Recent Blog Posts
Is Independent Adoption Right for You?
Adopting a child is one of the most rewarding things a couple can do. Not only are couples able to experience the joy and wonder of having a child, but they also giving a child in need a loving home. There are many different types of adoption available to Illinois residents. Some choose to adopt internationally while others seek a local adoption. Some choose to use an agency and others seek an independent adoption. Independent adoption, or private adoption, involves a direct arrangement between birth parents and adoptive parents. As with all types of adoption, independent adoption has its own advantages and challenges.
Potential Advantages
An independent adoption was portrayed in the 2007 movie Juno. In the film, a young girl gets pregnant unexpectedly and realizes that she is not capable of adequately caring for the baby. She finds a couple who is not able to conceive children, and she begins to arrange for them to adopt her child. This type of adoption process puts the control in the hands of the expectant mother and adoptive couple. They have the time to get to know ach other on a personal level.
Women’s Issues During Divorce
While the United States has made significant strides in the arena of gender equality in the last few decades, there is still quite a bit of work to be done, especially in terms of perception of rights or lack thereof. This is very clearly articulated in divorces, as several issues may come up during the process that affect women substantially more than men.
Financial Questions
Perhaps the most pressing concern for many women before and during a divorce is financial, because there are still a great many marriages where the husband handles the bulk of the financial decisions and assets. This is especially true if you and your spouse are older and were married during a time when women were less involved in anything outside the realm of child-rearing. While Illinois is an equitable distribution state, meaning that the marital estate will be divided between the spouses as fairly as possible, this does not take away the issues that can come along with being inexperienced in financial matters.
Can I Get Divorced While I Am Pregnant?
Pregnancy brings with it many difficulties. If you are in a marriage which you believe is broken beyond repair while pregnant, this is even more challenging. Sometimes a wife becomes pregnant by her spouse but no longer wishes to be married to him. Other times, a wife gets pregnant as a result of infidelity, and her husband is not the father. A divorce in either of these situations can become very complicated from a legal standpoint.
The Husband Will Be the Presumed Father
Being pregnant cannot prevent you from filing for divorce, but in some cases, the judge may choose to delay finalizing the divorce until the child is born. However, if you wish to pursue a simplified divorce in Illinois, you will not be able to do so while pregnant.
Illinois law dictates that the husband of a woman who is legally married is presumed to be the father of any children she conceives. (The presumption of parentage actually applies to the mother’s spouse, regardless of the spouse’s gender.) The presumption of paternity has many serious implications. The child will have certain rights, such as financial and medical support, Social Security and inheritance benefits. A presumed father takes up those rights and responsibilities associated with being a legal parent, such as child custody/visitation and child support. If your husband is not the father of your unborn child, he may need to take legal action to absolve himself of responsibility for the child. These formal legal proceedings can include paternity suits, filiation hearings, parentage actions, or establishment hearings.
Divorce After Age 50 Brings Unique Considerations
Over the last few decades, there has been a noticeable increase in older married couples getting divorced. In fact, the rate of these “grey divorces” doubled between 1990 and 2010. If you are over the age of 50 and are considering getting a divorce, you may face some unique challenges. As you weigh your options, there are a few things to keep in mind.
You May Be Ordered to Pay Spousal Support
When an older couple gets divorced, they are often more established financially than a younger couple would be. Therefore, there are some rather unique financial situations that may arise. Firstly, those couples that have been married for several decades should expect one of them to be ordered to pay spousal maintenance, also called spousal support or alimony. Often, spouses have considerably different incomes or one spouse stayed home to raise children while the other worked. In these circumstances, the higher-earning spouse is often ordered to pay spousal support to the lower-earning spouse. The duration that payments will occur and the amount of each payment will depend on the recipient’s health, ability to find employment, job skills, and other factors.
Unique Case Raises Questions About Parental Rights
The relationship between a parent and his or her child is one of the most sacred relationships of all. Sometimes, however, complicated situations arise and it is not appropriate for a parent to continue parenting their child. Sometimes a parent loses his or her rights to their child because of abuse or neglect, while other times, a parent may voluntarily give up his or her parental rights. Voluntary abdication of parental rights is not sometime to be taken lightly, and it is certainly not appropriate in all situations, but a recent headline-grabbing case has figuratively turned many heads.
Unexpected Parentage
Two women in Hawaii are likely to be the first same-sex couple to argue their custody case before the Hawaii State Supreme Court because one of the women wishes to give up her rights to their child. The two women were married and allegedly discussed having children before one of the women was deployed due to her service in the military. While she was away, her then-wife conceived a child using a sperm donor. The marriage ended in divorce, and the child was born while the divorce was pending.
Factors That Affect Property Division in a Divorce
There are a great many things to consider when a couple decides to get divorced. In addition to dealing with the emotional turmoil of ending their marriage, they also have to face decisions regarding logistics like property division. If you have been considering divorce, you may have wondered to yourself “Who will get to continue living in the house?” or “Who will get the antique furniture?”
Determining Who Will Get What
In many marriages, spouses have brought assets into the marriage that were valuable either financially or sentimentally. They worry that the court will assign such assets to their spouse. In other cases, a spouse may not have worked because they stayed home to raise children. He or she may wonder if this will affect the way property is divided. The law regarding property division in Illinois can be complicated, but there are guidelines that courts use when making decisions about property division. The following are some of the foremost factors courts use to decide how property and assets are divided in a divorce:
Co-Parenting During the Holidays
Raising a child with your ex is no easy task. After all, if two people used to be together and they no longer are, it is usually safe to assume that there are many issues on which the two people do not see eye to eye. This can make it especially challenging to co-parent effectively together. One parent may think that the children should be in bed by 8 P.M. sharp every night while the other thinks that the children should be allowed to stay up later. Parents may disagree about extracurricular activities, schoolwork, discipline, eating habits, or any number of things.
The holidays are often a stressful time of year for most adults as it is, so adding the challenge of co-parenting children can make the holidays even more troublesome. However, there are some steps you can take to make the holidays go more smoothly for you, your children, and your children’s other parent.
Will I Receive Spousal Support?
When a married couple chooses to end their marriage through divorce, the court may award spousal support to one spouse. Spousal support is sometimes referred to as alimony or spousal maintenance. It refers to payments that one spouse makes to the other in order to help him or her maintain their quality of life after the marriage has ended. Spousal support can be based on an arrangement between the couple, a prenuptial agreement, or a decision by the court itself.
How Is Spousal Support Awarded?
Spousal support is similar to child support in that it is awarded to a person who needs income support from a former spouse. Unlike child support, which in most states is awarded according to very specific guidelines, courts have much more discretion in determining if spousal support is appropriate or not. The court also decides how much spousal support will be awarded and for how long payments will occur. Courts consider the following factors in making decisions about spousal support:
Should I Get a Prenuptial Agreement?
Getting engaged to be married is a joyous time for any couple. In the midst of sharing pictures of the ring, scouting out locations for the wedding, and celebrating with friends and family, couples are also faced with a hard choice: Should they create a prenuptial agreement?
A prenuptial agreement, also called a prenup or premarital agreement, is a legally-binding agreement that a couple signs before getting married in order to protect each spouse's financial interests. Some people incorrectly assume that prenuptial agreements are only appropriate for celebrities, the extremely wealthy, and those couples who do not think their marriage will last.
Plan for the Worst
Of course, no one who gets married wants to imagine that it will end, but sadly about 40-50 percent marriages do. Therefore, it is important to plan for the worst case scenario even if the marriage is presently strong. As the old saying goes “It is better to be safe rather than sorry.” Many people fail to remember that marriage is not only a romantic relationship; it is also a business relationship. When two people get married, they merge not only their day-to-day lives but also their financial lives. Therefore, it is crucial that couples take time to put emotions aside and make these types of hard decisions.
Do We Need to Separate Before Getting a Divorce?
You probably know at least a few married couples who are going through a rough patch in their marriage. One or two of them may even have separated as they try to figure out what to do next. While many couples who undergo a trial separation end up back together, it is the beginning of the end for others. In fact, most couples who get divorced live separately for a period time before filing and while the proceedings are underway. But, does the law require a separation period before a divorce in Illinois?
Recent Changes
Before 2016, Illinois law required a couple seeking a no-fault divorce to live separate and apart for up to two years before the divorce could be granted. If both spouses agreed, the court could shorten the separation period to six months. If a spouse filed for divorce on fault grounds—including bigamy, adultery, repeated mental or physical cruelty, and abandonment—the separation requirement did not apply. The filing spouse, however, was required to provide proof to the court of his or partner’s misdeeds. As a result, fault-based divorce fell out of favor with the average couple.
