Tristano & Tristano

Information may not be reliable

Hello. We're the Tristanos and we've been practicing divorce law in Cook County between the two of us for nearly 50 years. But the breaking up of marriages started long before we came on the scene.

If a man take a wife, and have her, and she find not favor in his eyes, for some uncleanness; he shall write a bill of divorce, and shall give it in her hand and send her out of his house. Deuteronomy 24:1

Even in the OLD TESTAMENT people were billing for divorce. (O.K. maybe that is not exactly what is meant but the thought is there.)
There are two main purposes for this site. They are, in order of importance to you: 1. To try to summarize in a brief, honest and hopefully readable fashion what we want each of our clients to know about divorce in Illinois, Cook County to be specific. It is very important that you read this carefully and remember....

THIS IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR AN ATTORNEY. IT WAS PREPARED BY TRISTANO & TRISTANO, LTD. ATTORNEYS, 708-233-4400 AND REPRESENTS ONLY THEIR VIEWS AND OPINIONS AS PRACTICING ATTORNEYS. THIS IS INFORMATIONAL ONLY. ABSENT A PERSONAL CONSULTATION, THIS BOOKLET DOES NOT ESTABLISH AN ATTORNEY CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. (this covers our butts and among other things is intended to prevent you suing us if you take the information presented and screw things up by yourself ) Nor does it contain our secret plan for Guaranteed Ultimate Success in Divorce (including at no extra cost - The Never Fail Custody Plan for Childless Couples and the Post Octagenarian's Guide to Serial Adultery) which is available on line at our secret site for only three payments of $249.99 each. Unfortunately if we told you the address of our secret site we would have to kill you... only kidding. Just put this in because no one reads disclaimers.

***A couple of words about our attempts at humor when your heart may be breaking ... So what? Hey your divorce may never be fun, but we can try to make it bearable. The key is to remember that this too will pass. Do the best you can, with compassion and an eye to the future and almost everyone gets through it. As a matter of fact we have never lost - as in gone to the beyond - a client.
2. To secure new clients for our firm. Clients smart enough to do research before they make a major step and well off enough to own a computer. It is not that we wouldn't represent dumb wealthy clients (they can afford to be slow) or smart poor clients (they can be creative enough to get the money) but it is nice to have both. The more we promote our services, the more referrals we can generate, the more selective we can be in choosing who we represent.
We have tried to be as accurate as possible but cannot promise that there haven't been changes in the law or application of the law that we have omitted for one reason or another - such as lack of space, or time to update this site on a daily basis.
What we can promise is that we will try to be as honest as humanly possible. A bright person could read the law and self help books and understand most of the principles involved in divorce in a few days. But she or he would not have the benefit of the thousands of hours tens of thousands of hours that we have spent involved in divorce in the Circuit Court of Cook County. It is its own world with its own agendas, prejudices and personalities. We work with good people and some real jerks. Knowing which is which is very important is part of our stock in trade.
Finally, we are aware of the length of this information. However, we want you to be informed and know the basics. It is longer than a pamphlet but shorter than most microwave instructions. If you can, read it all. If not, use the links to read what you need now, come back and read the rest later.