The Law Office Of Erin M. Wilson

What if my spouse is hiding income or assets, or if I do not have access to the financial information?. This, along with how much will my divorce cost, are the two most frequently asked questions by potential clients at an initial consultation. Unfortunately, they are both very hard to answer.

Among other factors, the answers are dependent on 1) how agreeable (or disagreeable) you and your spouse are during the process; 2) the cooperation between the professionals retained and the parties; 3) willingness of each party to give information requested; and 4) the court schedule if the case is contested.

Erin M. Wilson founded the firm in 2019, after practicing for 10 years at a preeminent family law firm where she was a partner. Erin focuses exclusively on family law cases, which include divorce, custody/parenting issues (now known as allocation of decision-making and parenting time), child support and maintenance, domestic violence and prenuptial agreements.

The award of any maintenance in Illinois is now typically subject to statutory guidelines, which gives more predictability to the amount and time period of what may be paid (provided you fit within the income parameters of the guidelines themselves, i.e. couples with a combined income of less than $500,000 and no multiple family situation).

Illinois now uses the "Income Share Model." Child support is calculated by looking at both parties' annual incomes. If you have 146 overnights with the child, this will reduce the child support paid, and equal parenting time will further reduce the child support paid.

Contribution toward out-of-pocket expenses, such as medical, educational, daycare and extra-curricular activities are a separate calculation and payment from child support, which both parties will be obligated to contribute based upon income levels.Child support can be paid directly by the party or via a wage garnishment to the employer.

Under the former Illinois law, we used the terms sole and joint custody for decision making and residential custodian for where the child lived and visitation when the other parent saw the child(ren). Now, the terminology is different. Decision-making can be allocated jointly or solely to a parent in the areas of education, health care, religion, and extra-curricular activities.