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George Pecherek and Associates
Attorneys at LawAttorneys at Law
8041 North Milwaukee Avenue
Niles, IL 60714

(847) 583-0101
fax (847) 583-0111

SEVEN THINGS TO DO IF DIVORCE IS IMMINENT

1. Consult an attorney

Becoming informed about your legal rights and responsibilities is the most

crucial

step in

the

divorce process.

An experienced divorce attorney will be

able to counsel

you on the

law as it

applies to the facts of your situation

and advise you on the best

way to proceed

(or not proceed).

2. Put your kids at the top of your agenda

Of all the parties to a divorce, children are the ones who often suffer the

most. During

the

divorce

process, keep

your children’s routines as normal

as possible. If you and

your

spouse are arguing

in front of the children –

stop. If you and your spouse cannot

together with the children without

arguing, create a schedule of

separate times for

each of

you to be with the

children. Stay

involved in your children’s school, sports,

and

social

activities. Do not badmouth your spouse to

your children.

3. Inventory household and family possessions and debts

Make a list of assets: bank accounts, collections, furniture, artwork,

jewelry,

appliances,

automobiles, etc. Don’t

forget to check the storage

areas of your home

and your safe

deposit box

for valuables. Make a list of

debts:

mortgages, credit cards,

student loans, etc.

Run a credit check

yourself and your spouse to make sure that

you know of all debts.

Try to

improve your credit

rating if necessary.

Gather important

family

and business documents

Go through the household files and make copies of everything you can find:

tax

returns,

bank

statements,

check registers, investment statements,

retirement account

statements,

employee

benefits handbooks, life

insurance policies, mortgage

documents, title policies,

financial

statements, credit card statements, wills, Social

Security statements,

automobile

titles, etc. If your

spouse is self_employed, it is

important to

gather as much

information as

possible about the

finances of the

business.

Don’t forget to check the home computer as a

source of financial

information.

Know the household expenses

If possible, go through your check register for the past year and write down

the cost of

each utility,

mortgage,

and other household expense for each

month. Keep track of

the

cash you spend on a

daily basis so that you’ll

able to ascertain your monthly

cash

expenditures also. Knowledge of

your

household expenses is important

at the

beginning

of the case, when

temporary support is

often an issue.

6. Find out exactly what your spouse earns

If your spouse earns a regular salary, it is easy to look at a pay stub to

determine

his/her

income.

However, if

your spouse is self_employed, owns

a business, or

receives any

portion of his/her

income in cash, it is much

more difficult to determine

the amount of

his/her income. If your

spouse is

self_employed or gets paid in cash,

keep track of the

money flowing in for

several

months.

7. Build a "nest egg" of your own

Even if divorce is a remote possibility, you should always have access to

money of

your

own. If

your spouse

moves out and stops paying bills, you

will need to pay them

until

temporary support

orders can be entered. If

you

are the one who is going to file

for

divorce, you’ll need money for a

retainer. If you envision moving out of

the marital

home,

you may need

money for a security

deposit and for household items. Start

saving now and

if it

becomes necessary to initiate divorce

proceedings you will have

built

up a nest egg of

your own.

If you need a lawyer who will listen to your concerns and provide the

necessary

experience

and

expertise to

assist you in obtaining the results

you seek,

contact

George Pecherek &

Associates, P.

8041 N. Milwaukee
Niles, IL 60714