Often I receive calls from people who are unmarried but have lived with a fiancé, a paramour, or a POSSLQ (person of the opposite sex sharing living quarters). The relationship is now on the skids for whatever reason, the parties have decided to break up, and many questions now arise as far as how to divide up the personal property they have acquired and the debts they have incurred during their live-in relationship now that the relationship is over.
People have heard various stories over the years about Hollywood celebrities, “palimony” and casually assume that in this modern age the law must provide them with protections similar to married persons involved in a divorce, or what Illinois law calls a “dissolution of marriage.”
I have been practicing family law for many years. I pride myself in the fact that I fight hard for my clients’ rights and that I am not afraid to take on the hard cases. It has never been easy for me to give people bad news. However, I have to be honest with everyone, whether potential or actual clients of mine. And when someone calls and presents me with the above scenario (live-in relationship gone pear-shaped, credit card debts, car loans, lease payments, furniture, appliances and expensive electronics with ownership and responsibility now up for grabs) I have to tell them some bad news.
The Illinois Supreme Court, in the recent case of Blumenthal v. Brewer, held that unmarried person living together do not share the same rights as married couples under Illinois law. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve lived together, or what you have promised each other. Your good-faith beliefs and expectations won’t help you. In terms of enforcing any rights against the other party by reason of the live-in relationship, don’t expect any help at all from the courts. As the Illinois Supreme Court held in the above opinion, “unmarried individuals may make express or implied contracts with one another, and such contracts will be enforceable if they are not based on a relationship indistinguishable from marriage.”
In other words, whatever agreements you have with one another should be reduced to writing, signed by both parties, and must, like any other contract, be based on real consideration, rather than the intimate relationship or living arrangement between the parties. Most importantly, you should always consult a lawyer before signing a lease or financing a major purchase together. Otherwise, if you break up, all you may be left with as a memento is a staggering credit card debt, car loan or lease payment. Love well, but wisely.
Child Support Changes. Will They Affect You or Someone You Love?
/in Child Custody, Child Support, Divorce, Legal Services in Belleville IL, Uncategorized /by Gary WanglerChild Support Changes
Watch for big CHILD SUPPORT CHANGES coming to Illinois in 2017. Will they affect you or someone you love?
Are you paying too much? Receiving too little? Child support changes may help YOU.
If you have been paying too much child support, or receiving too little, the time to take action is NOW! Every day you delay may be costing you MONEY! Courts are usually not willing to turn back the clock and change your past child support unless you file a pleading and ask for child support changes, so ACT NOW!
Child support changes in the law.
The Illinois General Assembly has passed a law changing the way courts figure child support. While the new changes are complex, basically what will happen in cases decided after July 1 is a “means test” for the parent receiving child support. That is, the incomes of the two parents will first be compared. Then, using tables to be created by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, the court will determine child support based on the relative incomes of the parties.
Sound complicated? These new laws enacting child support changes will probably seem confusing to the average parent. To add to the confusion, the rules change if, for example, one parent has parenting time (what used to be called “custody”) for at least 146 days out of the year.
Once again, big child support changes are coming to Illinois in July. If you have been paying too much child support, or receiving too little, the time to take action is NOW! Every day you delay may be costing you MONEY!
FREE child support checkup!
Are you are a parent either paying or receiving child support in Illinois? If so, find out about these new child support changes. You can call me for a free child support checkup over the phone. It won’t cost you a cent to call me, and you might save thousands of dollars from these big child support changes. Have you experienced a major change in circumstances recently, or over the past few years? Has your income decreased? Has the other parent’s income gone up? These are important questions. It’s time to take a second look at your child support situation. Just call me, Attorney Gary Wangler in Belleville IL at (618) 398-8554. Ask your question for free, right here: Free Child Support Checkup.
Do it today. You’ll be glad you did.
Photo copyright: Zimmytws/123RF Stock Photos
Breaking Up is Hard to Do
/in Divorce, Legal Services in Belleville IL /by eswebdesignOften I receive calls from people who are unmarried but have lived with a fiancé, a paramour, or a POSSLQ (person of the opposite sex sharing living quarters). The relationship is now on the skids for whatever reason, the parties have decided to break up, and many questions now arise as far as how to divide up the personal property they have acquired and the debts they have incurred during their live-in relationship now that the relationship is over.
People have heard various stories over the years about Hollywood celebrities, “palimony” and casually assume that in this modern age the law must provide them with protections similar to married persons involved in a divorce, or what Illinois law calls a “dissolution of marriage.”
I have been practicing family law for many years. I pride myself in the fact that I fight hard for my clients’ rights and that I am not afraid to take on the hard cases. It has never been easy for me to give people bad news. However, I have to be honest with everyone, whether potential or actual clients of mine. And when someone calls and presents me with the above scenario (live-in relationship gone pear-shaped, credit card debts, car loans, lease payments, furniture, appliances and expensive electronics with ownership and responsibility now up for grabs) I have to tell them some bad news.
The Illinois Supreme Court, in the recent case of Blumenthal v. Brewer, held that unmarried person living together do not share the same rights as married couples under Illinois law. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve lived together, or what you have promised each other. Your good-faith beliefs and expectations won’t help you. In terms of enforcing any rights against the other party by reason of the live-in relationship, don’t expect any help at all from the courts. As the Illinois Supreme Court held in the above opinion, “unmarried individuals may make express or implied contracts with one another, and such contracts will be enforceable if they are not based on a relationship indistinguishable from marriage.”
In other words, whatever agreements you have with one another should be reduced to writing, signed by both parties, and must, like any other contract, be based on real consideration, rather than the intimate relationship or living arrangement between the parties. Most importantly, you should always consult a lawyer before signing a lease or financing a major purchase together. Otherwise, if you break up, all you may be left with as a memento is a staggering credit card debt, car loan or lease payment. Love well, but wisely.