FAMILY LAW
IRMO: Garrett, No. 5-01-0728 (1st Dist., 2/3/03) Affirmed. After the mother established grounds to modify child support by increasing it, the father failed to establish that the award for child support of $824 per week based on statutory guidelines of 20% of his net income averaged over previous three years was excessive.
IRMO: Crook, 334 Ill. App. 3d 377, 778 N.E. 2d 309 (4th Dist., 2002) Consideration of Social Security Benefits in dividing marital property, not just re support issues.
IRMO: Turrell, No. 2-01-0698, (2nd Dist., 11/12/02) DuPage Cty. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, remanded. Trial court properly defined reasonable medical expenses as including ______ generally recognized in the medical community as necessary for treatment of an established condition and refused to order former husband to reimburse former wife for controversial treatments for minor child�s Lyne disease administered by only one physician in the United States.
IRMO: Centioli: No. 1-01-2042 (1st Dist., 4th Div., 11/27/02) Affirmed. Trial court properly dismissed petition on part of wife seeking to order husband to restore his estate plan to status that existed prior to filling of petition for dissolution of marriage naming her as beneficiary of his revocable trust and enjoin him from transferring marital assets. Husband changing beneficiary designation is insufficient, by itself, to enjoin him from transferring marital assets.
IRMO: Alyassir, No. 2-01-1096 (2nd Dist., 1/8/03) Lake Cty. Appeal from order granting increase in child support, while petition for rule to show cause with regards to medical payments was still pending, and without Rule 304(a) finding, is premature, (contradicting Carr from 1st Dist.).
IRMO: Menken, 778. N.E. 2d 281, 268 Ill. Dec. 295 (2nd Dist.) App.Cr. held that the trial court lacked authority to order a husband to sign a consent form authorizing his wife to receive his police dept. retirement benefits directly pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order (QILDROM). Instead, the court could order the husband to pay the wife per month upon his receipt of his monthly pension benefit.
House Bill 2863 (McCarthy, D-Orland Park) raises the minimum amount support percentage of the obligor�s net income from 25% to 28% for two children. Keep posted.
IRMO: VERSTREATER, No. 5-01-0540 (5th Dist., 4/2/03). Affirmed. Trial court�s decision to require that $13000 bond be posted for arrearages of more than that, and that bond be turned over to the IDPA, was not error. Also, the trial court properly refused to consider an income tax return tendered after discovery cut off date.
IRMO: Garrett, WL231604 (5th Dist., 2/3/03) Court ordered obligor who earned on average $215,000 per year to pay guideline support. Also, court did not abuse discretion in using income averaging when payor�s annual income varied significantly from year to year.
DeFina v. Scott, 2003 WL 470256 (N.Y. Sup., March 10, 2003). Lien imposed against Groom-to-be�s Real Property for wedding expenditures.
A New Jersey state judge has ruled that both women in a lesbian couple can be listed as parents on the birth certificate of the baby they are expecting. http://www.familypride.org/ealerts/ealert031403.html
Eunique v. Powell, No. 99-56984 D.C. No. CV-98-07787-GHK, Ninth Circuit (U.S. 9th Cir., August 23, 2002) Mother, who had been ordered to pay child support in the judgment for divorce, was now over $20,000 in arrears. Her passport was denied when she tried to get a passport to go to Mexico. On appeal, she asserted her Firth Amendment right to international travel as a fundamental right that cannot be encumbered by the denial of a passport based upon non-payment of child support. When the obligor of child support becomes delinquent beyond $5,000, the state must certify the delinquency to the Sec. of Health and Human Services. 42 U.S.C. Sec. 652(k). That Secretary transmits the certification to the S.O.S., who shall then refuse to issue a passport to a delinquent obligor.
IRMO: Seitzinger, No. 4-01-0743 (4th Dist., 8/23/02) Sangamon Cty. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, remanded. Trial court did not abuse its discretion when it ordered that the parents share joint legal custody over objection of parties.
IRMO: Bowlby, No. 5-01-0869 (5th Dist., 4/25/03) Jackson Cty. Affirmed as modified. Court properly set child support and refused to require that husband abandon farming to take a job with wife�s employer in light of history of farming throughout marriage. Also, court properly refused to order husband to contribute to wife�s attorney�s fees, which were excessive in light of parties� limited resources.
Melton v. Melton, No 02-2984, 324 F.3d 941 (7th Cir., 4/8/03). A divorce decree between a deceased employee and his former wife, containing a blanket revocation of their interests in all financial and property rights arising by reason of the marital relation and in any asset assigned to a party by agreement, if evidenced by an instrument naming the non-owning party a beneficiary, including annuities, life insurance policies, and other kinds of financial instruments, was not sufficiently explicit to operate as a waiver by the former wife of the proceeds of the deceased employee�s ERISA-regulated group term life insurance policy, under which she was the designated beneficiary.
In re J. Malkowski, A Minor, No. 02 FK 296 (4/8/03) Judge Joseph Grady of 16th Judicial Circuit dismissed petition to determine the existence of a father-child relationship in Kane Cty., and declared the Ill. Parentage Act (750 ILCS 45/1, et seq) unconstitutional, because it allowed the court to consider DNA testing when establishing a parent-child relationship, but does not take into account the child�s best interest.
IRMO: Johnson, No. 2-02-0543 (2nd Dist., 5/19/03) Dekalb Cty. Affirmed. Trial court did not abuse its discretion when it granted husband�s 2-1401 motion to vacate judgment of dissolution, filed 20 months after its entry, which was unconscionable despite failure on husband�s part to demonstrate due diligence.