Temporary Support and Illinois Divorce Law

 Posted on December 00,0000 in Temporary Support

If you are filing for divorce or are in the midst of dissolving your marriage, how will you be impacted by the availability of temporary support? For many Muslims in DuPage County, temporary support is a significant issue. If you were the primary earner in your household during your marriage, you will need to be aware that the court can order you to pay temporary support for your spouse and children until other orders are finalized. And if you were not the primary earner in your family, you are likely to have questions about whether you will be eligible for temporary spousal support and temporary child support until your divorce is completed.

Major changes to Illinois’s marriage and divorce laws will take effect on January 1, 2016, and one of those new laws deals specifically with temporary support.

Establishing the Need for Temporary Support

Through a recent overhaul to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA), DuPage County residents will see some significant shifts to the ways in which our courts handle petitions for temporary support. Generally speaking, temporary support petitions are among the first to go before a court when a spouse files for divorce. Although the conclusion of a divorce proceeding may not come for quite some time, temporary support allows courts in our state to deal with income disparities that exist between spouses.

Section 501 of the IMDMA deals with temporary support, including spousal support and child support. When does the need for temporary support arise? In general, one of the following situations is likely to be the reason for a temporary support petition:

• The divorcing parties try to come to an agreement about finances during the divorce proceedings, but they are unable to do so; or
• The primary earner cuts off the other spouse’s access to the family’s money during the divorce proceedings.

In the latter situation, the spouse who is not the primary earner may also be the spouse who is caring for the children, making the financial situation even more precarious. As you might imagine, every situation is different, and the need for temporary support is rarely a simple matter. Lawmakers in our state recognize the complexity of divorce law and the need for temporary support, and they sought to change the law by streamlining the process of obtaining temporary support across Illinois.

New Requirements for Temporary Support Petition

To file for temporary support, petitioners must do the following before an order of temporary support may be issued:

• File a petition for temporary relief; and
• File an affidavit for income and expenses.

Under the changes to Section 501 of the IMDMA, residents of DuPage County no longer will need to obtain county-specific materials for filing a petition for temporary support as the law previously required. This is part of the process involved in streamlining statewide access to temporary support. In addition, other changes include the following:

• Exchanging of financial documentation in advance of the financial affidavit;
• Ability of one party to challenge income disparity; and
• Speedier hearings to determine whether temporary support is needed.

Contact an Oakbrook Terrace Divorce Lawyer

At Farooqi & Husain, we have years of experience assisting Muslims in Oakbrook Terrace and throughout Illinois. Our DuPage County divorce attorneys understand the family law issues that often impact the Muslim community, and we can help with your case today. Contact Farooqi & Husain Law Office today to learn more about how we can assist you.

Source:

http://www.cookcountycourt.org/Portals/0/Domestic%20Relations%20Division/Seminar%20Materials/DR.New%20IMDMA%20Public%20Act.pdf