Friday, February 20, 2015

Old Child Support: Don't Wait Too Long

In re Marriage of Ross

Illinois Appellate Court Civil Court
Case Number: 
 2015 IL App (2d) 130961
Decision Date: 
 February 11, 2015
District: 
 2d Dist.
Division/County: 
 Du Page Co.
Justice: 
 BIRKETT
Holding: 
 Reversed and remanded with directions.
Judgment of dissolution entered in 1983, including monthly child support to be paid by husband; husband died in 2008. In 2012, wife filed petition for confirmation of lien, sale of real estate, and entry of QDRO, alleging child support arrearages and interest totaling nearly $66,000. Section 510(e) of Marriage Act subjects to Probate Act all claims for child support, including those based on arrearages existing when payor died. Wife's claim was time-barred, per section 5/18-12 of Probate Act, as it was filed more than two years after husband's death. (HUTCHINSON and ZENOFF, concurring.)



Best Regards, 

Jon D. McLaughlin
Bloomington Law Group LLC
Flanagan State Bank Building
2401 East Washington Street
Bloomington Illinois 61704
Skype: jmclaug2


Friday, February 13, 2015

New Bill Introduced for Grandparent Rights to Visitation

Grandparents' visitation
House Bill 1414
(Cavaletto, R-Salem). Amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Provides that a grandparent may file a petition for reasonable visitation rights to a minor child living in a dual-parent household if there is an unreasonable denial of visitation by a parent and the grandparent has maintained a significant beneficial relationship with the child for a period of 12 months or more immediately preceding the severance of that relationship by the parent. The relationship must have been unreasonably severed by the parent or parents for reasons other than abuse or presence of a danger of substantial harm to the child. Creates a presumption of a significant beneficial relationship arises if: (1) the child resided with the petitioner grandparent for at least six consecutive months with or without the current custodian present during the 12-month period; (2) the petitioner grandparent had frequent or regular contact or visitation with the child throughout the 12-month period; or (3) the petitioner grandparent was the primary caretaker of the child for a period or not less than six consecutive months within the 12-month period. Just introduced and referred to the House Rules Committee. Just introduced and referred to House Rules Committee.



Best Regards, 

Jon D. McLaughlin
Bloomington Law Group LLC
Flanagan State Bank Building
2401 East Washington Street
Bloomington Illinois 61704
Skype: jmclaug2


This Email may have been dictated through speech-to-text software. Please excuse any typos or other mistakes. 


THIS MESSAGE AND ANY ATTACHMENTS MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL, PRIVILEGED, AND EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE. ANY RECIPIENT OTHER THAN THE INTENDED RECIPIENT IS ADVISED THAT ANY DISSEMINATION, DISTRIBUTION, COPYING, OR OTHER USE OF THIS MESSAGE IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS MESSAGE IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY THE SENDER IMMEDIATELY.

IRS CIRCULAR 230 NOTICE: To the extent that this message or any attachment concerns tax matters, it is not intended to be used and cannot be used by a taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by law.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Why Discovery is Important

"This divorce case illustrates the difficulty a spouse has in extricating herself from a marital settlement agreement whose terms were, in retrospect, not as generous as she would have liked. Petitioner Deborah Lyman and respondent Robert Lyman entered into a marital settlement agreement (MSA), which was incorporated into a divorce judgment. Deborah filed post-judgment petitions claiming fraud and breach of the MSA pursuant to section 2-1401 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-1401 (West 2010)). She argued that she was fraudulently induced to enter into the MSA because Robert informed her that his businesses were ceasing to operate and would lose their value. Robert moved to dismiss Deborah's amended section 2-1401 petition pursuant to sections 2-619(a)(4) and (a)(9) of the Code (735 ILCS 5/2-619(a)(4), (a)(9) (West 2010)). Robert also moved for sanctions against Deborah under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 137 (Ill. S. Ct. R. 137 (eff. Feb. 1, 1994)). The trial court granted Robert's motion to dismiss and motion for sanctions, from which Deborah appeals. For the following reasons, we affirm in part, reverse in part, vacate in part, and remand this matter with directions to the trial court to conduct a hearing to determine whether to award attorney fees to Robert under section 508(a) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (Act) (750 ILCS 5/508(a) (West 2010))."
 





Best Regards, 

Jon D. McLaughlin
Bloomington Law Group LLC
Flanagan State Bank Building
2401 East Washington Street
Bloomington Illinois 61704
Skype: jmclaug2


This Email may have been dictated through speech-to-text software. Please excuse any typos or other mistakes. 


THIS MESSAGE AND ANY ATTACHMENTS MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL, PRIVILEGED, AND EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE. ANY RECIPIENT OTHER THAN THE INTENDED RECIPIENT IS ADVISED THAT ANY DISSEMINATION, DISTRIBUTION, COPYING, OR OTHER USE OF THIS MESSAGE IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS MESSAGE IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY THE SENDER IMMEDIATELY.

IRS CIRCULAR 230 NOTICE: To the extent that this message or any attachment concerns tax matters, it is not intended to be used and cannot be used by a taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by law.