Posted on October 10, 2016 in Domestic Violence

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, domestic violence is defined as “the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another.” Domestic violence not only includes physical abuse like hitting, punching, kicking, and slapping but also psychological abuse. Psychological abuse or emotional abuse can include behaviors such threatening, controlling, isolating, mocking, stalking, and intimidating a partner.

Domestic Violence Can Happen to Anyone

Domestic violence affects people of all genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities and socioeconomic statuses. Often, when one imagines a victim of domestic violence, a woman comes to mind.  However, men are almost as likely to be victims of violence at the hand of a partner as women are.  On average, one out of every three women and one out of every four men are victims of domestic violence at some point in their lives.

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 Posted on October 05, 2016 in Spousal Maintenance

When you are faced with the possibility of a divorce, dozens of questions start to race through your head. You are likely to be wondering how you will tell your children, where you will live, and how you will make life after divorce work for you. For many people, issues of money are often the most pressing. How can a spouse who has relied on his or her partner financially for many years be expected to suddenly support him- or herself when the marriage ends? In Illinois, such a spouse may not have to do so, but nothing regarding alimony is guaranteed in advance.

Need-Based Considerations

Alimony is now known under Illinois law as maintenance. It is often referred to as spousal support as well. Whatever you may choose to call it, such awards are intended to alleviate the financial effects of a divorce on a spouse who may be an economic disadvantage. There is more to a maintenance case, however, than just money. Otherwise, any time that one spouse makes more than the other, the lower-earning spouse could expect to receive support following a divorce. Instead, the court will look at a number of factors that take into account the entire marital and divorce situation.

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 Posted on September 30, 2016 in Child Custody and Support

When you and your child’s other parent are forced to come up with arrangements regarding for parenting time—previously known as visitation under Illinois law—it can be regrettably easy to get caught up in your own wants and needs. Some, of course, are entirely reasonable, such as building parenting time schedules around your career obligations, but many parents often forget to take their child’s wishes into account.

What the Law Says

While parents are free to develop a parenting plan—including arrangements for parenting time—on their own, such a plan must be reasonable and serve the best interests of the child. If the parents cannot agree on a plan, arrangements may be made by the court. In doing so, the court is required by law to take a number of factors into account, including the wishes of the child in question. The child’s wishes are not necessarily binding but should factor into the court’s ultimate decision.

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 Posted on September 28, 2016 in Paternity

Unlike fathers who were married to the mother of their child at the time of birth, unwed fathers are not automatically granted parental rights. Instead, they must take legal steps to establish their role in the life of a child. This starts with the establishment of paternity, which is not presumed for unwed fathers, and continues with a petition to the court. If you are an unwed father and want to gain and establish legal rights to parent your child, the following information can help.

Establishing Paternity

Before an unmarried father can seek legal parenting rights to his child, he must first establish paternity. This can be done in one of three ways:

• Signing a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity form at the time of the child’s birth (also requires acknowledgment from the mother);
• An Administrative Paternity Order through Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services; or

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 Posted on September 26, 2016 in Adoption

One of the most talked about Hollywood marriages is reportedly coming to end, as Angela Jolie has filed for a divorce from her husband, Brad Pitt. The two have been married since 2014, but the relationship began back in 2004. Sources close to the duo say that the couple was planning to adopt a seventh child before their split. The couple became a poster child of sorts for international adoptions after adopting three children from Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Vietnam during the course of their relationship.

According to reports, Pitt and Jolie may have planned on adopting an older child—over the age of 10—to join the three adopted and three biological children already in their home. The couple allegedly wanted an older child for two reasons. They wanted the child to fit in with their other children and because older children are often disregarded. “Brad and Angie also believe that adopting an older child will make people aware of orphans who are often overlooked,” the source indicated. “According to Angie, everybody seems to want to adopt babies when there are so many other wonderful, worthy and deserving older children out there.”

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 Posted on September 21, 2016 in Child Custody and Support

If you are a divorced parent, you probably recognize your responsibility for helping to provide financially for your child. In most Illinois cases, the parent with fewer parental responsibilities and less parenting time is obligated to make child support payments to the other parent. While the law that dictates the calculation of such payments is set to change at the beginning of 2017, the current statute takes into account two primary factors: the number of children being supported and the net income of the supporting parent. But, what does net income include?

According to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, net income is defined as the “total of all income from all sources” minus certain allowable deductions. By law, these deductions include:

• Properly calculated federal taxes;
• Properly calculated state taxes;

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 Posted on September 19, 2016 in Property Division

For many couples, dividing marital property is the most difficult element of the entire divorce process. To a certain extent, it is understandable that a pair who has spent many years together would find it challenging to how to divide assets that belonged to both spouses for so long. This may be especially true for spouses who married young with almost nothing, then spend the next several decades amassing a significant amount of wealth and net-worth. When such a marriage comes to an end, determining who will get what can be long and cumbersome process.

Titled Assets

The first step in dividing marital property is deciding what actually is marital property. According to Illinois law, almost anything acquired by either spouse during the marriage is marital property and subject to division in divorce. Exceptions include gifts and inheritances to one spouse alone. This means that even assets for which a title is issued, such as a vacation home, a vehicle, or boat, are considered marital property if they were purchased after the marriage, regardless of whose name is on the title.

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 Posted on September 14, 2016 in Guardian ad Litem

When you are embroiled in a difficult divorce, it can be nearly impossible to work cooperatively with your soon-to-be ex-spouse. Every aspect of the proceedings may seem like a fight with almost zero chance of reaching a negotiated resolution. While fighting over money and marital property is certainly bad enough, the problems get even worse when there are children involved. That is why the law in Illinois provides the court with the authority to appoint an attorney specifically to protect a child’s best interest in any matter related to parental responsibilities (child custody), parenting time, non-parental visitation, child support, or any other child-related legal proceeding.

Protecting the Child’s Best Interests

The court may appoint an attorney to serve in one of three roles: an attorney for the child, a child representative, or a guardian ad litem. Of these, the child representative and the guardian ad litem are the most commonly used and the guardian ad litem is usually the most appropriate for younger children.

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 Posted on September 12, 2016 in Parental Relocation

It is easy to understand how such a situation could arise. You and your spouse divorced several years ago, and, while the process was not easy, you managed to reach a reasonable agreement that addressed not only your property and finances but arrangements for your children as well. Based on your circumstances and what was best for your children, you were granted primary residential responsibilities while the other parent was afforded ample visitation time. Things could always be a little better, but you realize that you have it pretty good overall. Your children are happy and healthy, and enjoy a strong relationship with both you and your former spouse.

Then, one day at work you are taken by surprise when your boss offers you a substantial promotion—but there is a catch. To take the new position, you will need to move away from Northern Illinois to your company’s headquarters in Dallas, Texas. On a professional level, there is no way you can turn down such an opportunity, but, as a parent subject to a parenting plan or child custody order, the decision is not so simple.

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 Posted on September 07, 2016 in Divorce

Have you been thinking about filing for divorce? Has it been nagging at you with a feeling of inevitability that you cannot shake? If so, you are not alone. Most people who eventually decide to get a divorce do so only after months—sometimes years—of painful deliberation and waiting for the right time. This means that, at any given time, there are probably thousands of unhappy spouses thinking about ending their marriages throughout the country. Interestingly, many of them will wait to make their ultimate decision until after a holiday season, leading to the development of two rather distinct divorce seasons each year.

Semiannual Spikes

Researchers from the University of Washington examined divorce filings in Washington state for nearly a decade and a half, from 2001 to 2015. The research team discovered that there was an unmistakable increase in divorce filings each year in the months of March and August. The team presented their findings at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association last month and suggested that the spike in filings in these months may be the result of a “domestic ritual” calendar that affects family behavior.

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