Posted on November 24,2017 in Divorce

The truth is that not every marriage will last forever, and in some cases, this is a good thing. Sometimes, people in a marriage realize that it would be better if they were no longer married. They may be simply no longer in love with each other, have grown apart, or one spouse does something that the other spouse cannot accept, such as have an affair. Oftentimes, one person in the relationship starts considering divorce before the other does. In such a case, it can be extremely difficult for the spouse seeking a divorce to tell their partner of their decision. There is no perfect way to tell your spouse that you want a divorce, but experts do have some advice to help make the conversation more effective and less painful.

Have a Plan and Remain Calm

Firstly, it is important to have the conversation with your spouse at a time that you are alone and there are not distractions. If you have children, wait until they are not around to break the news. Try to have a calm, non-aggressive attitude. The process of telling your spouse you want a divorce is often one of the most difficult and agonizing conversations a person can have. Getting overly emotional will only cause the conversation to become an ineffective fight or cause one of the spouses to become overwhelmed.

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 Posted on November 17,2017 in Divorce

Does your spouse often attempt to control or manipulate you in a malicious way? Does he or she dismiss your feelings as unimportant or nonsensical? Do you ever feel like you are losing your sense of self and only living to please your demanding and unreasonable spouse? If you, you may be married to a narcissist.

The term narcissist technically refers to those with a mental illness called Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) but is often also used to describe those individuals who have some of the characteristics of a person with NPD. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines the criteria for an NPD diagnosis. Individuals with Narcissistic Personality Disorders often exhibit behaviors such as:

• Having an Exaggerated Sense of Self-Importance: Narcissists are often very full of themselves. They believe that their accomplishments are more important than those of others and that they are superior to those around them. They have grandiose perceptions of themselves and do not appreciate when others do not share these perceptions. This often manifests into behavior like making every conversation about himself or herself, or craving to be the center of attention at all times. Narcissists may also indulge in unrealistic fantasies of success, fame, power, or wealth.

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 Posted on November 15,2017 in DuPage County Divorce Attorney

You may realize that divorce is technically a lawsuit that results in the end of a legal marriage. You may also know that in order to file a lawsuit, you must have a cause for legal action. In a car accident case, for example, property damage or bodily injury gives a person cause to file suit against the liable party. From the standpoint of the law, a divorce is no different. So, what are the causes that give a person the ability to file a petition for divorce? Causes of action in divorce proceedings are known as grounds, and the number of possible divorce grounds might surprise you.

Irreconcilable Differences

Since changes to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act went into effect in 2016, there is exactly one cause of action for a divorce in Illinois. All divorces in the state are now granted on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. More specifically, the court may only grant a divorce if that “irreconcilable differences have caused the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage.” In addition, the court must also find that efforts at saving the marriage would be “impracticable and not in the best interests of the family.

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 Posted on November 09,2017 in Division of Assets

When two people get married, they often choose to combine all of their financial interests. They may have joint checking and savings accounts, put both names on loan documents and titles, and generally consult with one another about major purchases. Other couples may elect to keep things more separate. These couples may have joint accounts to be used for household bills and other expenses, but they may also have investments or property held in their own names. Whichever option a couple chooses, a divorce may leave more property subject to division than many people realize.

What the Law Says

If a divorcing couple is able to reach a reasonable agreement regarding the division of property, the court will approve the agreement without much a problem in most cases. If the couple cannot agree, however, Illinois law says that a court has the authority to divide the couple’s marital property in a manner that is equitable and just—not necessarily equally. Only marital property is subject to division in a divorce, and determining what constitutes marital property is the first step of the property division process.

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 Posted on November 08,2017 in Child Custody

In about two weeks, families throughout the United States will get together to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. As you might expect, traditions often vary from one family to the next, but for most people, the most important part of the holiday season is the opportunity to visit with friends and loved ones—many who have traveled a great distance to be part of the festivities. If you are a divorced parent, however, planning for the holidays can be difficult as you most likely will need to coordinate your plans with those of your child’s other parent.

Rotating Holidays?

Illinois law provides that a parenting plan following a divorce must include a parenting time schedule. Must parenting plans also include provisions that indicate where and how the child will spend certain holidays, depending on which holidays are a priority for which parent. For example, if Thanksgiving is a major holiday among your extended family but not so much for the other parent’s family, your agreement could stipulate that your child is to stay with you each year at Thanksgiving. In other situations, an alternating or split holiday schedules may be more appropriate.

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 Posted on November 02,2017 in Division of Assets

One of the most difficult parts of a divorce can be the dividing of the marital property. Before the work of dividing the assets can even be started, the assets must be assigned a proper value.

How Marital Property Is Handled

Illinois considers all property, with extremely limited exceptions, acquired after the date of the marriage to be marital property. Unless the two sides come to an agreement on their own, the law requires the court to divide marital property equitably in a divorce. This means taking into account all of the relevant factors and dividing the property fairly. It is important to understand that “fairly” does not always mean “equally.”

How Much of the Value of an Asset Is Marital Property?

Some assets, such as a business or retirement account, may have been acquired before the marriage. However, most likely any increase in value to these assets after the date of the marriage may be considered marital property.

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 Posted on October 30,2017 in Divorce

Divorce is never easy. However, if you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse agree on the major issues, you may be eligible for an expedited form of divorce called dissolution of marriage, otherwise referred to as a joint simplified divorce. This option can help condense the process of divorce down from years long to mere months, in most cases.

Eligibility Requirements

Relatively few couples meet all of the requirements for a joint simplified dissolution of marriage, but if you qualify, your divorce may be concluded not in months or years, but in just a few weeks. According to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage, you are eligible if:

• Both spouses agree that their marriage has ended due to irreconcilable differences (not due to any other ground);
• You have neither children nor any interest in real property (such as owning your own home);

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 Posted on October 24,2017 in Child Custody

After a divorce, many families decide to start fresh in other locations. However, if both spouses are still in the picture, there are rules governing where the custodial parent may move and the parenting time to which to the other parent is entitled. The state has a strong interest in children being able to see both their parents, and the laws surrounding relocation are designed to reflect this.

Previous Law

Prior to 2016, the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) was fairly straightforward when discussing the matter of familial relocation. It allowed a relocation if it could be shown to be in the best interests of the child, not just those of the parent. Factors like feasibility of visitation for the noncustodial parent, the motives of the custodial parent, and the child’s overall quality of life had to be considered before a relocation was allowed.

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 Posted on October 20,2017 in Visitation

For many families, it is considered a blessing to have a large number of relatives interested in visiting one another and helping raise children in a loving environment. In other situations, however, the family relationships may be strained, and a person with children may choose to limit his or her child’s interaction with other members of the child’s family. If you have been prevented from seeing or interacting with a child in your own immediate or extended family, it is important to understand how the law applies in such situations.

Stepparent Visitation

Under Illinois law, stepparents have no inherent rights to visitation if the child’s biological parent (at least one) does not consent. However, since 1998, there has been some movement toward changing this. After a series of decisions involving the question of stepparents seeking visitation from parents who were still in the proverbial picture, Illinois courts essentially recognized that stepparents might have standing, or the legal capacity to bring suit over a specific alleged wrong. However, even with standing, most stepparents are not able to obtain visitation without a significant fight.

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 Posted on October 16,2017 in Child Custody

Despite a common misconception, merely being the biological parent of a child does not grant an adult immediate and total governance of that child’s life. Parental rights manifest when someone accepts legal responsibility regarding a child, and those rights can be lost. Still, there are quite a lot of misconceptions about parental rights that it is important to correct.

Definition of Parental Rights

Generally speaking, parental rights exist in any person who has been legally granted decision-making authority for a child—often referred to as legal custody. Despite the name, parental rights may be apply to anyone who has custody, including grandparents, or even an unrelated person or organization. It is a matter of good public policy and general fairness that, if possible, every child should have acknowledged legal parents. In Illinois, by law, a biological father actually has no legal rights to his child unless he acknowledges paternity.

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