Divorce

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A divorce can be very stressful.  The outcome of a divorce could affect the rest of your life.  For these reasons, if you are considering beginning a divorce proceeding or if your spouse has already filed for divorce, you need to engage knowledgeable legal counsel right away.

Our attorneys know how to navigate the complicated legal processes in both Lake County and McHenry County courts to achieve the best possible results for our clients.

At the conclusion of a divorce proceeding, a judge will issue a Decree of Dissolution of Marriage, commonly called a “divorce decree.”  This decree is legally binding and will state each spouse’s rights and obligations for the future. It is a road-map for parenting, for dividing assets between spouses, and for managing financial obligations in the future.  An experienced family law attorney in our firm will help you through these often difficult issues.

As legal counsel, our goal is to lead a cooperative divorce process, but if that is not possible given the circumstances, we will fight extremely hard to achieve a fair and workable outcome for you, both on time and within your budget.

Parenting

If you become involved in a Lake County or McHenry County child custody proceeding, you will need excellent legal advice.  The stakes are extremely high because you are fighting for the welfare of your child, including financial support, schooling, medical care, extra-curricular activities, your time together, and even your child’s place of residence if the other parent is seeking to move a significant distance away from your home.

Child care disputes were formerly referred to as “Child Custody Proceedings,” but the law has changed in Illinois, and they are now referred to as disputes over parental decision-making and parenting time.  To a parent seeking resolution of a dispute of this kind, the change in terms is not significant.

Courts will consider a number of different factors when allocating financial support, decision-making, and parenting time between two parents.   The first and most significant factor is always to do what is in the child’s best interests.

To allocate parental obligations for child care, Lake County and McHenry County judges will assess the child’s needs and then compare the two parents’ income, ability to care for a child, and living situations.   The judges will also consider any legal disabilities or unusual issues that either parent may have. These include an unstable or dangerous living environment, drug addiction, alcoholism, prior criminal convictions, history of domestic violence, current or past accusations of abuse or neglect of children, lack of access to financial resources, and other factors believed damaging to a child.

Whether you seek friendly co-parenting or sole decision-making rights and strictly limited parenting time for the other parent, your lawyer’s job will be to present the relevant facts regarding you, your child, and the other parent as clearly and accurately as possible.  Your job will be to cooperate with your lawyer to collect and assemble those facts in a true statement of your ability to meet your child’s needs.

Our law firm will help you achieve the best result possible while also respecting your budget.  We are local and responsive, and we understand the impacts of a divorce within your family.  Our goal is to help you resolve issues fairly and to protect the best interests of your child.

Child Support

A dispute over child support is resolved by a family law judge if the two parents cannot themselves come to a voluntary agreement on this issue. The amount of child support will be due weekly or monthly.

Child support judgments can very rarely be overturned.   However, if your income has changed, or if you can demonstrate that your child support obligation was set too high initially, we can help you reduce your obligation going forward.  Our team of dedicated attorneys can also help you manage the negative consequences of overdue child support payments.  It is critical to have competent legal counsel to assist you.  Failure to pay child support on time can result in the suspension of your driver’s license or even jail time.

On the other side of the coin, if you have found yourself raising a child alone and the other parent is not paying support as required  under a court order, then our firm can help you begin a child support case against him or her.  We can help you to collect back child support, going as far back, if necessary, to the costs of labor and delivery for your child’s birth.  There are several methods of assuring that you are timely paid, and we can discuss these with you.

Call the Libertyville Family Law Attorneys at Johnston Tomei Lenczycki & Goldberg LLC Today

If you are going through a divorce, or are facing parenting issues, or are concerned about child support, call the Libertyville family law lawyers at Johnston Tomei Lenczycki & Goldberg LLC today to determine your rights. We offer a no charge initial consultation. Our family law attorney, Alan Lenczycki, is happy to sit down with you to go over your options and provide you with sound legal guidance.