Posted on July 24, 2013 in High Asset Divorce

What are Qualified Domestic Relations Orders, and how do they relate to asset division in Illinois divorces? QDROs are used to give an alternate recipient the right to receive funds from a private-sector retirement account such as a 401(k) or a pension plan. The alternate recipient could be the plan participant's child, spouse or former spouse, so you can see why QDROs are important in dividing assets in the divorce process.

If a spouse started participating in a 401(k) or pension plan during the marriage, then the plan will be classified as marital property and thus subject to equitable division. Soon-to-be divorced spouses who want funds from such a plan should take the necessary steps to ensure that the QDRO is properly handled. An attorney can review this document prior the finalization of the divorce settlement.

There may be tax liabilities for the party named as an alternate recipient, so this issue should also be accounted for in divorce negotiations. Monetary penalties are also common when a retirement account is withdrawn early.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on July 10, 2013 in Child Custody

The results of a recent study may not be all that surprising to parents: that younger children tend to experience more long-term negative effects from divorce than do older children. Every case is different, of course. We established this blog to discuss these matters and more, so let us consider the study's recent findings.

A survey was created by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The survey was posted online and garnered 7,335 respondents, most of whom were women. About a third of the respondents said their parents were divorced. In general, the findings relate to how close the attachment is between divorced parents and their adult children, as well as to how people's romantic lives are eventually affected if their parents were divorced.

The good news is that having divorced parents tended not to have a huge effect on the parent-child attachment later in life, though people who were young children when their parents split up did tend to be more anxious around or resentful toward their parents.

Continue Reading ››