Going through a divorce can be emotionally devastating, to the point that you feel depressed, anxious, and have difficulty concentrating. When your mind is not functioning properly, you may make mistakes that you will later regret. Here are some common divorce mistakes to watch out for.

1. Relying on the wrong advice. Your recently-divorced cousin in Texas and your twice-divorced aunt in Indiana may have all kinds of advice for you. But the divorce laws in those states are different than the laws in Illinois. Listen to your local lawyer when it comes to matters of the law and the court procedures in your county. You may also want to consult a certified public accountant or certified divorce financial analyst to help you with financial projections and tax implications.

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When parents with minor children divorce in Illinois, the court asks them to submit a mutually agreed parenting plan that includes an allocation of parenting time and decision-making responsibility. The court will approve that plan as long as it appears to be in the best interests of the children. However, if the parents cannot agree, the court will have to determine the parenting plan. To ensure that the court has enough information to make decisions in the best interests of the children, the court may appoint a guardian ad litem (GAL) to conduct an investigation and report back to the court. A parent may also ask the court to appoint a GAL if they believe that the court needs to hear an independent perspective on certain matters, e.g., a child’s special needs or the fitness of a parent to care for a child.

What Does a Guardian Ad Litem Do in an Illinois Divorce Case?

A guardian ad litem is an independent attorney who acts as an investigative arm for the court. The GAL does not represent the wishes of either parent nor the wishes of the children. Rather, their goal is to help the court make decisions that are in the best interests of the children. While the court will listen to each parent’s individual perspective, the GAL’s perspective will be given substantial weight as a trusted representative of the court.

The GAL’s investigation will generally include:

When parents of young children get divorced in Illinois, they must file a parenting plan with the court that includes a parenting time formula or schedule with sufficient detail to enable court enforcement. Thereafter, if either parent wants to change the parenting time schedule, they can do so at any time by either making an informal agreement between themselves or going back to court to formally request a parenting time modification.

The Illinois Supreme Court has published a standard Parenting Plan form designed to ease the process of defining and modifying a parenting time schedule. This form spells out a reasonable process for changing your parenting time schedule.

Modifying Parenting Time by Agreement

For example, suppose you originally agreed to a schedule that designated Halloween as a holiday on which each parent would have the children every other year. However, you would prefer not to treat Halloween as a holiday anymore and instead treat it like a regular day.

When a couple has substantial assets, the division of property requires some of the most important decisions in an Illinois divorce. The decisions you make about assets such as your marital home can make a significant difference to your long-term security. Decisions about real estate in a divorce are particularly complicated due to issues including the mortgage, the property taxes, the real estate market, the property’s condition, and the exact value of your equity. It is important to consider all of these factors before making a decision about whether you should buy out your spouse’s share or sell the property and divide the proceeds.

Issues to Consider Before Buying or Selling Your Marital Home

Here are some variables to consider before making a decision about your marital home.

Can you sell the house for enough money to pay off the mortgage, the realtor, and other selling costs? Consult several realtors to determine a listing price for the house and to get advice regarding any repairs you should make prior to putting the home on the market. If you can sell quickly without taking a loss, this may be the smart thing to do, even if there will not be much in the way of proceeds to split. If you decide to go this route, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

When you file for divorce, one spouse typically moves out of the marital home. Whether you are the one who stays or the one who moves out, you are likely to have several immediate concerns, including how to ensure that your spouse continues to help pay your family bills and how to manage co-parenting your children. Your lawyer can help you address these concerns by requesting temporary orders from the court, which remain in effect until the divorce becomes final.

What Types of Temporary Orders Can I Request in a Divorce?

Either spouse can petition the court for temporary orders addressing these issues:

• Paying family bills. If one spouse makes significantly less than the other and cannot immediately cover their personal living expenses, the other spouse will typically be ordered to make spousal maintenance payments.

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