When a married couple decides to divorce, they will need to make decisions about multiple types of financial issues. In many cases, couples will be able to negotiate a divorce settlement that details how they will divide their marital property. However, there may be some situations where a couple will be unable to reach an agreement on these issues, and if their case proceeds to litigation, a judge will make the final decisions about how their assets will be divided. While couples can usually benefit by working together to reach a settlement and avoiding litigation, there are times when a trial may be necessary, including in cases where one party has committed asset dissipation.

What Is Asset Dissipation?

When a couple is married, they may both be involved in managing their family’s financial affairs, and they may both make purchases or use money or property in a way that benefits the family. However, there are some situations where a spouse may use marital funds or other property that is jointly owned by the spouses for their own benefit and for non-marital purposes. If a person can show that their spouse dissipated assets during their marriage or during the divorce process, they may ask that the court require the other spouse to repay the marital estate for the dissipated assets. If this will not be possible, other marital property may be divided in a way that addresses the dissipation, such as by granting the non-dissipating spouse a larger share of the marital estate.

Asset dissipation can involve multiple uses of marital property for the sole benefit of one spouse. For example, a spouse may engage in an extramarital affair, and they may use marital funds to buy gifts for a paramour, take vacations with that person, or stay in hotel rooms. A person may also dissipate assets by spending money on a gambling or drug addiction, or they may intentionally destroy property or waste money in order to cause financial harm to the other spouse.

The divorce rate in the United States is high, and after ending their marriage, former spouses will often begin new relationships or get remarried. Blended families are common, and stepparents will often build strong relationships with their stepchildren. A stepparent adoption may be used to solidify these bonds, making a stepparent the child’s legal parent who will have obligations to provide for the child’s needs and the right to maintain a close relationship with them. However, even when a stepparent adoption may seem like the best solution for everyone involved, some obstacles may arise during the adoption process, and parents will need to understand the best ways to resolve these issues.

Issues That Can Affect a Step-Parent Adoption

One of the primary challenges in a stepparent adoption is obtaining consent from the child’s other biological parent. In Illinois, a child can only have two legal parents, and before a stepparent can adopt the child, the other parent’s parental rights must be terminated. A parent can voluntarily agree to terminate their parental rights by signing a consent form, but in some cases, they may refuse to give consent, or it may be difficult to locate them to obtain consent.

There are some situations where a parent’s parental rights may be involuntarily terminated. In these cases, the other parent and the stepparent will usually need to demonstrate that the parent is unfit. A parent may be considered unfit in the following situations:

When parents get a divorce, under the law both parties will be expected to contribute toward the financial costs involved in raising their children, and child support will usually be ordered. These payments will usually last until a child reaches the age of 18 or graduates from high school, whichever occurs later. However, the parents may still have financial obligations after a child reaches legal adulthood - they may be required to pay non-minor support that will provide their children with financial assistance as they attend college and seek an education. To ensure that this issue is addressed correctly, divorcing parents will want to understand the types of non-minor support that may apply in their situation, the amount they will need to pay, and how long these payments will last.

Parents’ Contributions to Children’s College Expenses

Parents may agree on the amounts that they will each contribute toward the costs of their children’s college education, or a parent may petition the court to ask that the other parent be required to provide financial assistance. When determining an appropriate amount that a parent may be required to pay, the court will look at the income and financial resources of both parents, as well as the resources available to the child, such as college savings or scholarships.

Parents may be required to make contributions to expenses related to their child’s college education or other forms of professional or vocational training, and these expenses may include:

When a divorce is finalized, the decisions that are made are intended to be permanent. However, there may be some cases when a divorce decree may be modified, especially if it contains provisions that affect the parties’ ongoing financial situation or their relationships with their children. When addressing post-decree matters, divorced spouses should be sure to understand the types of changes that can be made and the circumstances that may warrant a modification.

Terms of a Divorce Decree That May Be Modified

After a couple’s marriage has been legally dissolved, an ex-spouse usually will not be able to request changes to decisions about the division of marital property. However, a person may be able to petition the court for modifications to address the following:

• Spousal maintenance - If spousal support was not awarded to either party in a divorce decree, neither party will usually be able to go back to court to ask for this form of support. However, if one spouse has been ordered to pay support to the other, either party may ask for modifications to the order based on changes in their financial circumstances. For example, someone who is required to pay maintenance to their ex-spouse may ask for support payments to be reduced or terminated because they have experienced health issues or financial difficulties that have affected their ability to continue making these payments.

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If you are going through a divorce, you may be concerned about your ability to provide for yourself financially once your marriage has been legally dissolved. If you have relied on your spouse during the marriage to earn the majority of the income needed to meet your family’s needs, you may be able to receive financial support (known as spousal maintenance) following your divorce. On the other hand, if you earn more than your spouse, you may be concerned about your ability to cover your own expenses if you are also required to pay spousal support. By understanding how spousal maintenance is calculated, you can determine the amount you may pay or receive, allowing you to plan for how you will meet your financial needs once your divorce is complete.

Guidelines for Calculating Spousal Maintenance

Illinois law provides a formula for calculating spousal support obligations based on the income earned by divorcing spouses. Under this formula, 25 percent of the recipient’s gross annual income is subtracted from 33⅓ percent of the paying spouse’s gross annual income. The result will be the amount that will be paid on an annual basis, although this amount will usually be divided into 12 monthly installments. However, when the amount of maintenance is added to the recipient’s income, the total cannot be more than 40 percent of the spouses’ combined gross annual income.

To understand how these calculations will be performed, consider a situation in which Spouse A earns a gross income of $200,000 per year, and Spouse B earns a gross income of $75,000. Using the formula described above, $18,750 ($75,000 x .25) would be subtracted from $66,667 ($200,000 x .333...), resulting in $47,917. However, when this amount is added to Spouse B’s gross income, the result is $122,917. The couple earns a combined gross income of $275,000, and 40% of this amount is $110,000. This means that the amount of maintenance that Spouse B would receive would be reduced to $35,000 per year, or $2,917 per month.