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How Can I Set Rules For Raising My Children After My Divorce?

Posted on May 14,2019 in Child Custody

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends zero screen time for children under two years old, and it encourages “consistent limits” on screen time for children six years old and older. However, the average child between the ages of 8 and 18 spends seven hours a day in front of a screen, and too much screen time can be detrimental to children’s physical health, development, and motor skills. As a parent, you only want the very best for your child, and you may choose to set limits on their screen time in order to ensure their health and well-being. But what if your ex-spouse does not agree with these or other rules?

It can be extremely difficult for a divorced parent to deal with a former partner who, in their opinion, does not have the best interests of their child in mind and demonstrates this by allowing their child to spend unlimited time watching TV or bent over a smartphone. Parents may be able to address these concerns during divorce and in the years after by creating a parenting plan that works for the children first and the parents second, with a focus on open communication and compromise between the parents.

How Social Media Can Affect Your Divorce Case

Posted on May 09,2019 in Child Custody

In the United States, social media usage is continuing to rise across all age groups, according to the Pew Research Center. The typical American uses at least three of the following social media platforms: YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, Pinterest, and Snapchat. As virtually any lawyer will warn a client, it is best to stay away from social media during legal proceedings. This is particularly true for those going through a divorce or a child custody dispute.

Online Posts Can Be Used Against You

During the divorce process, social media can be used to uncover evidence that may be used against either party. For example, a father’s lack of judgment may be shown by an Instagram picture of him driving with an open can of beer in the car, or a wife’s extravagant vacation spending may be gleaned from a Facebook post. The former could be used to argue that the father should have limited parental responsibilities or parenting time, while the latter could be used to refute the wife’s argument that she does not have the means to pay spousal support.

How Are Child Custody Disputes Handled in a Same-Sex Divorce?

Posted on May 07,2019 in Child Custody

Around 16 percent of same-sex couples who live in the same household are raising children together, according to The Williams Institute. In addition, adoption by same-sex couples has nearly doubled since the early 2000s. Many of these couples face difficult circumstances when their relationships fall apart or their marriages end in divorce. In these cases, child custody disputes can be complicated, highly emotional events that often leave one or both parties unhappy when the final decision is made by a judge. These situations can particularly complex when one parent is the biological parent of the child and the other is not.

When the Child Is Adopted, and Both Spouses Are Legal Parents

When a same-sex couple adopts a child together, and each spouse is a legal parent, decisions about child custody will be resolved in the same manner as if both parents were biological parents. If the couple cannot come to an agreement out of court, a judge will make a decision in favor of the child’s best interests. Deciding factors include the parenting abilities of each party, the emotional bond that each parent has with the child, the child’s preference if they are old enough, the financial ability of each parent to provide for the child, the work schedule and career demands of each parent, and much more.

Is Drug or Alcohol Use Considered in Determining Parental Responsibilities?

Posted on April 30,2019 in Uncategorized

Child custody, or the allocation of parental responsibilities, as it is now known in Illinois courts, is a difficult subject in a high-conflict divorce. In these cases, the court must often step in and make a decision for the parents on behalf of the child’s best interests.

Spousal abuse, infidelity, and addiction are frequent catalysts for this type of conflict. Substance abuse causes many divorces. In some cases, one parent may attempt to use the other’s drug or alcohol use against them to limit their chances of receiving custody or visitation.

A recent study found that when one spouse is a heavy drinker and the other is not, divorce is much more likely to occur. Couples who participated in the study had a divorce rate of 30 percent when both were not heavy drinkers or both were heavy drinkers. However, when only one was a heavy drinker — having six or more drinks at one time — the divorce rate increased to 50 percent. Alcoholics may also be more likely to engage in domestic abuse, as two-thirds of spousal abuse victims report that the perpetrator was drinking at the time of the attack.

Who is Considered an “Expert” in a Family Law Case?

Posted on April 29,2019 in Uncategorized

The more complex a divorce is, the more likely there will be experts utilized to provide information to the case. These professionals are often called in by one side to help sway the court’s decisions on various elements. Attorneys can rely on an expert to help prove their client’s parenting skills, disprove the other’s parenting abilities, reveal hidden bank accounts, or prove through bank statements that the other spouse was spending marital money on an affair. Below we outline a few different types of family law experts that could play a role in your own divorce case.

Child Psychologist or Child Expert

A child expert is a psychologist who meets with parents, children, and other family members and relevant parties in order to make recommendations on a parenting plan and custody.

As a Non-Custodial Parent, Do I Have to Pay for College?

Posted on April 24,2019 in Uncategorized

While child support may have been originally decided years ago with your divorce, that does not mean the court order will remain unchanged. Even after a child reaches the age of 18, the parent who pays child support sometimes still has obligations, particularly if they have the financial means to pay for college, and the other parent does not have the ability to do so.

How Does the Court Make a Decision?

Not all children end up going to college, and not all children of divorce go, either. If a child’s parents do not have the ability to pay, they will either have to come up with the money themselves, take out loans, or simply not attend. However, if their parents do have the means to pay, and the child has proven academic success, the court may decide to create an order of support for college expenses that the non-custodial parent is responsible for. To make this decision, the court will consider the following:

Awarding Temporary Guardianship of Your Child

Posted on April 24,2019 in Uncategorized

Temporary custody is usually decided during divorce, as the child’s parents are likely to split up before the marriage is dissolved, and is subject to change when the divorce is finalized. After all, divorce typically takes many months, as assets and debts need to be accounted for, child support and spousal support are debated, and division of property is negotiated.

However, in some cases not associated with divorce, a parent (or parents) may wish to willfully give temporary guardianship to another party. For example, a mother with full legal custody may wish to grant the child’s father guardianship if she knows she will be leaving the country for an extended multi-month work trip, during which she will be unable to take care of her child. A guardianship attorney can help make this possible.

The Division of Retirement Funds, Pensions, and IRA Accounts After Divorce

Posted on April 15,2019 in Uncategorized

Marital property includes all assets obtained during a marriage, whereas non-marital property is everything owned before marriage. For middle-age to older adults, aside from real property, savings are the largest aspect of marital property. A survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers found the division of retirement plans and pensions was the second-leading cause of contention in divorce.

Do Retirement Plans and Pensions Get Divided During Divorce?

Retirement accounts, pensions, and IRAs are all considered marital property if they were obtained during the course of the marriage, or if they were contributed to during the marriage. For example, if an IRA started out at $10,000 before the marriage, and it was worth $100,000 after 20 years of marriage, the majority of the assets would be considered marital property and should be divided between the two spouses.

How to Put a Stop to Child Relocation After Divorce

Posted on April 15,2019 in Uncategorized

You just received an email from your child’s other parent, telling you he or she plans to move out of the city or state with your child. When this happens, it leaves many parents with a sense of irreparable dread and a feeling of helplessness. Now what? How can this be stopped?

Per Illinois 750 ILCS 5/609.2, a parent who has majority parenting time or a parent who has been awarded equal parenting time can petition the court for relocation, which is considered a substantial change in circumstance. The parent wishing to relocate with the child must give written notice to the other parent 60 days in advance, including the date, the address of the residence, and length of time if the relocation is not intended to be permanent. A copy of this written notice must be sent to the circuit court as well. Many parents fail with this simplest of tasks: properly notifying the other parent and the court 60 days before they move. As such, the court may see them unfit to carry out such a relocation.

What is Birdnesting and How Does it Work in Illinois?

Posted on April 12,2019 in Uncategorized

When parents get divorced or separated, they must decide how to split time with their children. Traditionally, for shared child custody agreements, the children live with one parent part-time and go with the other parent on the weekends, every other week, or however the parenting plan is structured. This requires the children to move from one home to the next, every week, for years, until they are old enough to be out of the house.

Another option for parents who have shared custody has gained in popularity. Birdnesting, or just nesting for short, keeps the child in one home while the parents come and go. This requires the parents to each have their own separate living situation, or to share a separate home together; birdnesting parents do not have to ever sleep under the same roof or spend time with one another, however.