Call for a Consultation

(309)-828-5090

420 N. Main St. Bloomington, IL

Call for a Consultation

(309)-828-5090

Our Office: 420 N. Main St. Bloomington, IL

Divorce & Family Law

Divorce

We are Divorce & Family Law Attorneys focused on women and their legal rights, needs, and concerns. Whether you are a mother who is greatly concerned about the well-being of your children, or your divorce involves primarily financial issues, our divorce and family law attorneys are here to ease your burden and be your advocate.

We take the time to understand the issues particular to your marriage and your family. Our divorce and family law team is designed to give you the prompt personalized service you need during one of the most challenging periods in your life, while aggressively fighting for your interests during negotiations, alternate dispute resolution, and courtroom proceedings.

You probably have a lot weighing on your mind right now and are experiencing or will experience the undeniable costs involved with starting your new life. It has always been our mission at Koth Gregory & Nieminski to provide the very best legal representation at the lowest possible cost to our clients.

For a law firm representing the heart of Illinois for over 25 years, our hourly rates are relatively low and we urge you to look around and try to find better representation at a lower cost. At Koth Gregory & Nieminski, we are further able to keep our costs down by utilizing multiple research tools and software programs that save our attorneys from having to do many tasks manually. Our advanced research tools and sophisticated software allow us to identify and equitably divide marital property, systemically generate child support and maintenance (alimony) payment schedules, and find your spouse if necessary when child support and/or maintenance (alimony) payment(s) are being intentionally withheld. These are just a few of the time and cost saving benefits our tools and software can provide for you.

Call our office today to set up a consultation. During this initial meeting we hope to answer any questions or concerns you may have and develop a plan tailored to your individual needs.

Property Division

The complicated issue of dividing property can be emotionally charged and difficult to resolve. It is important to hire a divorce attorney capable of ensuring that your rights and future interests are protected. Spouses often struggle to determine what is shared “marital” property, what is each party’s “non-marital” property, and how to divide their property equitably. At Koth Gregory & Nieminski, we have access to advanced research tools, which allow us to identify marital assets, which otherwise may be overlooked.

Illinois is an equitable distribution state. This means courts will divide property fairly, but not always equally, based on a combination of factors the court deems appropriate.

Determining what is equitable can be challenging and the valuation and allocation of assets such as businesses, stocks, pensions, and retirement accounts can be tedious. Our attorneys are fully prepared to assist you with even the most intricate property division matters. At Koth Gregory & Nieminski, we use a sophisticated software program that assists our attorneys in calculating the value of the property involved and dividing it equitably to help secure what is rightfully yours.

Child Custody & Visitation (now known as Allocation of Parental Responsibilities)

Child custody (referred to as “significant decision-making responsibilities” under the new statute) is one of the most stressful and difficult areas of family law because of the depth and intensity of the emotions parents have for their children. Our goal is to help keep the children as safe and happy as possible, while getting you the custody arrangement that you feel is best for your kids.

In Illinois, both the mother and the father are presumed to have certain rights after a divorce, and we work hard to protect your rights when it comes to your children. The differences between sole and joint custody and legal and physical custody can be confusing, so on January 1, 2016 the Illinois legislature revised this section of the Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act to clarify this commonly misunderstood concept. See our two Divorce & Family Law Blog articles entitled Decision-Making Responsibilities and Parenting Time (Visitation), which provide a detailed analysis of these new statutory revisions. The divorce and family law attorneys at Koth Gregory & Nieminski are here to answer your questions regarding this complicated topic and explain things so that you feel comfortable throughout this process.

Courts determine child custody based on the best interest of the child, which is not always easy to determine because courts consider a combination of several factors and the weight judges give to particular factors varies from case to case. At Koth Gregory & Nieminski, we take the time to fully understand your family’s situation, making us more adept at analyzing how your circumstances align with these factors.

We believe the end result should be about keeping the family unit together even when they are not always under the same roof. It is important to children that their parents maintain a united front when it comes to all issues involved with parenting, which is why McLean County offers Parenting Coordination for high conflict custody and visitation cases if parents remain combative after divorce. No child wishes to see bitterness and unresolved issues cropping up during visitation and/or daily living. At Koth Gregory & Nieminski we strive to diffuse conflict and amicably resolve the custody and visitation issues that arise, while remaining conscious of the potential impact this process may have on the children. If necessary, our office can consult with child therapists, counselors, developmental experts, and educational specialists in order to ensure your children receive the attention and care they deserve during this difficult and confusing time.

 Child Support

Child support is the money the parent with less allocated parenting time pays toward the living expenses of their children. If you believe you may need financial assistance to support your child during the divorce proceedings, your attorney at Koth Gregory & Nieminski may file a petition for temporary relief so that your children receive the support they need during this process. For more information on this topic, please see our Divorce & Family Law Blog article entitled Temporary Financial Relief During Divorce.

Support typically terminates when the child turns 18, or 19 if the child has yet to graduate from high school. However, for children who wish to attend college or who have physical or mental disabilities, continued financial support may be required. See our two Divorce & Family Law Blog articles entitled “Child Support: College Expenses” and “Child Support: Disabled Adult Children” for an in depth look at how long and under what circumstances child support payments may be required to continue beyond childhood under the revised version of the Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, effective January 1, 2016. The Illinois guidelines for calculating the minimum amount of child support are based on the number of children and the net income of the payor of child support. Courts often require each divorcing spouse to fill out a financial statement to provide a complete picture of the parents’ financial situations before making a decision on child support.

At Koth Gregory & Nieminski, we have sophisticated software that allows our attorneys to precisely calculate a reasonable child support payment schedule based on your circumstances. This can potentially save you a substantial amount of time and money because by having the software automatically generate the payment schedule, we do not spend additional time doing the calculations manually, which reduces your bill.

Maintenance/Alimony

Maintenance, Alimony, and Spousal Support are all terms used to describe the monetary payment(s) one spouse is ordered to make to the other in an attempt to allow the maintenance-seeking spouse to maintain the lifestyle he/she became accustomed to during the marriage.

If you believe you may need financial assistance to support yourself during the divorce proceedings, your attorney at Koth Gregory & Nieminski may file a petition for temporary relief so that you receive the support you need during this process. For more information on this topic, please see our Divorce & Family Law Blog article entitled Temporary Financial Relief During Divorce.

At Koth Gregory & Nieminski, we have sophisticated software that allows our attorneys to cost-effectively calculate a fair and enforceable maintenance payment schedule. The software allows us to provide you with precise results for less money by reducing the potential for human error and eliminating unnecessary time/cost spent manually calculating you and your spouse’s information. This is one of the many advantages of using Koth Gregory & Nieminski, a law firm with dedicated divorce and family law attorneys with access to up to date technology.

 Modification/Enforcement of Orders Modification

Modification of the standing order or agreement for child support and/or maintenance (alimony) typically requires the modification-seeking party to prove a substantial material change in circumstances has occurred with respect to one or both of the parents. If attempting to modify child support, a substantial material change in the needs of the child may also qualify.

Common grounds for modification based on the parents’ change in situation, which may satisfy the “substantial material change in circumstance” standard are (1) Changes in Financial Status, (2) Changes in Employment Status, and (3) Worsening or Subsequent Health Issues.

There are some modifications that are time sensitive. We will go through those with you. If unexpected changes arise in your case, call us immediately (309)828-5090 and our divorce attorneys will promptly take the necessary steps to petition the court to modify the current order to reflect the changes without delay
Enforcement
Failing to comply with a child support or maintenance (alimony) order can cause serious financial hardship to the other party. In the event your former spouse has the ability to make child support and/or maintenance payments, but intentionally fails to comply with an order requiring him/her to do so, a contempt action may be necessary, and the Court has various means in which to enforce these Court ordered payments.

If locating your former spouse is a problem, you can rest easy knowing your divorce and family law attorneys at Koth Gregory & Nieminski are also experienced creditor’s rights lawyers, equipped with the advanced people finding tools and know how to track down your former spouse and acquire the needed information to obtain payment.

If your former spouse has been failing to make payments for a long time, we will request that the court issue a judgment for the amount in arrearage (amount past due). Once you have a judgment, a multitude of collection methods are available, such as wage garnishments and/or freezing bank accounts. If your former spouse has the ability to pay, but intentionally continues to shirk child support or maintenance (alimony) obligations and does not pay in accordance with the order, the judge may decide sequestration of your former spouse’s property or even incarceration is appropriate.

If you are the non-custodial parent paying child support or have been ordered to pay maintenance (alimony) to your former spouse and circumstances exist that make payment impossible, do not wait until the court holds you in contempt for failing to abide by the terms of your divorce settlement or order. Your divorce attorney at Koth Gregory & Nieminski will work with you to establish a manageable child support or maintenance (alimony) agreement and attempt to modify the current order so you will be less likely to fall into arrearage on your payments in the future.

 Prenuptial Agreements

A Prenuptial Agreement is an excellent means of pre-determining the financial rights and responsibilities of you and your future spouse in the unfortunate incident of a divorce. These agreements are particularly useful if you are concerned about protecting your property or family business. Courts are hesitant to enforce prenuptial agreements, which is why you need one of Koth Gregory & Nieminski’s skillful attorneys to take every precaution to ensure its enforceability. The Illinois Courts may invalidate a prenuptial agreement when one of the parties was pressured into signing the agreement, did not have independent counsel, did not read and understand the agreement/consequences of signing it, did not receive the agreement long enough before the wedding to reasonably consider its effect, or did not receive complete and accurate disclosure of the income/assets/liabilities of the other party.

Courts may also void the agreement if the agreement has an invalid provision such as one involving child custody, visitation, or support, or the agreement is unconscionable, meaning it is so grossly unfair to one of the parties that the court may not enforce it because one of the parties would likely suffer extreme financial hardship while the other’s finances flourish. This typically happens in cases where one party relinquishes the right to inherit from the other upon the other’s death and/or relinquishes the right to maintenance despite the fact that the other party’s income is overwhelmingly higher than the relinquishing party’s income.

The issue of unconscionability is important to address because as a law firm there is a fine line between aggressively pursuing the interests of our clients and advocating over-zealously to the point where the agreement may not be enforced. At Koth Gregory & Nieminski, we attempt to assess the situation from the perspective of the judge so that we draft the agreement in a manner that protects your most important interests, while maintaining a sense of fairness the court can feel good about enforcing

 Mediation

Mediation is a possible method of resolving your financial and child custody/visitation issues. At Koth Gregory & Nieminski, Dustin Koth and Kristin Nieminski are child custody and visitation mediators certified by the 11th Judicial Circuit Court Of Illinois, McLean County Bar Association, and Resolve Conflict, LLC. Whether you would like Dustin or Kristin to mediate your child custody and visitation issues or are looking to hire an attorney to handle your divorce, the mediation training our family law attorneys have received gives them great insight into the mediation process, which better enables them to assist you in reaching fair and enforceable agreements so that you can move forward with your life.