You don’t have to go through this alone. Divorce Solutions can help.
Each family law case is driven by a unique set of circumstances and each case is different. Because of this, every client deserves and should expect to receive personal and straightforward guidance from their attorney.
Nichole Waltz has extensive experience in family law. Regardless of whether you approach your divorce with traditional litigation, collaborative divorce, or mediation, Nichole will ensure that you are informed regarding what is happening in your case and is there to answer your questions when you have them.
Divorce Solutions provides our clients with personalized legal advice and services. We work diligently and earnestly to get the best possible results for our clients. Most of all, we will ensure that your rights and interests are protected.
Nichole represented me in a long drawn-out divorce 6 years ago. Took the place of the old attorney and got the divorce finalized in a few months. Nichole is transparent, takes emotions out of it, and guides you on what the law states and the best outcome for you. Dealing with a very difficult x-wife; just recently I was served with false abuse allegations against one of my children. It was an emergency motion in front of a judge and Nichole quickly in less than 24 hours was able to step in for me on the hearing. She was a voice of reason and explained every scenario that could happen. A GAL was appointed and of course there was no abuse going on and my child was put back into my home ASAP after the investigation. While emotions are running high Nichole is the voice of reason; even when you are making decisions not out of clarity but emotion Nichole will bring you back down to reality and that is what a attorney is supposed to do. I will without a doubt use Nichole for any family matter in the future if need be. There are too many attorney’s that just want the retainer and money from you not caring about your family. Nichole cares and is beyond knowlegable of the law. I am forever grateful for Nichole and what she has done for myself and relationship with my children!
Former Client
Experienced counsel, helping Chicago-land and Northwest Suburban area families
Divorce Solutions by Nichole Waltz serves clients in Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kane & McHenry Counties. We are centrally located on Golf Road just off Route 53 in Rolling Meadows.
FAQs
Marital property is any and all property acquired during the marriage, regardless of how it is titled. When determining what is marital property we look at when the property was acquired and ask whether the acquisition was before or after the wedding date. Property acquired before the wedding date is non-marital property. Property acquired after the wedding date, with a few exceptions, is marital property. Some examples of things that are marital property include:
- Your paycheck earned after the wedding date and during the marriage;
- Contributions to a pension/401k/403b/TRS and/or any other retirement savings plan made after the wedding date and during the marriage;
- Bank account contributions made after the wedding date; and
- Real estate and personal property acquired after the wedding date.
With the above examples, and with all marital property, it does not matter whose name the property is titled under. Specifically, it does not matter that your name is on your bank account and that only your paycheck goes into that bank account. If you earned the paycheck during the marriage, the paycheck is marital property. The same is also true of property in just your spouse’s name.
The above examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not to be considered or utilized as legal advice. Every situation is different and requires an individual assessment by the qualified family law attorneys of Divorce Solutions.
Non-marital property is property that was acquired by you, prior to the wedding date and maintained as separate property by you. Non-marital property also includes any inheritance that you may have received during the marriage, as long as you maintain the inheritance as separate from marital property. In order to have maintained non-marital property as separate property, you cannot have “co-mingled” your non-marital property with marital property.
For example, you have a savings account that you established prior to your wedding date. If you put any money in that account from your paycheck earned after your wedding date, you will have co-mingled your marital property (post wedding paycheck) with your non-marital property (pre wedding savings account) and could cause what was previously non-marital property to be considered marital property.
With an inheritance, you must maintain any inheritance as separate from marital property in order to maintain it as separate. If you utilize your inheritance to pay a marital bill (ie the mortgage), in the absence of a pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreement, this will likely be considered a gift by you to the marriage for which you are not entitled to a reimbursement.
The above examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not to be considered or utilized as legal advice. Every situation is different and requires an individual assessment by the qualified family law attorneys of Divorce Solutions.
There is a common misconception that a spouse is entitled to half, or 50%, of the marital property. There is no law in Illinois that states that a spouse will receive half (50%) of the marital property. Illinois divides property equitably and equitably does not mean equally under the law. Sometimes equitable is 50%-50% each but, sometimes under certain circumstances, equitable can mean that one spouse receives 70% and the other 30% of the marital assets.
The above examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not to be considered or utilized as legal advice. Every situation is different and requires an individual assessment by the qualified family law attorneys of Divorce Solutions.
A Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA) is sometimes referred to as a property settlement. An MSA is an agreement made between divorcing spouses, which sets forth how the parties have agreed to divide their marital property. In a divorce, spouses can agree as to how they want to divide up their bank accounts, the house, retirement accounts, investments, any debt, and any other marital property. Generally speaking and as long as the agreement is reasonable, Courts will usually accept agreements reached between the spouses. An agreement can be reached between spouses at any time during a divorce proceeding.
Let’s Work Together
You don’t have to go it alone. Schedule a family law consultation.
Give us a call at 847-347-4300 or complete the form to get in touch.