2002 Articles

Case law update By Barry H. Greenburg February 2002 Summaries of In Re the Marriage of Street, In Re Jackson v. Newsome and In Re Marriage of Terry.

The chairman’s column By Alan J. Toback February 2002 Many of us lose sight of the fact that other jurisdictions are constantly rendering appellate court and supreme court decisions.

The Child Representative statute is unconstitutional By Scott C. Colky December 2002 The members of the Special Subcommittee of the Illinois State Bar Association who wrote and lobbied for the "Child's Representative" statute were well-intentioned, hardworking attorneys and judges who cared deeply for children.

Collaborative lawyering By Richard Kulerski November 2002 Collaborative law is our newest dispute resolution model. It is not limited to any area of practice but is clearly rooted in family law.

Drafting ideas for pet care By Paul A. Meints November 2002 To many of your clients, pets are an important part of life. The level of emotional involvement (generally directly proportional to the amount of money the client is willing to spend on the pet's care) tends to vary from client to client.

Editor’s column By Ross Levey December 2002 With the holidays approaching, the family law practitioner is routinely bombarded with last minute complaints about visitation.

Editor’s column By Ross Levey August 2002 As the newly re-appointed newsletter editor for the Family Law Section Council newsletter, I would like to take this opportunity to ask for your help in making the upcoming year a successful one.

Editor’s column June 2002 Our fifth issue includes articles on using exhibits for maximum impact, the art of forum protection, pet custody and a summary of the latest case requiring consideration of a new payee's spouse's income and assets under Sections 504, 505 and 513 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act.

Editor’s column April 2002 We hope you enjoy this issue which includes articles on the latest parentage cases, recovering fees for fee litigation and in camera interviews of children.

Editor’s column February 2002 This issue contains a column from our chairman, reminding us of the importance of out of state case law.

Editor’s column January 2002 We hope you enjoyed the first issue of the Family Law newsletter. This issue contains articles concerning the importance of site visits in business valuations and conflicts of interest.

Family law returns to jury trials By Harry Schaffner December 2002 A new decision of the Fifth District Appellate Court heralds the dawn of a new age, when family law practitioners return to jury trial practice.

Fencing and the art of forum protection By Margaret C. Benson & M. Lee Witte June 2002 Fencing (with weapons, not merchandise) is a classic sport that requires agility, strength and quickness.

The Illinois Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act: Immunity from liability By William Wu August 2002 Many family law practitioners are aware of 325 ILCS 5, otherwise known as the Illinois Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act (The Act). 325 Ill. Comp. Stat. § 5 (2002).

In camera interview of a child By Roza Gossage April 2002 The court is authorized to to interview a child in chambers pursuant to section 604(a) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5/604(a):

“Is this all I get?” or are we really achieving an equitable apportionment of marital property By Burton A. Gross April 2002 Does the way we apportion property in Illinois comport with the reasonable expectations of parties who enter into a marital relationship?

ISBA sets ADR program for midyear meeting By Hon. Michael S. Jordan November 2002 The CLE Committee of the ISBA has approved a fantastic program on mediation sponsored jointly by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section Council, the Bench and Bar Section Council, the Civil Practice and Procedure Section Council, and the Family Law Section Council set for Thursday, December 12, 2002 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Chicago Sheridan Hotel during the midyear meeting.

Lawyer’s duty to discover hidden assets By Harry Schaffner December 2002 A recent appellate court case, Fox v. Melvyn Berks, decided by the First District, First Division, August 19, 2002 (1-01-0558), addresses the duty of an attorney to discover concealed assets.

Message from the chair By Frank V. Ariano December 2002 In the last newsletter I gave you some idea of the makeup of the Council and what we will be working on this year.

Message from the chair By Frank V. Ariano November 2002 As incoming chairperson of the Family Law Section Council for 2002-2003, I welcome all new section members along with those of you returning for another year.

Observations of a central Illinois guardian ad litem By Anthony P. Corsentino May 2002 Recently, the Illinois Legislature amended the Dissolution of Marriage Act to provide for a child's representative in custody and visitation matters pending in Illinois court.

Pet custody: the new frontier in family law By Roza Gossage June 2002 If we had been practicing family law for more than a few years, we all have had the issue of who gets the dog, cat or bird in the divorce.

Prenuptial agreements / retirement waivers/ERISA By Barbara E. Hardin August 2002 Prenuptial agreements that include waivers of retirement benefits can create serious issues, including potential malpractice claims for those uninformed of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and Retirement Equity Act (REA ), 29 U.S.C. Section 1055.

Preparing your client for “the” evaluation By Rory Weiler December 2002 The parties in many divorce cases initially dispute custody of the children. Fortunately, these disputes are most often resolved through the efforts of counsel and the court by the use of the mediation process.

Recognizing and protecting against conflicts of interest By Belle Lind Gordon January 2002 Most attorneys know that they can be disqualified as an attorney for a party based upon a conflict of the interest.

Reconciling parentage act cases from the past year By Adrienne W. Albrecht April 2002 During the year 2001, and exceptional number of significant opinions considered the subtleties of the Parentage Act and its interplay with other statutes and precedent affecting children born out of wedlock.

Relocating a child born out of wedlock against the wishes of the non-custodial parent By Adrienne W. Albrecht December 2002 For some time now, the appellate courts in Illinois have unanimously held that the custodial parent of a child born out of wedlock need not obtain leave of court before permanently locating the child out of Illinois.

The Richman Report: Similar facts, different result November 2002 Not too long ago, an IRS Field Service Report dated July 29, 1999 made us stop and think carefully before transferring nonqualified stock options in a divorce situation.

The Richman Report—the importance of the site visit as part of the business valuation process By Bruce L. Richman January 2002 Often I am asked whether or not a site visit is needed in preparing a valuation of a closely held company.

Summary: In re Marriage of Street court must consider income and assets of payee’s new spouse By David N. Schaffer June 2002 In Re Marriage of Street, 325 Ill. App.3d 108, 756 N.E. 2d 887 (3rd Dist. 2001), is one of a trend of cases that permit the court to look at the income and assets of a new spouse when considering support awards or modifications thereof.