F.A.Q.

Charges:

The first consultation, up to 20 minutes is free of charge. You must contact our office to schedule your consultation. Thereafter, if you have retained our office and signed a Fee Agreement, all cases are handled on a hourly basis. The hourly rate will be quoted at the time of your consultation. Also, there are filing fees required by each court for the initial filing of your case.

Does it matter who files first?

No, Illinois is a no fault state. The only ground for dissolution of marriage in Illinios is irreconcilable differences.

Is my case uncontested or contested?

An uncontested case means that the parties have reached an agreement on all issues and a written settlement agreement has been approved by both parties and has been submitted to a judge for approval. The issues which the marital settlement agreement should include, but may not be limited to, are the following:

Allocation of Parental Responsibilities (formerly called Custody)
Allocation of Parenting Time (formerly called Visitation)
Child Support
Insurance and Related Expenses
Maintenance
Division of Propery
Division of Debts
Division of Retirement Benefits

A contested case means that the parties have not reached an agreement on any or all the relevant issues in the case. The matter will then proceed to trial for a judge to decide the unresolved issues. The judge hears the trials and makes the decisions.