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Recent Blog Posts
How to Survive the Holidays After Your Illinois Divorce
For many people, December means delicious food, spending time with family, exchanging presents, and enjoying the season. Unfortunately, for many families, the holiday season also means a time of stress and emotional tug-of-war. When parents are divorced, the holiday season can be difficult, because not only must they decide when they each will have the children, but they will also need to juggle all of the events that take place during the holidays, such as plays, concerts, recitals, holiday parties, and gift exchanges.
Here are a few ways that divorced parents can have a joyful and happy holiday season:
Plan Well in Advance
Like most things in your co-parenting relationship, a successful holiday season will largely depend on how you plan for it. Ideally, both you and your ex will be able to attend all of your children’s events. If you cannot stand to be in the same room as each other, make a plan to pick and choose which events you will be attending and which events you will sit out.
4 Surprising Benefits That Come With a Divorce
It is no secret that divorce can be difficult on everyone involved. Some people feel like their divorce makes them a failure, and children of divorcing parents may worry that the divorce is their fault. However, while a divorce is most often seen as a negative event, it can be one of the most positive things you can do for yourself and your family. Even though it may not feel like it, especially right after your divorce is finalized, a divorce can be a good thing. Here are four ways your divorce can benefit you and your family:
1. You Can Finally Relax
After you get a divorce, it can feel like a massive weight has been lifted off of your shoulders. You will no longer need to feel like you have to tiptoe around the house, hoping to avoid your combative spouse. You no longer have to worry about every single one of your decisions being met with contradiction and arguments. You can finally sit back, relax, and have some time for yourself.
Lower Divorce Rate May Be Attributed to Millennial Attitudes Toward Marriage
For decades, relationship studies suggested that couples who moved in together prior to getting married were more likely to get divorced than those who waited until after the wedding. While there may have been some truth to those numbers, they now seem to be moving in the opposite direction. Today, more couples than ever are cohabitating prior to marriage, yet the divorce rate is on the decline, and sociologists and other experts are starting to think that the two may be related.
A New Approach to Love
The generation known as the Millennials is comprised of those born roughly between the early 1980s and the late 1990s. A large number of Millennials are now in their late 20s and early 30s, and the way in which they, as a group, are approaching committed relationships much differently than their predecessors. Young people, in general, are waiting longer to get married, but they are much more likely to move in with a romantic partner than ever before.
Divorce and the Dangers of Social Media
Since its launch in 2004, Facebook has become one of the most popular concepts in the history of the world. Recent statistics place the number of active monthly Facebook users at an astounding 2.27 billion, or more than a quarter of the world’s population. The site has become a platform for users to share details about their lives with one another in the form of text-based posts, photos, videos, and much more. Problems, however, often arise when the use of Facebook and other social media outlets continues unfettered through the divorce process.
Reality vs. Social Media
Research has long suggested that the version of one’s self that is presented to the world on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram is frequently exaggerated. Social media users carefully construct their public image, focusing on the positive, and tending to ignore the less attractive elements of life. While most of us know at least a few people who spend most of their time on social media complaining or making vague, unhappy-sounding posts, most users project an artificially inflated social media persona that is healthier, more fun, more ambitious, and more successful than the person may be in reality.
Warning Signs You Are in an Abusive Relationship
Domestic violence affects every gender, race, and income level. Sadly, abusive relationships can happen to anyone. Many people are fully invested in a romantic relationship before they realize that it is becoming abusive. This can make it even more difficult for victims of domestic violence and abuse to leave these relationships. If you are in a relationship you think may be abusive, read on to learn about some of the first signs of domestic violence in romantic relationships.
Domestic Violence Defined
Although domestic violence can involve non-romantic close relationships like parent-child, domestic violence at the hands of a romantic partner is the most common type. Also called intimate partner violence, domestic violence includes behaviors that hurt, scare, threaten, or prevent a partner from being independent. It can involve physical and sexual violence, intimidation, emotional or psychological abuse and financial exploitation. Many abusive individuals may seem charming and loving at the beginning of a relationship, but then start showing their true colors.
Commercial Drivers and CDL Violations
If you are a professional driver, your commercial driver's license (CDL) is probably one of the most valuable documents you have. Without it, you cannot legally do your job and may suffer significant financial hardship. Getting a CDL is not something just anyone can do. As a CDL holder, you are held to a higher standard of driving conduct than those with standard driver’s licenses. If you are a professional driver in Illinois or hold a CDL for other reasons, it is imperative that you understand your rights and responsibilities. Read on to learn how traffic violations can put your commercial driver’s license at risk and what to do if you have been charged with a traffic violation.
Laws Are Stricter For Commercial Drivers
Most people with a CDL are tasked with transporting others or operating large vehicles like tractor-trailers, flatbeds, box trucks, buses, or dump trucks. Larger vehicles can obviously do much more damage than average-sized vehicles when operated in an unsafe manner. CDL holders have a greater responsibility to operate their commercial motor vehicle in a manner that protects the safety of pedestrians and other drivers. Consequently, commercial drivers face more severe punitive repercussions when they do commit a traffic violation. Traffic violations that could put your CDL in jeopardy include:
What Young Drivers Should Know About Traffic Stops
Most people can remember the feeling of independence that came with getting their driver’s license for the first time. On the other hand, most can also remember the nearly overwhelming fear that took over the first time they were pulled over by the police. Being stopped for a suspected traffic violation is intimidating for many drivers, including those who have been driving for decades. Younger drivers, however, often experience even more stress when they are pulled over, leading to confusing and potentially dangerous situations. Fortunately, lawmakers in Illinois have taken steps to prepare young drivers on how to handle being stopped by the police.
Helping New Drivers Learn the Rules of the Road
Approximately two years ago, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner signed a bipartisan measure requiring all driver’s education classes in the state to include a section on how to behave during a traffic stop. The bill’s timing coincided with a number of horrific, headline-making examples of traffic stops that escalated and spiraled out of control—some of them resulting in tragedy. The new law went into effect in 2017 and has affected driver’s education classes at public schools, private schools, and private training programs.
Four Traffic Violations Excuses That Virtually Never Work
When you are pulled over for violating a traffic law, it is only natural that you would want to get out of a ticket. While you probably know that you could contest the citation in court, the process of fighting the ticket often begins informally during the conversation with the officer on the scene. A conviction for a traffic violation could result in fines, higher insurance premiums, and other penalties, so not getting a ticket in the first place is the easiest way to avoid a conviction. Unfortunately, a police officer is unlikely to be sympathetic when you offer a poor excuse.
Excuse #1: “I Wasn’t Paying Attention”
Traffic laws exist primarily for the purpose of keeping drivers attentive and safe. If you tell an officer that you were not paying attention—to traffic lights, speed limit signs, or other drivers—you are basically admitting that you were not following the law. An officer is unlikely to cut you break for being distracted, and if he or she does, there is a good chance that you will still get a ticket for a lesser violation;
Getting an Emergency Order of Protection in Illinois
Despite countless public education campaigns and social efforts, domestic violence and abuse continue to plague millions of families around the country, including many victims here in Illinois. Public awareness of the problem offers little consolation to a victim who is currently being terrorized in his or her own home or place of employment. That is why, in addition to taking steps to eliminating domestic abuse, it is so important to understand what your options are if and when you are being abused by an intimate partner or family member.
Get to a Safe Location
If domestic violence is part of your daily reality, you need to take action to protect yourself and, if applicable, your children. Depending on the circumstances of your situation, your best option may be to temporarily leave your home and to stay with a trusted friend or family member. Resist the temptation to let your abuser know where you have gone, even if the abuser is your child’s other parent. Your safety and that of your child must be your top priority.
How an Order of Protection May Be Abused
Under an Illinois law, an order of protection may be issued by the court as a way to address concerns of domestic violence and domestic abuse. Orders of protection are also commonly sought by individuals going through divorce, as a way to legally separate themselves from their soon-to-be ex-spouse while the proceedings are still emotionally difficult and tensions are high.
Domestic Relationships
Illinois law provides that you can request an order of protection against a family or household member. An order of protection can also be filed against a person with whom you may have shared an intimate relationship, even if that relationship was in the past and/or was never legally recognized either by marriage or domestic partnership. An order of protection can also be filed against a blood family member or a family member related by marriage.
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