Posted on November 05,2018 in Divorce

Marriages are as unique as the individuals that enter them. From the wedding to the day-to-day lifestyle, what happens within one marriage is unlike any other. The same idea is true in divorces as well. There is no “one size fits all” solution to the dissolution of marriage. Today, while some divorces can be contentious, it is possible to achieve an amicable and cost-effective divorce through alternative dispute resolution, if your situation allows for it.

Mediation

Mediation is a way to achieve a divorce without many of the unpleasant side effects. With the assistance of a neutral third party, the two parties work out an agreement that is best for the family. Together, they decide the outcome of each issue, including child visitation schedules, spousal support payments, and property division. This option can take as little or as much time as necessary to conclude, and it often saves divorcing couples a significant amount of money. Additionally, this option often leaves less adverse effects on any children involved, as they witness their parents civilly reaching an agreement rather than feuding publicly in court. Due to the informality of the procedure, mediation works best for couples who can communicate relatively well with each other.

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 Posted on October 31,2018 in Divorce

Making the decision to pursue a divorce is very difficult and should only be done after a great deal of reflection and thought. You married your spouse because you loved him or her and were ready to commit your lives to one another. If you are approaching divorce, obviously, the situation has changed dramatically. Some couples simply grow apart and are able to complete the divorce process with a level of cooperation and civility. In other cases, one spouse simply refuses to communicate or compromise, making things much more challenging for everyone involved. If your spouse is preventing your divorce proceedings from moving along reasonably, there are some things you can do.

Understand Your Spouse’s Reasons

A spouse who is being difficult during a divorce is generally motivated by something or a number of things. It is possible that your spouse is frightened of the prospect of moving forward alone and, therefore, is having trouble letting go, especially if you surprised your spouse by filing for divorce. An emotional period of transition is reasonable, but if your spouse’s behavior continues or worsens, it may be time for you to push through and complete the process despite his or her issues.

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 Posted on October 25,2018 in Child Support

Many unmarried and divorced parents in Illinois pay child support. The monthly payments are meant to help evenly spread the cost of raising a child when parents are unmarried or divorced. In order to determine which parent will pay child support, the court chooses one parent to be the primary guardian. This parent has the majority of the parenting time and will therefore receive any child support which is ordered. The court then considers both parent’s income, assets, and life circumstances and uses that information to calculate a fair and reasonable child support payment amount.

However, we all know that life can be unpredictable. Sometimes unexpected life events like job loss, becoming hospitalized, or incurring significant medical bills leave parents unable to make their child support payments in full and on time. If you are struggling to pay your court-ordered child support, read on to learn how to handle the situation in a way that benefits both you and your child.

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 Posted on October 23,2018 in Divorce

In any proceeding for divorce, the spouses must reach an agreement regarding the division of their marital property. If they cannot, the court will equitably allocate the marital estate between the spouses, taking a number of statutory factors into account. During the process, either spouse may file a claim of dissipation, alleging that the other party has spent or “dissipated” marital assets inappropriately, and that the dissipated money should be repaid to the marital estate before proper allocation can be completed. When the spending occurred, however, is an important consideration, and one that may impact the court’s ultimate decision regarding the claim.

What Is Dissipation?

Under Illinois law, dissipation is a spouse’s use of marital for his or her own personal benefit and not for the benefit of the marriage. Dissipation is often alleged in cases where one party has spent a great deal of money on drugs, alcohol, gambling, bad investments, or extramarital affairs. In some cases, dissipation can also include the destruction of or failure to maintain an asset. Such actions are problematic because inappropriate spending or destruction can significantly reduce the value of the marital estate.

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 Posted on October 15,2018 in Divorce

Under the law in Illinois, children have to right to expect financial support from both parents, regardless of the adults’ marital situation. The same is not true, however, for divorcing spouses. While there may be situations in which long-term spousal maintenance is appropriate, there is no inherent assumption that it will be granted. Instead, in the absence of an agreement either at the time of divorce or prior, such as a prenuptial agreement, the court will examine the applicable circumstances and decide if an order for spousal support is necessary.

Negotiated Maintenance and Prenuptial Agreements

Most aspects of divorce can be settled fairly amicably through the process of negotiation. You and your spouse may be able to reach an agreement regarding spousal support with an arrangement that works for your particular situation. Spousal maintenance provisions can also be included in a prenuptial agreement, created prior to your marriage. As long as such agreements are workable and relatively fair, they are likely to be accepted by the court.

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 Posted on October 12,2018 in Social Media

The internet has revolutionized the way we communicate with each other. Social media has allowed us to send and receive information about each other in the blink of an eye. Nearly 70 percent of Americans have at least a Facebook account. Although websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram can be wonderful tools to stay in touch with friends and family, they can also become a significant responsibility during tumultuous times such as a divorce. If you are considering ending your marriage, you should know that social media activity can come up during a divorce. It is critical for anyone getting divorced to be intentional about what they post online.

Social Media Mistake #1: Oversharing Personal Information

For many married individuals, separating from their spouse leaves them feeling alone and empty. In order to vent their frustrations or express their grief about the marriage, they take to social media. This is a major mistake. Unfortunately, careless comments made by people getting divorced can and have come back to haunt them.  In one such case, a wife’s Facebook activity was used as evidence during a formal custody case. The couple shared custody of a 4-year-old child together. The husband alleged that the wife took frequent vacations without their child while she had custody of him. The court ordered the wife to show her Facebook profile. It contained many pictures proving that she frequently spent time away from her child during her allotted parenting time.

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 Posted on October 08,2018 in Divorce

While the divorce rate seems to be leveling out for most age groups—and possibly dropping for some demographics--there is one in particular in which divorce is more common than ever. Depending upon your perspective, it may come as a surprise to learn that the divorce rate among people age 50 and older today is twice what it was a quarter-century ago. For the 65 and older age group, the rate of divorce has more than doubled. During the same period, the divorce rate for virtually every other age group has remained the same or has fallen. So what is causing the increase in older divorce, or, as some call it, gray divorce? While the explanation is probably not to be found in just a single factor, there are a number of things that may be playing a role.

Not the First Time

One of the contributing factors to increase in gray divorce is the idea that second marriages among all age groups fail at a much higher rate than first marriages, and third or subsequent marriages even more so. Just based on pure probability, and with remarriage rates at record-highs, more and more older Americans are in the midst of a second or third marriages, making them at least two and a half times more likely to experience a divorce.

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 Posted on October 04,2018 in Illinois divorce attorney

When you are in the midst of a divorce, it may seem very tempting to just sit back and the let a judge make the difficult decisions. Of course, this approach fails to account for the multiple court appearances that will be probably be necessary, and the fact that you will still need to provide the court with all of the information and evidence relevant to your case. Divorce laws in Illinois explicitly promote amicable agreements between divorcing spouses whenever possible. Divorcing parents, in particular, are expected to work together in developing a plan for cooperative parenting and protecting their children’s best interests.

Parents Know Best

There are many examples in Illinois family law indicating that a court must presume that parents will act in the best interest of their child. This is based on the idea that, unless proven otherwise, parents are equipped to fully understand the situation at hand and to make decisions for their child that are ultimately beneficial.

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 Posted on October 01,2018 in Child Custody

When you share parenting time of your child with your ex-spouse, your ability to control what the other parent does with his or her time is limited. Unless the child is being placed in danger, your former partner is essentially free to parent as he or she sees fit. For the most part, as long as your child is happy and safe, you are probably able to accept this particular aspect of post-divorce co-parenting. However, what about the times when the other parent needs to hire a babysitter or make other childcare arrangements during his or her parenting time? Do you have any say in the matter? Depending upon the terms of your parenting plan or parental responsibilities order, you may, in fact, have certain rights.

First Refusal

The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act provides that divorced, separated, or unmarried parents may include the right of first refusal in their parenting agreement. As such, it important to understand what that right entails. According to the law, the right of first refusal means that if a parent intends to leave his or her child with a “substitute child-care provider for a significant period of time,” the parent must first offer the other parent the opportunity to care for the child. In other words, if the right of first refusal is included in your agreement and you need a sitter for a significant period of time, you must first ask the other parent if he or she wants to care for your child.

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 Posted on September 28,2018 in Divorce Finances

One of the biggest struggles for many divorcing couples is determining which party, if either, will get to keep the marital home and how the finances can be arranged to make it happen. When you and your spouse share a mortgage on a home, ending one party’s responsibility is not usually as simple as taking his or her name off of the note. If you are intending to keep the home, transferring the mortgage into your name alone is a process that may take months or even years, and preparation is absolutely vital.

Review the Feasibility

Before jumping in, you need to take an in-depth look at what your post-divorce financial situation will look like. If you are like most people going through a divorce, it is important to keep in mind that you will be required to support yourself—with or without some help from spousal maintenance—on a single income. You will want to make sure that you cannot only afford the mortgage payments but also all of the expenses associated with owning a home as well, including taxes, utilities, repairs, insurance, and more.

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