You went through years of arguments, months of negotiations and weeks or trial. Now finally, after what seems like a lifetime later, you are legally divorced. It’s over right? Wrong. Unfortunately, unless you have little to no assets and no children, then even after the papers are signed and the judge has gone home, a divorce case is never really sealed and locked away.
Depending on your particular situation, some areas of your divorce judgment can be modified. Here, divorce lawyer Arnold Goldstein of Goldstein Law Offices in Illinois, explains what areas of your divorce are still up for discussion, and how to go about changing the details.
Custody of Your Children:
The basic rule, says Goldstein, is that you cannot change the guidelines of the custody agreement within two years of the divorce ruling unless it is apparent that the child is in immediate danger in her current living environment. And this goes beyond just calling someone a bad mom or a neglectful father, he adds. There has to be evidence that there is the possibility that the child may experience physical, emotional or health dangers because of the current arrangements. The most extreme case of this, Goldstein says, is when one parent knowingly marries someone who is a registered sex offender. In this instance, the court will almost always change the custody arrangements so that the child is not living in the same home as the offender.
After the two years have passed, the restrictions become more lax. While you must still provide the court with clear evidence that the circumstances of the agreement have changed, it is more about protecting the best interests of the child, he says.
Enforcing Judgment
Once an agreement has been reached, or the judge declares his ruling, then your divorce agreement goes into effect, meaning that all of the settlements, divisions and payments must be taken care of as declared by the courts. Sometimes however, there comes a time when one spouse fails to hold up his end of the agreement. Perhaps he can no longer afford to pay, or he just doesn’t want to. Either way, he is breaking the law and he can be forced to pay.
The court has little sympathy in certain situations, Goldstein says. So if you suddenly decide that buying a new car for your girlfriend is more important than paying your ex-wife’s alimony for a few months, the court will not agree. If your ex-wife protests and takes you to court over the loss in alimony payments, then it’s likely that you will be held in contempt and forced to pay fines in addition to the alimony, or face possible jail time. The only way around punishment, he says, is to convince the court that you had good reason not to pay the alimony, such as that you lost your job or were recently robbed.
In addition to contempt, there are other ways to make sure that the money rightfully owed to one spouse is properly paid. The judge may order that a portion of your wages be held until the balance is fully paid, or the unpaid amount may be attached to a credit card or bank account in your name, and then the funds from that source will be used to pay your ex-spouse the money owed.
This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Neither publication of this article nor your receipt of this article creates an attorney-client relationship.
