Do you want a divorce while you are serving in the Navy, and stationed at Navel Station Great Lakes in North Chicago? If so, then this FAQ might be for you. In fact, many of the topics apply to any “military divorce” in Illinois – not just for those stationed at Great Lakes.
I’ve handled numerous divorces for servicemembers throughout the years. Sometimes when servicemembers are getting divorce, they refer to their divorce as a “military divorce.” If you’ve heard that term, don’t be fooled. It’s really just a poor choice of words. It doesn’t mean that someone is getting divorce in military court. It just means that one of the people getting divorce presently serves in the military.
Can’t I just use JAG?
People in the Navy are right to turn to JAG for advice as much as possible. In the past, I’ve had members of the Navy seek JAG assistance, and I’ve often been impressed with the information and advice they get.
But JAG doesn’t handle civil divorce. In other words, JAG will not represent you in a divorce in Illinois. They aren’t allowed to do so as their job is to deal with military law. Further, in fact, it’s not necessarily that case that a JAG lawyer stationed in Illinois is licensed to practiced law in Illinois – so if if the military were to allow JAG lawyers to represent servicemembers in Illinois courts, many couldn’t do so because they are not licensed to practice law in Illinois.
Can I get divorced in Illinois?
People in the military tend to move a lot. But states have residency requirements that must be met for someone to get divorced. For example, in Illinois, one must be a resident of Illinois for at least 90 days preceding the filing of a petition for dissolution. But there are exceptions for servicemembers.
If you are stationed at Navel Station Great Lakes, you can get divorced in Illinois simply because of that – regardless of whether are not you a from Illinois, the state where your spouse lives, or where you were married.
Can I keep my retirement?
Perhaps you have a thrift savings plan (TSP) or pension. You might want to keep as much of it as you can. That would be natural. But technically speaking, anything earned during the marriage (with very few exceptions) would be divided in a divorce as marital property.
People sometimes research the military’s rules for dividing pensions. But if you get divorce in Illinois, Illinois guidelines would apply in terms of how the pension would be divided.
Does my spouse have to come to court?
Sometimes a servicemember is stationed at Great Lakes, but the spouse is somewhere else.
The good news is that – in an uncontested divorce in Illinois – only the person who files the case must appear in court. The spouse must simply sign some documents online, and get the settlement agreement notarized. Since the settlement agreement contains all the terms, getting it notarized shows the judge that the other party actually agrees to the terms therein. That’s why the other person is not required to come to court.
People often have questions about the process for an uncontested divorce. If you do, you might want to check out this FAQ on uncontested divorce in Lake County.
How is child support determined?
Illinois has a statute that contains a formula for the determination of child support. The formula is really complicated, so I’m not going to repeat it here.
But what you should know is that the amount of child support paid depends upon both parties’ incomes. As you surely know, a servicemembers pay can consist of the following pay types;
- Base Pay
- Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS)
- Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH)
- Other
Every type of pay counts towards the income figure used to determine child support. In some cases, that may seem a bit unfair. For example, in the case of a person moving from Great Lakes to a base in San Diego; that person would probably get a big bump in BAH since the San Diego area is more expensive. But still, that increased BAH pay would count for income for child support purposes. That being said, parties can sometimes agree to deviate from the child support formula.
Do you have military discounts?
We offer flat fees for uncontested divorce. That means one fee covers the court costs, and all of our work for an uncontested divorce in Lake County, Illinois.
That means we keep our prices really low already.
What we can do is be more flexible on the payment terms, and on scheduling a court date. Frankly, I’d be pretty surprised if any Lake County attorney would offer a lower flat fee for an uncontested divorce.
How do I start my divorce?
If you want to start a divorce, just contact us online or call or text us at 224-300-0529 .
Most people can complete their Illinois uncontested divorce in one month!