Divorce Articles
Are There Common Reasons for Wanting a Divorce? Interviewer: What are the top reasons people tell you why they want to divorce? Mark Kezy: That really depends. As I mentioned earlier, particularly when people get a little bit older, is that they don’t necessarily hate each other. They just stop being a couple. Many people I see have been so busy raising their families, running their businesses or their professions or their practices, that at some point they just stop being a couple. It’s not that they have a girlfriend or a boyfriend; it’s just again that they’ve kind of stopped being a couple. If you’re looking for a generic explanation, they’ve just really kind of grown apart. What Are Reasonable Expectations to Have in a …
Is Spousal Maintenance Only Paid by the Husband? Interviewer: What about in regards to spousal maintenance? Not Gender-Based: If One Spouse Is Earning Substantially More than the Other, He or She May Be Paying Spousal Maintenance Mark Kezy: Maintenance was formerly referred to as alimony. There are many terms for it, but they call it maintenance in Illinois. If a woman is making more money than her husband and she’s making substantially more money than her husband, she could end up paying spousal support. Not only could she end up paying a larger portion of the marital estate to the husband, she can actually end up paying spousal support to her husband. This depends on how much he’s making and the disparities in the incomes. For …
Common Misconceptions about the Divorce Process Interviewer: What are some of the misconceptions people have about the divorce process what they come to you? No-Fault Divorce: The Reason for the Divorce Has No Bearing on Determining Child Support or Maintenance Mark Kezy: One of the biggest misconceptions that people have is that the reasons for the divorce matter. Both men and women say that, “My wife or my husband is cheating on me and because of that I should get more money” or he or she should pay more of the debt. Or the issue somehow should have weight regarding the custody and visitation of the children and it doesn’t. You have to make clients understand that Illinois is a no-fault state, which means that why you’re …
Do the More Successful Divorce Attorneys Choose Their Clients? Interviewer: It sounds like the types of clients you work with are different from the clients of other divorce attorneys. Mark Kezy: One of the tricks that you learn as you get a little bit older is that not only do the clients pick the attorneys, but the more successful attorneys will also pick their clients. There are some people, after I sit down with them and I talk to them, I just know that they’re the type of person that they’re out there to extract their ounce of flesh. They’re out there to hurt the other side and to punish the other side. Clients That Are Looking to Exact Revenge on Their Spouse Are Not Apt to Be Satisfied with the Outcome of the Case Here’s …
Typically, Does the Client’s Personality Matches That of Their Attorney’s? Interviewer: It sounds as if the emotional state of these older clients is very different from other, younger clients? Mark Kezy: It really depends on the parties. I’ve always said that people receive attorneys that match their personalities. One of the approached that I’ve always done is I’ve always taken a very practical business-like approach to practice of law. I exhibit common sense. There is no substitute for good common sense. Common Sense or Retribution: What Is the Best Approach for a Divorce Attorney? If you want to come in and you’re angry and you’re hurt and you want to punish the other side, you’re going to find an attorney that’s …
Are All Divorce Attorneys Created Equal? Interviewer: Do you find that most divorce attorneys welcome complexity in these situations or they shy away from it because they’re just not equipped to handle it? Mark Kezy: There are many divorce attorneys at different levels. There are attorneys out there that just want to do the very garden variety. When I say garden variety, they want to do nothing but uncontested divorces. They’re the type of attorneys who are out there advertising divorces in one day for $250. Do they want the complex case? No, they don’t want that. A Divorce Attorney Must Have a Comprehensive Background That Includes Knowledge of Tax Law, Financial Planning and Bankruptcy Law There are some attorneys that do a …
How Long May a Divorce That Entails Substantial Asset Division Take to Resolve? Interviewer: Because your cases may tend to be more complex, do they take substantially longer to resolve? Promoting Resolution: The Right Attorney to Handle Your Divorce Will Institute Case Management Mark Kezy: To be honest with you, I generally resolve my cases pretty quickly. When I say quickly, I mean within a year to maybe 16 months. This is because when I get a case, I say “Okay, let’s get this thing ready for trial and let’s set a trial date.” Or, I initiate what we would call case management, where you would set discovery cutoff. Certain cutoffs, like discovery have to be done by a certain date, pre-trials have to be done by this date and …
There Are Many Different Aspects to a Divorce Case Interviewer: What made you choose to work in the area of divorce? It seems like a potentially fractious and emotional area. Mark Kezy: Originally, when I was in law school, I really wanted to be a lax litigator. I took every tax class I could and every accounting class I could. I worked for a number of law firms as a clerk after when I was in law school. When I finished law school, what I came to realize is that there really wasn’t a lot of tax litigation. What happened was there were tax attorneys who dealt with a lot of the filing and the mundane stuff, but they didn’t do a lot of litigation. When it really came down to litigation time, they hired litigators and used the tax …
Timeline of Divorce Process Interviewer: Let me ask you, how long could the process potentially last? What is the shortest amount of time and what is the longest amount of time that it could possibly take? Mark Kezy: I have people come to me with agreements regarding the custody and visitation. In those types of situations, I can probably get the clients in and out of the process within about a month. In Illinois, there’s a Supreme Court rule that says that the custody cases have to either be resolved or go to trial within a certain amount of time. I believe it’s 16 months. In spite of that rule, sometimes custody battles, depending on how much is involved, can go beyond that time. I would say that on average, if a case involves the …
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