Posted on March 27, 2015 in Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements

Many people hear the term “prenuptial agreement” and immediately think of celebrities or other famous wealthy individuals. The perception is often that such high net-worth people create prenuptial agreements in order to protect their assets and prepare themselves for an inevitable future divorce. While it is certainly true that these types of agreements can be very useful in the event of a divorce, their true strength lies in the ability to help any couple – not just the super-rich – establish security in their marriage that may even reduce the likelihood of divorce.

Marriage is a Legal Contract

While the current cultural view of marital relationships is that they are an expression of romantic love and familial commitment, the legal view is quite different. The law, of course, recognizes the familial commitment, but in the seven parts and hundreds of pages that comprise the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, there is not a single reference to or use of the word “love.” As far as the law is concerned, marriage represents a type of contract between two parties, entered willingly and without coercion. Obviously, romantic love is the basis for a vast majority of marriages in this country, and addressing the contractual aspect from the beginning can allow couples to focus on the personal side of a healthy relationship.

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 Posted on March 25, 2015 in Adoption

In light of recent numbers showing that remarriage in the United States has reached an all-time high, an increasing number of families are being combined as a result. Many stepparents develop strong emotional relationships with their stepchildren as each becomes accustomed to new role and family dynamics. Depending on the circumstances surrounding the family, some stepparents are interested in more than just establishing a bond with the child; instead, they may seek the recognition and rights as the child’s legal parent through a stepparent adoption.

Stepparent Adoption Requirements

Related adoptions occur frequently in the United States, and stepparent parent adoptions represent the most common form of all adoptions in the country. Generally, the simplicity of a stepparent adoption in Illinois is contingent on three criteria being met:

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 Posted on March 20, 2015 in Divorce

One of the hardest decisions a person can make it is to end their marriage. For many people, it may take years to finally come to the decision that their marriage is broken and cannot be repaired. Even after making that decision, a person may still struggle with it, wondering whether or not they are doing the right thing.

It can be even more difficult to move forward and file for divorce when there are children involved. A person who is already struggling with conflicting emotions, including guilt and feeling as if they failed at marriage, can find those emotions amplified over the perceived harm they may be doing to their children by divorcing the other parent.

So how does a person know if their marriage is truly over and it is time to walk away?

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 Posted on March 18, 2015 in Divorce

It is very common today to hear about couples, particularly those who are very wealthy or celebrities, refusing to marry without a prenuptial agreement. For many, it is rather understandable, as most prenuptial agreements help delineate which assets may or may not become part of the marital property along with other possible considerations. One of the potential drawbacks to relying solely on a prenuptial agreement, however, is that, by definition, the agreement must be finalized prior to the marriage. Unforeseen issues and opportunities that may develop over the course of the relationship may be better dealt with by means of a postnuptial agreement instead.

A postnuptial agreement is a cooperative effort between spouses to formally outline the responsibilities and obligations of each party. It is established after the marriage, and in some cases, many years after the beginning of the marriage. Like most prenuptial agreements, a postnuptial agreement can help a couple prepare in the event of divorce, but more than that, such an agreement can contribute to a more fulfilling marital situation.

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 Posted on March 13, 2015 in Child Custody and Support

You may not be familiar with the term “coparenting,” but if you have a shared custody arrangement with your child’s other parent, you are probably already doing it. Coparenting refers to a cooperative effort between divorced, or otherwise separated, parents who have decided to work together in providing the best possible situation for their child. There are countless articles and helpful guides from experts on the most important aspects of coparenting or rules for doing it correctly, but they all seem to revolve around two basic concepts: communication and consistency.

Communication is vital, not only to maintaining that consistency, but to upholding the trust of both your ex-spouse and your child. Consistency helps your child feel secure in each parent’s home, as many rules and expectations remain the same. While some rules might be more bendable, such as getting to watch a little extra TV on a particular night, others should be less flexible, not only for the sake of discipline, but your child’s safety. If your child has reached an age where he or she has begun to utilize internet resources for research or entertainment, rules regarding online safety must be established as non-negotiable in both parents’ homes.

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 Posted on March 11, 2015 in Divorce

Thanks to technological advances in modern medicine and healthier lifestyles, Americans continue to live longer lives. Most recent government numbers show the life expectancy in the U.S. has reached a record high 78.8 years, albeit slightly higher for women and slightly lower for men. Adults in this country have more years than ever to pursue interests, enjoy their passions, maintain friendships, and fall in love. Sometimes, however, adults lose certain interests, passions wane, and friendships drift apart. Falling out of love, so to speak, can happen as well and when it does, older Americans find themselves facing divorce at an unprecedented rate.

Divorce for individuals over age 50 is often referred to as “gray divorce,” and as a recent study out of Bowling Green University suggests, gray divorce has almost tripled in the last quarter century. In a 2011 survey of adults who divorced in the previous year, nearly 30 percent were 50 or older. By contrast, in 1990, only one in ten was 50 or older when they divorced.

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 Posted on March 06, 2015 in Divorce

Daytime television tropes aside, most parents will not require genetic tests to verify a biological relationship with their children. For a child born to married parents, the presumption is made, and nearly always legally established, that both spouses are the child's parents. Each year, however, thousands of children are born to parents who are not married. The laws in most states, including Illinois, make establishing paternity a rather simple process.

Situations may arise, of course, in which a court and government agency may require DNA testing regarding a man's relationship to a child, but most cases are much more straightforward. In Illinois, legal paternity may be determined in one of three ways:

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 Posted on March 04, 2015 in Family Law

In 2005, the United Nations Child Adoption: Trends and Policies report indicated that there were 51,210 children housed in juvenile institutions across the U.S. No doubt these numbers have risen significantly since this report was first published but has there also been an increase in the push for government oversight of these institutions housing our orphans and troubled youth?

The answer appears to be yes. According to a recent article published by the Chicago Tribune, the U.S. Department of Justice is currently considering a review of youth residential centers in Illinois as local lawmakers push for an open investigation due to an increase in reported cases of rape and assault allegations. Concerned Illinois government officials are also concerned that juveniles are often shuffled among the most violent of centers without ongoing mental health or psychological treatment.

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 Posted on February 25, 2015 in Divorce

Everyone has made choices in their lives that they regret. For some, the regrettable decisions include cheating on their partner or spouse despite their love and marital commitment. While infidelity is often cited as one of the most common reasons for divorce, experts offer a wide variety of explanations regarding the motivation behind it.

Married individuals who have been unfaithful usually claim to do so because they are seeking something they feel is missing in their relationships. Whether physical intimacy, an emotional connection, or love that seemed to be absent, most extramarital affairs can be traced to a need that felt unaddressed. However, a surprising number of infidelities occur simply because a married person got curious or bored.

Studies which look at the reasons for infidelity are certainly interesting, but they do not really address the question of what makes a person give in to the temptation to cheat. Every day, adults are faced with impulses toward negative behavior that do not cause them to engage in the action. For example, a stressful day at work or a nagging boss may lead an employee to want to throw his coffee cup at the wall and walk out. Most adults, though, are able to control such impulses based on the realization that such behavior is inappropriate. Similarly, most adults are confronted with the urge to be unfaithful as well, and a large number will never actually do so as they realize the implications of such an action.

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 Posted on February 23, 2015 in Mediation

It would simply untrue to claim that divorce is easy. While some cases may be more difficult than others, even the most amicable situations still present stresses and challenges for both spouses and other impacted family members. The more challenging ones can spiral out of control quickly, and the phrase “nasty divorce” is one, unfortunately, heard far too often in everyday conversation. Many couples in recent years, however, are finding that through a process known as mediation, divorce can be far less stressful and emotionally taxing than they ever realized.

Mediation is an option made available to most couples pursuing a divorce. The process involves both spouses agree to meet together with a mediator, often an attorney, who is trained to help them negotiate all the necessary considerations of their divorce. When the parties have reached a mutually acceptable agreement regarding the various details of their case, it is submitted to the appropriate court to finalize the divorce proceedings. The results of mediation become legally binding once both spouses sign the agreement and it is accepted by the court.

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