In re Marriage of Julin

- Case citation and parties
In re Marriage of Julin, 2025 IL App (1st) 241855-U. Petitioner-Appellant: Lisa Julin; Respondent-Appellee: Jonathon Siegel.

- Key legal issues
1) Whether the trial court properly awarded respondent attorney fees under section 508(b) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5/508(b) (West 2022)) for (a) noncompliance with court orders/judgments without justification and/or (b) litigation precipitated or conducted for an improper purpose.
2) Whether the trial court properly allocated guardian ad litem (GAL) fees under section 506 of the Marriage Act.

- Holding / outcome
The appellate court vacated the trial court’s award of respondent’s attorney fees under section 508(b) and remanded for a new attorney-fee hearing. The court affirmed the trial court’s allocation of GAL fees (petitioner ordered to pay 55% of GAL fees).

- Significant legal reasoning (concise)
- The decree and marital settlement agreement: the parties negotiated a marital settlement that waived routine fee claims under section 503(j) but expressly preserved claims under section 508(b); therefore section 508(b) relief remained available.
- Inadequate factual findings/record for 508(b) award: the appellate court concluded the trial court’s award under section 508(b) lacked adequate, specific findings required to demonstrate (i) noncompliance without compelling cause or (ii) that hearings were precipitated or conducted for an improper purpose. The record contained significant gaps (missing hearing transcripts and unclear evidentiary support for the trial court’s percentages and time period), preventing meaningful appellate review. Accordingly the attorney-fee award was vacated and remanded for a properly supported hearing and written findings.
- GAL fees sustained: by contrast, the GAL’s petition and the trial court’s prior orders supplied sufficient evidentiary support for apportioning GAL fees under section 506 (court found petitioner precipitated much of the parenting-time litigation and the fee allocation was justified).

- Practice implications for family law practitioners
- When seeking (or opposing) a 508(b) fee award, litigants must develop a clear evidentiary record and obtain specific, written trial-court findings tying misconduct/noncompliance or improper-purpose litigation to fee liability and quantifying the fee allocation.
- Preserve transcripts and rulings: missing transcripts and fragmented records risk vacatur; order and preserve hearings on fee petitions and obtain written findings.
- In settlement agreements, carefully draft fee-waiver/reservation clauses to state whether section 508(b) claims are preserved and the procedures for seeking those fees.
- For GAL-fee petitions under §506, submit contemporaneous billing, itemized statements, and evidence of which party precipitated GAL involvement and each party’s ability to pay to support allocation.