Posted on August 26, 2016 in Divorce

When you are considering divorce, there is a seemingly unending list of things to think about. Will you keep the family home? Who will be responsible for the children? Will you have to pay child support or alimony? In many cases, the implications of the divorce are given more thought than the process itself. The process includes filing the necessary paperwork, responding to the court when required, and remaining in compliance with deadlines and court orders. For many, the first important decision to be made is in regard to where the petition for divorce should be filed. An experienced divorce attorney can help you make the right choice for your unique situation.

What the Law Says

According to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, the proceedings for a divorce are to take place in the county in which either the petitioner or the respondent resides. If you are the spouse who files, you are the petitioner, and your spouse would be the respondent. This means that the law presumes that you will file for divorce in the county where you live or where your spouse currently lives. The law also provides that your divorce matter may be redirected to any county within the state of Illinois as needed.

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 Posted on August 12, 2016 in Divorce

Divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences has been available to couples in Illinois for several decades. For most of that time, such a divorce was just one of the options that a couple had, as one spouse could still legally look to the end the marriage based on about a dozen other so-called “fault grounds,” including adultery, abuse, or abandonment. Beginning this year, however, the landscape of divorce in the state has changed such that fault no longer has any recognized place in an Illinois marriage dissolution.

Irreconcilable Differences Only

In the summer of 2015, Illinois lawmakers passed a measure that substantially reformed the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage act on several fronts. The changes included an evolution in the state’s approach to child custody—now called the allocation of parental responsibilities—parenting time, and moving with your child to a new city. The new law also addressed the process of dissolving a marriage, eliminating all fault-related grounds from the statute. As a result, every divorce in the state will only be granted on the no-fault grounds of irreconcilable differences. It does not matter, as far as the court is concerned, which spouse did what to the other, at least as it applies to legally ending the marriage.

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 Posted on July 28, 2016 in Paternity

Paternity issues are complicated, emotional, and sometimes contentious matters- so much so that some may wonder why it is important or even necessary. Rest assured: this legal process, which is used to establish the biological father of a child, offers numerous benefits for all involved. Understand why you should take steps to legally establish paternity.

Benefits of Establishing Paternity for Mothers

When a married woman gives birth to a child, her husband is automatically presumed to be the father. He is generally the one who will be held responsible for child support, and he is the one who will likely split parenting time with the mother should the marriage end in divorce. The one exception is if a husband or an alleged father contests the validity of the child’s paternity.

In contrast, children born to unmarried mothers have “alleged” (potential) fathers. Before she can seek child support, assistance with health insurance, or other benefits for her child from the alleged father, legal steps must be taken to establish his paternity. Once she does, her child will be eligible for any paternal benefits that the father may be obligated to provide.

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 Posted on July 14, 2016 in Spousal Maintenance

For many years, spousal support, or alimony, was a generally accepted part of the divorce process. When a couple decided to end their marriage, one spouse—usually the wife, statistically speaking—would be a severe financial disadvantage due to roles and responsibilities she assumed regarding the family. In most cases, the wife would also be granted primary responsibility for the couple’s children, meaning that it was even more difficult for her to obtain sufficient employment to support herself and her family. As such, the other spouse—usually the husband—would often be required to make spousal support payments, helping to ease the other party’s financial burden and making the end result of the divorce more equitable.

Changing Society, Changing Expectations

Over the last four decades or so, it has become increasingly more difficult for families to rely on a single income. This shift has been accompanied by a dramatic evolution of our cultural expectations for spouses in a marriage. Today, gender is much less of a factor for most families when determining household and family responsibilities. As times have changed, so has the state’s approach to granting spousal support or maintenance, as it is known in the law.

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 Posted on June 29, 2016 in Divorce

While the feelings of anger, sadness, guilt, and depression often felt after a divorce are far from gender-biased, a new study suggests that men may be more prone to the resulting behaviors and symptoms. They may be more prone to excessive weight gain in the weeks, months, and even years following a divorce. However, the study did find that women were also at risk for weight gain and poor self-care. Understand these risks, its potential impact on your health, and how you may be able to protect yourself against them.

Weight Gain After Divorce in Both Men and Women

Published in Social Science and Medicine, the study tracked the dietary habits and weight gain of 11,577 participants between the ages of 40 and 80. At the beginning of that study, 89 percent of the men and 78 percent of the women were married, and by the second analysis that took place 3.5 years later, 2.4 percent of men and 4.5 percent of the women had been divorced, widowed, or separated.

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 Posted on June 15, 2016 in Child Custody

Entering the post-divorce world as a single parent can be overwhelming, especially in the wake of the emotional toll brought on by the separation. One of the most important tasks you will face as a newly single parent is handling the “allocation of parental responsibilities” (formerly known as child custody). This is a term Illinois law began using as of January 1, 2016, to refer to arrangements that are made that determine what a parent is responsible for when it comes to the child they share.

Allocation of parental responsibilities covers all aspects of the child’s care, including where the child lives and with whom, and which parent is responsible for making decisions for the child’s well-being. The court also determines parenting time (also known as visitation), another aspect of allocation of parental responsibilities.

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 Posted on January 28, 2016 in Criminal Defense

Crimes where children are the victims carry stiff penalties and are among the type priorities of federal, state, and local law enforcement. The crimes of kidnapping and parenting time interference often overlap, but they also have some important differences.

What is Parenting Time Interference?

While most parenting time disputes are handled within the family court system, sometimes actions cross the line from civil issues to criminal issues. The crime of custodial interference is known as Unlawful Visitation or Parenting Time Interference.

You commit this crime when you detain or conceal a child with the intent of depriving someone of his or her rights to parenting time. There is a provision to the law that allows for this type of activity if the parent has a reasonable fear the child will be harmed or put in imminent danger if the other parent exercises their parenting time.

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 Posted on January 26, 2016 in Divorce

When your spouse has engaged in behavior that is destructive to your relationship, it is not unreasonable to want to extract a measure of recompense. If his infidelity or her continued verbal abuse caused your marriage to break down, you may feel entitled to some type of restitution or other consideration to help alleviate your loss. While such a reaction may be a normal part of the grieving process inherent to divorce, the law in Illinois does not really provide such relief.

No Recognized Fault

For many years, it was possible to obtain a divorce on fault grounds in the state of Illinois. Doing so required proof of a spouse’s wrongdoing, which could often be very difficult, but the judgment actually reflected a specific reason for the divorce. Such grounds included adultery, physical or mental abuse, abandonment, habitual substance abuse, and the commission of an infamous crime. Divorce proceedings involving fault, however, were rarely conducive to amicable settlements, which has become a major focus of divorce laws around the country. In keeping with such trends, Illinois has eliminated fault grounds for divorce beginning in 2016. Now, no matter what may have happened within the marriage, a divorce will only be granted on the no-fault grounds of irreconcilable differences.

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 Posted on January 21, 2016 in Violent Crimes

News stories and government reports often focus on the numbers and trends related to violent crime. Aside from the obvious social and cultural impact of such actions, the penalties for violent crimes are the among the harshest in the criminal justice system. To provide a level of statewide consistency, many violent crimes carry mandatory minimum sentences.

What Crimes Are Considered Violent?

Violent crimes involve harm or threat of harm to other people. They are considered to be much more serious than property crimes like theft or trespassing. Common examples of these type of offenses in Illinois include:

• Murder;
• Sexual assault;
• Battery;
• Robbery;
• Assault and/or battery;
• Kidnapping;
• Reckless discharge of a weapon; and
• Arson.

Domestic violence crimes are also considered violent crimes. If you are charged with a violent crime, bail is likely to be set higher upon your arraignment, if you are eligible for bail at all.

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 Posted on January 19, 2016 in Child Support

For a number of years now, Illinois family courts have had the authority to order one or both parents to contribute toward the post-high school education of their children. In fact, the court even has the discretion to order college expense support to be drawn from the estate of a deceased parent. However, until very recently, each case was considered entirely on its own merits with little in the way of standardized guidelines to provide consistency. Beginning this year, the future of non-minor support proceedings may look significantly different.

Subjective Decisions

In years past, a parent looking for help paying for his or her child’s college expenses could ask the court to require the other parent to assist. The court would examine three relatively subjective factors in making its determination, including the financial resources of each parent, those of the child, and the child’s academic performance. Everything else was considered on a case-by-case basis, including the choice of school, the appropriateness of the educational program, and the costs to cover reasonable expenses.

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