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First Same-Sex Marriage Illinois--Effective Date May Change

Posted on December 04, 2013 in Wheaton Divorce Attorney

In November, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed family law legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry beginning in June. The bill passed the Illinois House early in a November by an extremely thin margin. The law needed 60 votes to pass and received 61.

The law, though passed a few weeks ago, cannot take effect immediately in Illinois due to the state constitution. All legislation passed after May 31st in any year cannot take effect until after June 1st the following year without a three-fifths majority vote in each chamber (instead of the typical one-half).

However, in a unique twist, Illinois just had its first same-sex wedding. On Thanksgiving Day, Patricia Steward and Vernita Gray, the latter being terminally ill with cancer, were given an expedited marriage license by a federal judge. The federal court decision is somewhat unique, in that it appears to contravene state requirements which would not allow these marriages to take effect for several months. There is technically not any exception in the state constitution even for tragic cases like this one affecting Steward and Gray.

Baby Boomers Divorcing in Greater Numbers

Posted on November 21, 2013 in Divorce

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Child Visitation: Making it Count for the Holidays

Posted on November 19, 2013 in Child Custody

Current statistics indicate that nearly 50 percent of marriages end in divorce, and unfortunately, the holidays can be an emotional and stressful time for families dealing with a fresh divorce or separation. However, during this time of change, it is important to focus on the needs of any children involved and to establish child visitation for each parent.

Willingness to compromise during the holidays may sound impossible, depending on the nature of a couple’s divorce or separation. However, one helpful idea, according to certified Marriage Educator Cathy Meyer, is agree to “shift your holiday celebration to the day before or after, allowing the child to enjoy two celebrations without having to make a choice. Parents can also alternate years for holidays, with one parent having the child on Thanksgiving Day for example, while the other parent has Christmas Day.” Once visitation is established, parents can then make the most of the time they have with their children during the holidays.

When is a Prenup Considered Invalid?

Posted on November 14, 2013 in Divorce

Occasionally, people decide that they need a prenuptial agreement before saying yes to marriage. That can be to protect assets such as a home or business in the event of a divorce. It is easy to understand a prenup if you consider it a type of contract in case the marriage ends. The prenup will define how assets will be divided and acts as a blueprint for other aspects of divorce including spousal support.

Prenuptial agreements are appropriate for those with a large amount of assets or a small amount and are becoming more popular in the last couple of years. However, a prenuptial agreement is not always considered valid if certain mistakes are made during the process. In order to avoid those critical errors, it is important to understand what they are.

The Effects of Divorce on Men

Posted on November 11, 2013 in Divorce

Divorce is not easy on any one who is involved. There are various studies that show the effects that divorce has on women and children. Some women may become sad from being out of a relationship while others find a particular freedom from being out of a bad situation. Children can be ever more devastated by a divorce. But the effect on men was revealed in a recent study.

The study is called “The Influence of Divorce on Men’s Health” published in the Journal of Men’s Health. It was a joint study by Dr. W. David Robinson of Utah State University and Dr. Daniel S. Felix of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. They connected the trauma of divorce with various physical ailments such as heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure.

Is Divorce Contagious?

Posted on November 08, 2013 in Divorce

The results of a new study indicate that divorce just may be contagious; when you're around divorcing couples, you're more likely to do the same.

The study, conducted by researchers from Brown University, Harvard University and University of California in San Diego, concluded that having a close friend or relative who is divorced can increase the chancefor a person’s own marriage breakup by 75 percent. The study also found that even knowing acquaintances that are divorced raises the risk of breakup by 33 percent.

The study was headed by Dr. Rose McDermott, a professor of political science at Brown University. According to McDermott, divorce is what she calls a “social contagion” – the news of someone’s divorce spreads quickly among family, friends, work colleagues and other social networks people have.

When Divorce Mediation is Better

Posted on November 04, 2013 in Divorce

Divorce is one of the most difficult times that a person can go through. Though divorce is extremely common—according to the Center for Disease Control, the number of divorces and annulments has continued to increase since 2009, after slowing slightly during the Great Recession—some feel a stigma upon marital dissolution. Often, there are complicated matters to deal with, such as child custody or joint parenting. “Shared physical custody is increasingly common in divorce courts across the nation,” Parenting magazine reports. Though this can be good for children of divorce, it can be all the more difficult for divorcing parents.

How interpersonal relationships can impact high-asset divorces

Posted on March 26, 2013 in Divorce

George Washington once said, "Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence." His advice is informed and should be heeded when entering into a high-asset divorce. Failure to do so can result in undesired consequences for the process as a whole. True, good friends and loyal family members can help you to navigate your divorce with grace and dignity. But friends and loved ones who are not quite so true can complicate your divorce proceedings and compromise your ability to obtain the settlement terms you desire.

Unfortunately, high-asset divorces sometimes bring out the worst in friends and loved ones. Those around you may be more concerned about how your divorce settlement terms will affect them than how they will affect you. They may even be inclined to act upon their concerns in ways that affect your divorce process.

For example, say that a relative is named in your joint will with your current spouse. If that relative believes that he or she will not be named in your newly single estate plan but will remain a beneficiary in your spouse's new will, that relative may actually try to influence your divorce settlement to ensure that you receive fewer assets. It is hard to believe that individuals would behave this way, but it happens more often than you would think.

Suspending social media use during family law disputes

Posted on February 28, 2013 in Divorce

Sometimes the divorce process inspires an understandable need to vent. Venting can be both cathartic and healthy. But it is critical that should you need to vent about your former spouse that you choose to do so away from social media and the Internet in general. The subject of social media and divorce is becoming increasingly complex. But as more and more divorce attorneys seek to obtain damning evidence about others via the Internet, your best policy is to stay away from social media during your divorce, child custody battle or other family law dispute.

Ideally, it is best to temporarily shut down your accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and other social media sites. Doing so may feel temporarily isolating, but by doing so you insulate yourself from potential liability based on activity on these accounts. Even something so harmless as "checking in" at a nice restaurant for your birthday might be perceived by opposing counsel and the court as evidence that you tend to spend money frivolously, which could impact the terms of your eventual divorce, child custody and child support agreements.

How to begin addressing the issue of hidden assets

Posted on December 07, 2012 in Divorce

Most divorce proceedings are not the subject of devious behavior. However, sometimes spouses either intentionally or unintentionally fail to disclose various assets to their former spouse and to the court. Whether these assets are intentionally or unintentionally hidden, it is imperative that they be uncovered. Failure to take all marital assets into account when constructing a divorce settlement arrangement can ultimately harm both parties.

How do you go about finding hidden assets? First, you need to know what you're looking for. Various purchases and rewards are considered assets, even if they are not big ticket items. For example, frequent flyer miles might not strike you as an asset per say. However, they have value and thus must be disclosed.

Other resources you might not ordinarily consider to be assets include outstanding time from a time share program, tax refunds, hobby collections of any value and patents, royalties and copyrights. Basically, any resource you have access to that has or reasonably could have outstanding monetary value in the future should be disclosed during divorce proceedings.