I’m a divorce lawyer in Illinois. Specifically, areas such as Chicago, Skokie, Evanston, and Wilmette, and the Counties of Lake and DuPage. If you want to start a contested or uncontested divorce, then you should consider these 5 tips for choosing the best divorce lawyer.
(more…)Tag: best chicago divorce lawyer
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Dividing property in divorce: Overview
As a Chicago divorce lawyer who deals with division of property and high net worth divorces, I know that people have many questions about – to put it bluntly – keeping their stuff. You don’t have to be in a high-net worth divorce in Illinois to be concerned that you keep as much of your property as possible. (more…)
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Foreclosure with deceased homeowner? Hold on, bank!
I recently stopped a sale of a home that a bank was seeking to foreclose upon. Why would a Chicago family law attorney get involved in a foreclosure, you ask? As a family law attorney, I become intimately familiar with my clients’ lives. Just as I hate to see people robbed of a proper role in their children’s lives, I also hate to see banks taking advantage of the same people who paid for their bailout. You should know that if you are facing a divorce and a foreclosure, that’s a double-whammy . . . you can contact me, Chicago divorce and foreclosure defense lawyer David Wolkowitz – I may be able to help. Illinois home foreclosure defense is one of my practice areas.
Borrower died – bank was sloppy
In my recent case, the borrower died, and instead of following the proper procedure, the bank took a shortcut. The borrower’s daughter was my client, and she wasn’t properly notified that the
Hopefully your house is worth more than the materials it's made of bank began foreclosure proceedings. Further, when a borrower is dead, and the bank then wants to foreclosure, Illinois law requires that a “special representative” be appointed as part of a foreclosure case. The purpose of a special representative is to determine if the borrowers have heirs that should be notified of the foreclosure proceeding. However, in my case, no special representative was appointed. I stopped the sale of a house for my client, the borrower’s daughter, so she could have time to sort the mess out and save the house (almost all of the mortgage had been paid off!).
The bank was lazy
The strange part is – the bank didn’t even know the borrower was dead! Despite the fact that the borrow would have been approximately 80 years old when the bank began foreclosure proceedings, the person who was actually served appeared to the process server to be approximately 47 years old. If the lazy bank did any due diligence at all, it would have easily realized the borrower was dead. But instead, the practically criminally negligent banks don’t care, and just want to bring down the hammer as hard as they can.
Divorce and the Home
When working in Illinois family law, I often deal with issues involving homes. For instance, I previously wrote the article titled, “Uncontested Divorce & Marital Settlement Agreements: The Home,” which addressed how a home can be dealt with in a divorce settlement. If you have a divorce and a foreclosure on the horizon, contact me, Chicago divorce lawyer and Illinois foreclosure defense attorney David Wolkowitz; I may be able to help you move on with life with the least pain possible.
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Kim Kardashian: domestic violence on display before divorce
Kim Kardashian’s marriage is a hot topic these days. She’s filed for divorce – no surprise there. But the domestic violence she committed against husband Kris Humphries is serious.
In the context of Illinois marriage, child custody, and divorce, domestic violence is usually viewed as something men commit against women. But it can go both ways, as Kim Kardashian demonstrated while the cameras rolled during the season premier of “Kourtney & Kim Take Manhattan.” Kim seemed to put her full force into hitting her monstrous husband during an argument.
Dr. Drew Pinskey said “What you are seeing there is domestic violence . . . A lot of people watching this may not understand this. And I get that. It looks playful. What’s the big deal? But it’s a massive deal … This is an incontrovertible piece of evidence of someone engaged in a domestic violence relationship.”
Luckily for all Earth’s creatures, the two brainiacs involved in the domestic spat have not produced a child.
But if they did, and they lived in Illinois, their divorce and child custody case might be complicated by Kim Kardashian’s domestic violence.
As I discussed in my post titled “Illinois Child Custody Factors,” the presence of domestic violence in a relationship is factor courts may use in determining child custody. In the context of an Illinois child custody dispute, domestic violence is defined by Section 103 of the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 19 (750 ILCS 60/103) as “physical abuse, harassment, intimidation of a dependent, interference with personal liberty or willful deprivation but does not include reasonable direction of a minor child by a parent or person [acting in the place of a parent].”
Here are some things to keep in mind about domestic violence as it relates to child custody disputes:
- The perpetrator of domestic violence need not be male.
- The victim need not be heart for domestic violence to be present and used by a judge as a factor to determine child custody.
- Domestic violence is not limited to physical violence
People need to use common sense when in a child custody dispute. As a Chicago divorce lawyer, there are few things that bother me more than a person making false allegations of abuse against the other parent. Simply because someone is “mean” or a “jerk” does not mean that domestic violence is present.However, if you are truly a victim of domestic violence, then you should consider taking action before your problem gets worse. Please contact me, Chicago, Evanston and Schaumburg family law attorney David Wolkowitz; I may be able to help. -
How long does a Chicago divorce take? Divorce time FAQ.
As a Chicago divorce attorney, I’m often asked the question “How long does a divorce take?” While it is impossible for any attorney to give an exact answer – particularly one who is simply writing this post – you might keep in mind the following points covered in the below “Divorce time FAQ.”
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Who’s the Best Divorce Attorney in Chicago?
Are you looking for the best divorce attorney in Chicago?
Your choice of attorneys is important. I suggest you consider the following factors in when choosing a divorce attorney. (more…)