divorce law in Illinois

[curiousd]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois
i would like to divorce my husband of 20yrs. He owns his own buisness which is continually in debt and is also incurring credit card debt..he makes about $2000 a year!(he wasn't always this way, just in the last 10yrs or so). He refuses to pay any expense that we may have as a family ie, mortgage, utility bills, insurance, basic living expenses etc... I am a nurse and will retire in a few years and I don't want to give him half of my pension, and since I'm the only one who has paid for my house I don't see why he should get half of it. He outright refuses to pay for anything and tells me 'f*** you " when I ask for it. Hasn't contributed at all to our only childs college tuition and also thinks he is entitled to half of the inheritance my parents left me.
Is there anything that I can do to make sure that he doesn't get all of the things that i have worked for all of my life?
Thanks for any help....What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[mistoffolees]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois
i would like to divorce my husband of 20yrs. He owns his own buisness which is continually in debt and is also incurring credit card debt..he makes about $2000 a year!(he wasn't always this way, just in the last 10yrs or so). He refuses to pay any expense that we may have as a family ie, mortgage, utility bills, insurance, basic living expenses etc... I am a nurse and will retire in a few years and I don't want to give him half of my pension, and since I'm the only one who has paid for my house I don't see why he should get half of it. He outright refuses to pay for anything and tells me 'f*** you " when I ask for it. Hasn't contributed at all to our only childs college tuition and also thinks he is entitled to half of the inheritance my parents left me.
Is there anything that I can do to make sure that he doesn't get all of the things that i have worked for all of my life?
Thanks for any help....What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

See an attorney.

After 20 years, if he's making $2 K per year and you have a good income, you might well be paying him alimony. He will be entitled to half of the marital value of any assets you have - home, pension, etc.

Whether he paid for your kids' college is completely irrelevant. Your situation is quite typical of the more common one where a woman stays home and doesn't earn an income and the husband tries to get out without paying her anything. It doesn't work for them and won't work for you.

The inheritance is a separate issue. If you mingled the inheritance with marital assets, it's going to be hard, if not impossible, for you to keep it. If, OTOH, you kept the inheritance separate, you have a good chance of keeping it yourself.

 

[Bali Hai]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois
i would like to divorce my husband of 20yrs. He owns his own buisness which is continually in debt and is also incurring credit card debt..he makes about $2000 a year!(he wasn't always this way, just in the last 10yrs or so). He refuses to pay any expense that we may have as a family ie, mortgage, utility bills, insurance, basic living expenses etc... I am a nurse and will retire in a few years and I don't want to give him half of my pension, and since I'm the only one who has paid for my house I don't see why he should get half of it. He outright refuses to pay for anything and tells me 'f*** you " when I ask for it. Hasn't contributed at all to our only childs college tuition and also thinks he is entitled to half of the inheritance my parents left me.
Is there anything that I can do to make sure that he doesn't get all of the things that i have worked for all of my life?
Thanks for any help....What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

I'm figuring you will be paying alimony for quite some time, but don't worry, the alimony is taxable income for him and tax deductible for you.

Say for example you pay him $20k per year. In most cases after you take the alimony deduction, you would have in reality only paid him $17 or $18k. That could amount to a $2 or $3k yearly savings for you!!

Here is another benefit for you. If you get paid bi-weekly and your alimony obligation is monthly, you get to keep a full two paychecks for yourself at the end of the year!!

 

[LdiJ]

I'm figuring you will be paying alimony for quite some time, but don't worry, the alimony is taxable income for him and tax deductible for you.

Say for example you pay him $20k per year. In most cases after you take the alimony deduction, you would have in reality only paid him $17 or $18k. That could amount to a $2 or $3k yearly savings for you!!

Here is another benefit for you. If you get paid bi-weekly and your alimony obligation is monthly, you get to keep a full two paychecks for yourself at the end of the year!!

Bali, if you are going to try to give someone this kind of information, it needs to be at least a tiny bit accurate.

You don't have the necessary figures to base any of this information on.

 

[Bali Hai]

Bali, if you are going to try to give someone this kind of information, it needs to be at least a tiny bit accurate.

You don't have the necessary figures to base any of this information on.

I wasn't trying to be accurate as there is no information from OP to base any accurate figures on.

I used examples to show OP how she might pay alimony and the benefits she would receive from doing that.