Posted on December 15, 2014 in Divorce

Property division is one of the most important aspects of any divorce process, and probably the most important in marriages without children. Consequently, it leads to a lot of people wondering about how things get divided. All too often, people ask that question of how courts divide property before they ask a more fundamental question: “What does the court divide?” At a high level, the answer to that is simple. Marital property gets divided, and spouses get to keep their non-marital property for themselves. Answering the question of which property is marital and which property is not can become a bit more complicated.

What Is and Is Not Marital Property

The easiest place to start when discussing marital versus non-marital property is with a definition of marital property. Illinois law defines marital property as “all property acquired by either spouse subsequent to the marriage.” This means that things the spouses bring into the marriage are non-marital property and things they get afterward are marital property.

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 Posted on December 10, 2014 in Divorce

A divorce can have ripple effects that last after it ends, especially in the realm of retirement. Married couples engage in long-term financial planning together, so a split can often push those plans off track, unless people take care to keep them intact during the divorce. One particular way that divorce can impact retirement is through the division of pensions. Now the Illinois Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case about how pension division interacts with Social Security, which has its own special rules for divorcing couples.

Social Security in Divorce

Social Security is different from the majority of pensions and retirement plans. Most of these plans qualify as marital property that the court will deal with during the property division. Conversely, Illinois courts do not divide Social Security. This difference stems from the fact that Social Security is a special plan regulated by the government. This means that it already has contingencies in place to deal with divorce, so courts do not need to divide it.

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 Posted on December 01, 2014 in Divorce

The prevalence of substance abuse in America is an unfortunate reality. In fact, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration's research, tens of millions of Americans experience problems with alcoholism or drug abuse. Naturally, these problems can place a strain on a marriage, and many people report that substance abuse was one of the main causes of their separation. Many people who are divorcing a spouse with substance abuse issues wonder about the special considerations that those issues need. As it happens, substance abuse can have both legal and practical effects on the divorce process.

Legal Effects of Substance Abuse

The two main legal effects of substance abuse on divorce are as grounds for divorce and during the child custody proceedings. Substance abuse can be grounds for divorce in Illinois, meaning it forms the actual reason for the divorce, but this is less important than it once was. Illinois has a “no-fault” divorce law now, so spouses can get divorced based on irreconcilable differences. However, having grounds for the divorce may be able to speed the process up since there is a required six-month separation period in no-fault divorces.

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 Posted on November 28, 2014 in Divorce

The Census is a once a decade process by the government that attempts to catalog the United States’ population and some basic information about everyone collectively. Among the information that the government currently collects is the marital history of the population e.g. whether a person recently married or divorced. Now the Census Bureau has released a statement asking for public comment on the idea of removing the marital history question from the Census. Though this may seem like a fairly insignificant issue, it actually may have far reaching effects on government policy, as well as on the way social scientists have to study marriage and divorce.

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 Posted on November 25, 2014 in Child Custody

Divorces are the most common way of legally ending a marriage in Illinois, but they can seem too final for some people. Sometimes, people in that situation may benefit from another option provided by Illinois law, legal separation. Unlike divorces, legal separations do not end a marriage. However, they do allow both parties to live separately with formal support agreements in place. These sorts of arrangements are seldom used in Illinois because they still require much of the same process as a divorce, but they can be a useful tool in certain circumstances.

Legal Separation vs. Divorce

Legal separations are very similar to divorce. If the two spouses are living apart, then one of them can file for a legal separation provided that they are not at fault for the separation. Examples of fault can include things like adultery or abandoning the other spouse. Then the couple determines things like child custody, visitation rights, child support, alimony, and property division, just like they would in a full divorce. Also like divorce, legal separations are permanent arrangements, unless the couple chooses to get back together. Although, at some point it will likely make sense for a couple who has been legally separated for a long time to convert that separation into a divorce.

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 Posted on November 20, 2014 in Divorce

Many people are reluctant to seek a divorce because they fear the expense of a divorce attorney, or if they do seek divorce, they choose to do so alone rather than with experienced guidance. The law is a complicated system, and even seemingly simple divorces can involve legal pitfalls. Having a skilled divorce attorney on his or her side can help a person have access to experienced investigators, can provide support and reduce stress during the process, and can even help the odds if the other spouse has already hired a divorce attorney to represent him or her.

Experienced Investigation

One of the most difficult parts of the divorce process is bringing together all the information necessary to complete the process. Dividing up the property requires a full, coherent accounting of all the couple's finances, along with an investigation to make sure that the other spouse is not attempting to improperly conceal assets. Child custody disputes are all about developing a custody arrangement that is in the best interest of the child, and the more information there is available to do that, the better off the child will be. Oftentimes, people are tempted to do their own investigation into their spouses, such as snooping through their emails. However, people performing their own investigations run the risk of running afoul of privacy laws. Divorce attorneys are experienced at using legal methods of investigation and the discovery process to ensure that all the necessary information comes out during the divorce process.

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 Posted on November 13, 2014 in Divorce

Every young couple wants to find a way to divorce-proof their marriage, but a new study has revealed that the decisions they make just as they are getting married can have a major impact on their likelihood of divorce. New research from the Emory University Department of Economics looked at how much a couple spent on wedding rings and on their weddings over all to see if those expenditures had any effect on the couple's divorce risk. It turns out that despite the fact that many people dream about expensive, fairy tale weddings, such spectacles actually increase the marital failure rate.

The Study's Findings

The researchers used surveys to collect data on thousands of U.S. residents who either were married or had been married, and then examined the data to see if there were any trends between wedding expenses and divorce rates. They found several. For instance, people who bought expensive engagement rings, classified by the study as costing between $2,000 and $4,000, were 30 percent more likely to divorce as compared to people who spent more modestly on their rings, opting for one costing between $500 and $2,000. Interestingly, the trend does not continue for people who spent less than $500 on an engagement ring.

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 Posted on November 12, 2014 in Alimony/Spousal Support

Alimony, also known as spousal support, is one of the more contentious issues in many divorces. Many spouses who are being supported feel that they are owed for their contributions to the marriage, while many supporting spouses do not relish the idea of having to continue to support someone they are no longer married to. While recent changes to divorce law in Illinois will make awarding alimony a more streamlined process, it can still be beneficial to understand the different types of alimony and the theories behind them. Spousal support can be broken down into two groups based on whether it is expected to be a temporary arrangement or a permanent one.

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 Posted on November 06, 2014 in Divorce

One of the most important pieces of legislation passed in the last few years is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, sometimes referred to as Obamacare. This legislation revamped the American healthcare system in a variety of ways. Many of these changes have important ramifications regarding divorce and the Affordable Care Act. For instance, the Act subsidizes healthcare premiums for certain individuals based on their income level, but the particular income level changes based on whether a person is married or single. Additionally, some people fear filing for divorce because they rely on their spouse's health insurance. The law provides other options to people looking for health coverage.

The Open Enrollment Period

The Affordable Care Act created insurance exchanges that allow people to sign up for health insurance policies. To take advantage of these marketplaces, a person has to sign up during the open enrollment period. The next open enrollment period, which is good for coverage beginning in 2015, runs from November 15th, 2014 to February 15th, 2015. One of the main benefits of these exchanges is that people can qualify for subsidies and tax credits to reduce the cost of their health insurance. These subsidies are based on income level, and the requisite income level changes based on a person's tax filing status, whether they are single, married, or head of household. Because a person's eligibility for cheaper healthcare changes depending on their marital status, it may benefit people who are considering both getting a divorce and getting health insurance to coordinate their divorce so that they can try to qualify for better subsidies on the exchanges by getting a divorce before the end of the next open enrollment period.

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 Posted on October 30, 2014 in Divorce

Relationships that began online are a growing trend today, especially among divorcees, but there are pitfalls that people entering into these relationships should be aware of. A new joint study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan and Stanford reveals that relationships that begin online are more likely to end in divorce than comparable relationships that began traditionally. This new research, which is being published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, contradicts older research that was done on the subject at the University of Chicago, which was sponsored by the online matchmaking service eHarmony.

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