Family Law Lawyer Barrington

Whether you are facing a divorce, need a post-divorce modification of terms, are facing a child custody matter outside of marriage and divorce, or have concerns related to paternity, an experienced family law lawyer in Barrington can help. 

Legal and Physical Custody

In Illinois, child custody is addressed in terms of parental responsibilities and parenting time, which correspond exactly with legal and physical custody. Legal custody sets the course for how you and your ex will address the primary parenting decisions you face, including:

• Decisions related to your children’s education
• Decisions related to your children’s healthcare
• Decisions related to your children’s extracurriculars and travel
• Decisions related to your children’s primary residence
• Decisions related to your children’s religious education

You and your ex can continue making these important parenting decisions together – the way you always have – but other options include:

• One of you takes on the authority to break a tie if your good-faith efforts to reach a mutually acceptable decision fail.
• One of you takes on sole legal custody.
• Both of you divide this decision-making responsibility between you according to the kind of decision that needs to be made.

Parenting time is the schedule that tells you when you’ll have the children with you and when their other parent will have them. 

Child Support

State guidelines determine child support calculations in Illinois. Even if you and your ex have an equal amount of parenting time, the higher earner will likely make child support payments to the other.

The Division of Marital Property

Marital property refers to those assets that you and your spouse acquired throughout your marriage, and it does not matter who bought what or whose name is attached to what. This marital property will need to be divided between you fairly – in relation to a wide range of circumstances – upon divorce. 

Alimony

Alimony is only awarded in those divorce situations that leave one spouse without the financial means to support themself while the other is able to provide financial assistance.

Paternity

Paternity refers to establishing a child’s legal father, and in Illinois, this is taken care of automatically when the parents are married at the time of a child’s birth. When this is not the case, other options include:

• If the parents don’t disagree on the matter of paternity, they can file a signed form that designates the child’s legal father with the court.
• If either parent wants paternity established, they can request that the court require DNA testing.
• If the court wants paternity established, it can require DNA testing.

The establishment of paternity can benefit the mother, the child, and the father for a variety of important financial and emotional reasons. 

Discuss Your Case with an Experienced Family Law Lawyer in Barrington Today

The compassionate family law lawyers at the SAM LAW OFFICE LLC in Barrington are proud of their proven track record of guiding challenging cases like yours toward advantageous outcomes that serve our client’s best interests. To learn more about how we can help, please don’t put off contacting us today.