Practice Overview

Comprehensive Illinois Family Law Representation

Family-law cases rarely fit into a single category. A divorce may involve property, a business, maintenance, child support, and parenting issues at the same time. A parentage matter may require decisions about parental responsibilities, parenting time, support, and health or child-care expenses. Post-judgment disputes can raise enforcement, modification, relocation, or appellate issues years after an original judgment.

RJSR represents clients from the beginning of a case through negotiated resolution, mediation, contested hearings, trial, post-judgment proceedings, and appeals when further court review is appropriate. Our goal is to identify the issues that matter, explain realistic options, and prepare each case for the level of advocacy it requires.

Divorce and legal separation

Illinois divorce and legal-separation cases can require coordinated decisions about finances and children. RJSR handles routine and complex matters involving marital and non-marital property, debt, maintenance, businesses, retirement assets, disputed income, parenting, and child support. Learn more on our Divorce & Legal Separation page.

• Alimony / Maintenance — eligibility, amount, duration, modification, and enforcement.
• Complex Divorce — cases involving substantial assets, complicated compensation, trusts, tax issues, or multiple contested subjects.
• Divorces Involving Businesses — valuation, income analysis, ownership interests, and business-related financial records.
• Divorces Involving Property — classification, valuation, tracing, dissipation, reimbursement, and division of marital assets and debts.
• High-Conflict Divorce — cases in which communication, finances, parenting, or litigation conduct make resolution especially difficult.

Children, parentage, parenting time, and child support

Illinois law uses the terms allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time rather than relying on traditional custody and visitation labels. RJSR represents parents in agreed and contested parenting matters, including significant decision-making, parenting schedules, relocation, restrictions, enforcement, and modification. See our Child Custody / Parental Responsibilities page.

Parentage can also be a threshold issue. The Illinois Parentage Act governs the legal parent-child relationship in cases where parentage must be established, acknowledged, or adjudicated. Parenting and support issues may then be determined under the statutes applicable to the case.

Child support is analyzed separately from parental responsibilities. Illinois generally uses an income-shares framework based on both parents’ net incomes, with additional rules for parenting time and certain child-related expenses. See our Illinois Child Support page or use the Illinois Child Support Calculator for a preliminary estimate.

Orders of protection and family safety

Order-of-protection proceedings can move quickly and may affect possession of a residence, contact between parties, parenting arrangements, and related family-law litigation. The Illinois Domestic Violence Act authorizes a range of remedies when the statutory requirements are met. RJSR handles contested order-of-protection issues and related family-law consequences. See Challenging an Order of Protection.

Adoption, guardianship, and other family-law matters

Not every family-law matter begins with divorce. RJSR also represents clients in other proceedings involving legal family relationships and responsibility for children or vulnerable individuals. See our Family Law, Adoption, and Guardianship pages.

Post-judgment proceedings and appeals

A judgment may resolve the original case without ending every future dispute. Enforcement and modification issues can arise involving maintenance, child support, parenting time, parental responsibilities, relocation, property obligations, and other provisions. RJSR represents clients in Post-Decree Proceedings and, when appellate review is available and appropriate, in Appeals.

A team built for financially complex cases

Some family-law matters require more than legal analysis alone. Business interests, self-employment income, executive compensation, retirement assets, real estate, trusts, or disputed financial records may require valuation, tracing, accounting, or other specialized work. RJSR uses a team approach and, when appropriate, works with outside financial and other professionals so that the legal strategy is informed by the evidence needed to address the financial issues.

What to expect when a case begins

The first step is understanding the facts, the client’s priorities, and any immediate deadlines or risks. That may include identifying financial records, existing court orders, parenting schedules, safety concerns, or assets that require preservation or valuation. From there, the attorney can explain the available procedural and settlement options and develop a strategy suited to the case.

Many matters can be resolved through negotiation, mediation, or agreed orders. Others require contested hearings or trial. Preparing carefully for litigation can also improve the quality of settlement decisions because the parties and counsel understand the evidence, disputed issues, and realistic range of outcomes.

Serving families throughout Will, DuPage, Kendall and Grundy Counties

RJSR has represented Illinois families since 1981. Our attorneys have over 100 years of combined matrimonial and family-law experience, and the firm regularly handles matters in Will, DuPage, Kendall and Grundy Counties. We also represent clients in appellate matters when a family-law judgment or appealable order requires review.

The right approach depends on the facts, the law, and the client’s goals. Explore our practice-area pages above, meet Our People, or contact RJSR to discuss a new or existing Illinois family-law matter.