The rule for marital property division in Illinois seems so straightforward: Property acquired before the marriage or by gift is non-marital, and according to the property presumption, everything else is marital property. But in long marriages, the black-and-white lines are very gray because it is not always easy to trace complex and ongoing property transactions to their original sources. Furthermore, as time goes by, the original records usually disappear, making a difficult problem even more challenging. Classification Almost all non-cash...

Even though no one expects or hopes to die prematurely, responsible individuals have life insurance policies to protect their dependents if the unexpected becomes a reality. Similarly, no one expects or hopes for their marriage to end in divorces. However, it is important to protect dependent children and be prepared for the unexpected, and that is exactly what a premarital agreement does. Spousal agreements are especially important in high-asset marriages. Money is one of the primary sources of marital friction,...

The winter holidays may be over, but the Chicago Police Department is still using aggressive tactics to arrest aggressive criminal defense attorney in Schaumburg, contact Glasgow & Olsson. Convenient payment plans are available. (image courtesy of Mason Hopfensperger)

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit said in a recent statement that operational limits on Chicago-area gun ranges violate the United States Constitution. Previously, the City of Chicago forbade shooting ranges from operating outside certain areas and also barred persons under 18 from entering these establishments, citing elevated risks of fire, gun theft, and lead contamination. In its decision, the court completely threw out the geographic restrictions, saying the city presented no evidence in support of its...

Child support payments are designed to not only defray child-rearing expenses but also give the children a higher standard of living. To do otherwise would essentially punish the children for their parents’ divorce. However, when it comes to spousal support payments, the underlying philosophy is not quite as clear. Some believe that these payments should promote the obligee spouse’s self-sufficiency and nothing more, while others feel that this money should help equalize the standard of living between the former spouses....

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In many high-asset divorces, a closely-held business is the couple’s primary, or only, source of income. Planning played an important role in building the business, and pre-divorce planning plays an important role in its division as well. It is never too late for spouses who are also business partners to make and mutually revise property agreements to cover a future distribution of assets and debts. Pre-divorce agreements allow the spouses to make important financial decisions outside the pressure-cooker of marriage...

Washington police say a man justifiably used deadly force in self-defense, but the dog’s owners have issues with that conclusion. Victoria and Jerrod Gladitsch keep Keiser, a rottweiler, in their backyard. Keiser apparently became agitated when a neighbor two doors down brought his dog outside, and broke away from his chain. The neighbor, who lawfully carries a .25-caliber pistol, shot at Keiser when it charged aggressively “growling and showing its teeth,” according to his statement. Keiser had been violent in...

Glasgow & Olsson is proud to announce that Attorney Thomas T. Glasgow has been selected for inclusion on the 2017 Super Lawyers list. This is Mr. Glasgow’s fifth time being selected to the list of Super Lawyers. This prestigious honor is reserved for only the top 5% of lawyers nationally. Candidates must be nominated by their peers and then they are evaluated by independent researchers as to their verdicts, scholarly lectures and writing, education, experience and pro bono work in...

After six shootings in a little over a year, some people are wondering why it is illegal to carry a loaded gun into a bar and other places where alcohol is served, yet it remains legal to carry a gun on a Chicago Party Bus. The most recent incident, which injured three people in Lakeview, occurred just before Christmas 2016. Alderman Brendan Riley successfully backed an ordinance that supposedly cracked down on “nuisance” party buses, but it did not address...

There are two distinctive types of license suspension in DUI cases. First, there is temporary suspension following a chemical test refusal or failure. The state automatically reinstates these licenses after the period of suspension expires, provided that the driver pays a reinstatement fee, submits proof of insurance, and meets other requirements. The second type of suspension is almost nothing like pre-conviction suspension. Post-conviction suspension not only has a longer period of adverse action, but there is also no automatic reinstatement....

Assume Wife owns a rental house before she marries Husband, and the couple has no prenuptial agreement in place. Husband and Wife decide to make some improvements to the rental house to increase its value and command more rent, and they use proceeds from a second mortgage on the marital residence to pay for these improvements. This situation and others like it are common in high-asset divorces, and these decisions have significant legal and financial ramifications in any divorce proceedings...

Over the last 25 years, the Supreme Court has whittled away at the rule in Terry v. Ohio, which requires that officers base their investigatory stops (such as pulling over possibly intoxicated motorists) on “specific, articulable facts.” In 1990, the Justices ruled that officers could use properly set-up roadside checkpoints to pull over motorists simply because they were caught in a dragnet. Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz basically held that the reasonable suspicion rule was not that important,...

Before 2015, the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage act essentially contained a presumption that alimony was appropriate in all divorce proceedings. Furthermore, judges had almost unlimited discretion in setting the amount and duration of payments. That all changed with the so-called “Modern Family Act,” which took effect in January 2015. Lawmakers made a number of sweeping changes designed to more accurately reflect the needs and composition of families in the Prairie State, by doing things like changing family law...

A recent study revealed that former offenders are less likely to leave employment, either voluntarily or involuntarily. Researchers from Northwestern University examined the track records of customer service and other semi-skilled white collar workers with criminal backgrounds, and found that those employees have a 13% lower voluntary turnover rate, which translates to roughly $1,000 in savings every year. Furthermore, based on empirical evidence, most ex-offenders are less likely to be terminated for misconduct. In fact, researchers discovered that a criminal...