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Recent Blog Posts
Understanding Court-Ordered Mediation in an Illinois Child Custody Case
Any family law issue can become hostile and non-productive. When a family law concern involving children becomes contentious, both the adults and the children involved in the dispute can suffer. In order to reduce contention and promote out-of-court resolutions to child custody issues, many Illinois courts require parents to attend mediation.
Why Are We Being Forced to Go to Mediation?
Child custody disputes are often some of the most difficult family law cases to resolve. Parents understandably have strong beliefs about their children and what is best for them. When parents cannot reach an agreement about the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time, the court may have to intervene. However, Illinois courts try to avoid child custody trials whenever possible. These trials can place a great strain on children and their parents. The adversarial nature of a court trial also pits parents against each other, making it even harder for them to build a cooperative co-parenting relationship in the future.
What Are the Advantages of Collaborative Law?
Many people are surprised to learn that deciding how to end their marriage can be just as difficult as the decision to divorce. There are several different ways that you can end your marriage in Illinois. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. In this blog, we discuss the advantages of using collaborative law to resolve divorce issues. Collaborative divorce is a cooperative process in which spouses work together to negotiate, and hopefully, reach an agreement on divorce issues.
Collaborative Divorce Prioritizes Cooperation and Civility
There is no doubt about it, the more contentious your divorce, the greater the cost – both financially and personally. Most divorcing spouses want to maintain as much civility as possible when they get divorced both for their own sake and the sake of their children. In a collaborative divorce, spouses and other participants agree to negotiate in good faith, share information freely, and maintain a respectful attitude toward each other. This is not to say that collaborative divorces are void of any conflict. However, collaborative divorce cases typically involve less hostility than cases resolved through litigation.
Temporary Orders Can Help You Get Through the Divorce Process in Illinois
The average marriage ceremony takes less than an hour. However, undoing a marriage through divorce can take weeks, months, or even years. Spouses may need to address the division of property and debt, spousal support, child support, child custody, and more. If you are like many spouses beginning the divorce process, you may wonder how you will handle the months or years between filing the divorce petition and the divorce’s resolution. Temporary orders can address important divorce issues like child custody or spousal support while the divorce is ongoing.
Temporary Relief Orders During an Illinois Divorce
Often, divorcing spouses are unable to reach an agreement about how to handle parental responsibilities, parenting time, financial concerns, and other divorce issues without the court’s intervention. Temporary relief orders may address:
Divorcing in Illinois? Make Sure You Understand the Parenting Plan Requirements
Ending a marriage can be a complex process emotionally, legally, and financially. This is especially true when parents divorce. If you share children with your soon-to-be-ex, it is important to educate yourself about the way Illinois handles child custody. The state revamped several major divorce and child custody laws in 2016. Now, parents are asked to create a parenting plan that describes each parent’s parental responsibilities and parenting time.
Child Custody Laws in Illinois
When parents file for divorce, they are asked to create a “parenting plan” or parenting agreement that describes child custody issues. While the terms “child custody” and “visitation” are still sometimes used informally, the law no longer uses these terms. Instead, child custody is broken down into two major components:
How Does Cheating Influence a Divorce in Illinois?
Studies show that approximately 16 percent of married people cheat on their spouse at least once in their lives. Of course, what constitutes “cheating” is up to the individuals involved in the marriage. Whether your relationship was affected by a one-time instance of sexual infidelity or a long-term affair, there is no doubt that cheating can dramatically impact a marriage. But how does infidelity affect divorce? Are spouses entitled to a greater share of marital property or higher spousal support payments if their spouse cheated? Does infidelity impact child custody determinations? Can you list “adultery” as the grounds for your divorce?
Adultery in Illinois Divorce Cases
The grounds, or legal justifications, for divorce vary from state to state. Presently, Illinois is a no-fault divorce state. This means that you will not list adultery or other fault-based grounds as the reason for your divorce. The only reason you will have available is “irreconcilable differences.” Infidelity and other forms of marital misconduct do not typically impact the division of assets and debts, spousal maintenance, or child custody decisions in Illinois divorce cases. However, there are ways that adultery or an affair partner can influence divorce determinations.
Who Gets to Keep the House After an Illinois Divorce?
The division of property and debt is often one of the most important aspects of divorce. If you are ending your marriage, you may have questions about how your shared assets will be divided between you and your spouse. If you are like many soon-to-be-divorced people, you are especially concerned with ownership of the family home. Your house, condominium, or other residence is not only a valuable asset in the financial sense, it is also valuable for sentimental and personal reasons. If you are a parent, the family home may also represent stability and familiarity to your children. Understandably, the question of who gets the house is often one of the top concerns in a divorce case.
Illinois Law Regarding the Marital Home
The court does not always allocate marital assets in a divorce. In most cases, the spouses are able to reach a property division settlement outside of court with help from their attorneys. Some couples decide to sell the home and divide the profits from the sale evenly. Other couples decide that one spouse will keep the home while the other spouse keeps property of equivalent value.
Understanding the Differences Between Contested and Uncontested Divorces in Illinois
For ex-spouses and families to transition to a new normal after divorce, they must follow several steps. Depending on the situation, the divorce process can range from amicable and smooth to hostile and complicated. When spouses wish to end their marriage on good terms, they may want to pursue an uncontested divorce which allows for a quicker and cheaper divorce. However, in times of divorce, it may be very difficult for divorcing couples to agree on every aspect that has to be determined. These disagreements will likely lead to a contested divorce. Regardless of what route is appropriate, each individual should be aware of what challenges may lay ahead.
Contested Divorces
A divorce may become contested for numerous reasons. Disagreements regarding finalizing the divorce and conditions applied to the dissolution of the marriage often cause substantial conflict between the spouses. Some of the most prevalent issues faced in a contested divorce include whether to get a divorce, where any shared minor children should live, what amount of child support should be paid, where a family pet will live, how assets and debts should be divided, and whether any spousal support should be provided.
Can Grandparents Obtain Visitation Rights In Illinois?
Grandparents commonly share a special bond with their grandchildren and cherish the time they spend together. In some cases, the grandparents play a significant role in raising their grandchildren. Unfortunately, due to circumstances such as messy divorces, hostile child custody disputes, and spiteful ex-spouses, this relationship may diminish or be completely terminated. If a grandparent believes that the discontinuation of the relationship is not in the best interest of the child, they have the right to petition for visitation in court.
Grandparents’ Burden Of Proof
Illinois law permits a variety of relatives to petition for the visitation rights of a child, including grandparents and adult siblings. The time grandparents are allowed to spend with their grandchildren without a parent’s presence is referred to as grandparent visitation rights. The visitation rights may include activities such as overnight visits, weekend visits, and short vacations. Grandparent visitation rights, however, are not automatic and may be denied by a parent.
What to Know When Divorcing Over 50
While each divorce is unique, most divorces are incredibly stressful and frustrating. As divorces have been a cultural norm in our society, we are seeing an increasing number of later in life divorces, also known as grey divorces. Gray divorces are similar in nature to divorces that occur earlier in life, however, they often are met with unique obstacles that only arise from decades of marriage. Men and women considering divorce over the age of 50 should know what to expect as they begin to start this new chapter and be well prepared for the necessary changes.
Causes of Late-Life Divorce
Significant changes in laws and societal norms have allowed for a much smoother divorce process. This is substantially relevant for couples who belong to older generations who may have previously feared that their divorce would lead to rejection from their peers. While it is certainly possible that a late-life divorce is caused by the same issues as a couple divorcing in their 30s, divorces for older couples come with their own characteristics and consequences.
The Importance of Establishing Paternity in Illinois
All children are entitled to their parents’ support, including but not limited to financial, emotional, mental, and physical support. No matter the parents’ legal relationship or either parent’s age, no child should be denied the opportunity for a parent-child relationship. It is a shared duty of the parents and the child to establish paternity, which is the legal acknowledgment of the father and child relationship. In general, this is a straightforward process. However, in some cases, paternity is not determined so easily and may require the assistance of the courts and an experienced family law attorney.
Benefits of Establishing Paternity
Determining a child’s paternity can be extremely gratifying for all parties involved. When paternity is established, the father gains visitation rights allowing them to become involved in their child’s life.
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