When your family is involved, it’s a primary concern, and our dedicated legal team is well prepared and well positioned to help. Learn more by reaching out and contacting us today.