Elliot Heidelberger's Answers

Should a trial separation be maximum of 6months? A consecutive 6 months long?

Illinois does not recognize "trial separations" as a legal matter. To be a legal separation it must be pursuant to a court order. If you have an informal separation that you have worked out with your spouse there are several risks. The first is that if you are out for an extended period of time the court may keep you out if your spouse files a petition. Second, if you are out for a year it constitutes Desertion as a ground for divorce. My experience has been that separations don't work. One...

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Illinois law on divorce after 11 years of marriage - can the wife get 50 percentage of husbands money?

Thank you for your question. There are several issues which you have raised. First, you stated that the divorce is "no contest". i assume by that you mean you and your wife have agreed that you both want a divorce but have not as yet decided on how the assets and income are to be divided. I also don't know if the assets you mentioned were earned during the marriage or if they were yours before the marriage or inherited by you during the marriage. Once you answer those questions I will be able...

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The Court stopped visitation with my daughter. How can I get visitation again, quickly, and temporary custody?

Your attorney has an obligation to provide you with itemized statements of his/her services on a monthly basis. If you have not received the statements you should demand them and determine what, if anything is left from your retainer. If there are sufficient funds left you should consider discharging the attorney and retaining someone who will do the things you request or at least explain why he/she does not recommend asking for custody. Cost is an important factor in any custody case, but you...

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Mother in US Navy, took children out of state without a custody order. Judge told her not to remove children from, IL.

Unfortunately you may need two lawyers. One in your state and one in the state where the mother is now living. A petition for Indirect Criminal Contempt and for the return of the child should be filed in the county where you reside. When you get your order for the return of the child you will have to take it to an attorney in the county where the mother and child reside. That attorney should know what to do. A short cut may be to contact your wife's base commander. Advise him of what she has...

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Can custodial mother as for supervised visitation without any grounds?

Your question should be, might the court award supervised visitation. She ca always ask. Getting it is another story. A non-custodial parent is entitled to "reasonable visitation unless the other party can prove, by clear and convincing evidence that such visitation would endanger the child' physical, mental, moral or emotional health. That's difficult to do. Elliot Heidelberger www.Heidelbergerlaw.com

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My boyfriend was arrested for domestic violence (not too severe of a case), can I drop all charges? If so how?

The simplest way is just not to appear in court on the court dates. Eventually the case will be dismissed. If you wish to appear you can tell the prosecutor that you don't want to press charges. Usually, they will not proceed if you so advise them. Elliot Heidelberger elliot@heidelbergerlaw.com

I am filing for a divorce. Can i break the lease that is in both, mine and my husband`s name?

The lease is a contract that you have with your landlord. Both you and your husband are individually bound by it. The written lease will tell you under what conditions you can terminate the lease and what penalties would apply. However, if your husband remained in the residence and paid the rent neither the landlord or your husband would be entitled to any reimbursement from you. Read your lease. It may have already expired and you may or may not be on a month to month basis. if your lease...

How long does someone has to stay out of their house or away from his kids after he was accused of abusing another children?

DCFS can control the issue. You should be on the phone with the case supervisor every day until you receive an answer. If they are not responding to you, you should retain the assistance of an attorney to push them into action. Elliot Heidelberger Attorney at Law

My 13 year old daughter wants to live with me, but her mom won't let her.

The answer is simple. Select an attorney, retain him/her and file a petition for change of custody. The petition will alleged all of the facts that you have just set out plus any other that the attorney deems relevant. The Petition should be filed on an Emergency basis. Don't bother waiting for the mother to come around. You have to act quickly before the mother decides to go to court, or the police, to force the return of the child. Your daughter"s wishes are only one factor for the court to...

How important and what is discovery?

I guess you have a question and a statement. Discovery is a process by which the attorneys complete their "due diligence", that is their investigation into the pertinent personal and financial issues in the case. The three minimal things typically done are to issue a set of Interrogatories (questions) to the other party, request production of certain documents (usually financial documents but not exclusively) and send a notice for the taking of the other party's deposition (asking questions...