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Chicago By Appointment Only

19 South LaSalle Street
Suite 707
Chicago, IL 60603

(773) 276-6969

Appointments available Monday-Friday
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Saturday 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM
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Uncontested Cases

Jesse Barrientes: That's absolutely correct. The true nature of an uncontested divorce is that not only have they agreed that the marriage is done, it's dead, it's over, we've tried everything we can, we agree on everything else. We agree on splitting up the property a certain way. We agree on the pension and all this other stuff. We agree on the kids, who's going to get custody, who's going to have visitation, all those kinds of things. Then you get it together.

Sometimes you do it before you file the whole case. Sometimes they have a collaborative law movement where people get together, and some of these Chicago divorce lawyers don't necessarily litigate. What they do is they just try to work everything out initially before it gets filed, then they work everything out, hopefully, and it gets filed, and they're done. That's for some of those people who initially come in and don’t really have an agreement on all the terms.

David Siegel: Right. One of the problems with uncontested cases, or the fact that there are not more uncontested cases, is that people have unrealistic expectations as to what their entitled to, and as to what's going to happen throughout the divorce case. Obviously divorce is a very traumatic event. It's an unknown event for many people. It's the first time they're going through it, and they're getting some advice from their divorce attorney in Chicago that may or may not be accurate. And Jesse, I just want to mention, you are the co-author of the book Divorce And Family Law: Who Has The Legal Right When Things Go Terribly Wrong, and what this book is all about is giving simple, concise answers to complex issues, regarding divorce.

If people had a chance to read a book like this, or investigate it online, or even spend an hour or so with a divorce or family law attorney, they're going to have a much better outlook as to what the case could mean going forward, and then they can be realistic. I think a lot of contested cases can turn uncontested if they know all the facts. Would you agree with that statement?

Jesse Barrientes: I would. In fact, I had one recently where I had the couple – I actually had them go both ways, but the happy one is where people came in, we drafted everything ahead of time, sent out the judgment for dissolution of marriage, the marriage settlement agreement, and joint parenting agreement, and all that, and the client called and said, "Well, she doesn't agree." The next step obviously is you file your petition for dissolution of marriage. A short time later get a called, says, "Hey, it's all signed. Want to come by and drop it off and get everything moving." Sometimes it takes people a little bit to digest it, especially if you go in to see an attorney. An attorney can't represent both sides for the divorce.

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Cost of an uncontested divorce case

Length of an uncontested divorce case

Parenting class

Court reporter

Entitlement to maintenance

Division of property

How property is divided