Posted on December 01,2015 in Divorce

Is heavy usage of social media sites like Facebook and Instagram an early indicator that you are heading towards divorce? While you are connecting with friends and family around the world, are you neglecting the most important relationship: your marriage? While a little screen time is certainly nothing to be afraid of, a recently published study found that heavy usage of social media sites does in fact correlate with higher divorce rates. Is your Facebook use putting your marriage at risk?

People have long wondered about social media's impact on in person relationships. Families spend whole dinners on their individual devices. Couples lay in bed next to each other scrolling through Instagram on their Ipads rather than communicating. Everywhere you look someone is texting, tweeting, or scrolling through social media sites. If you feel like social media has disconnected you from your spouse, you are not alone. Because of this, researchers at Boston University set out to find any real correlation between broken marriages and social media use. Studying married couples between 2008 and 2011, researchers found that there is a significant correlation between heavy social media use and relationship troubles and divorce.

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 Posted on November 26,2015 in Divorce

American seniors are divorcing more than ever before. Today, married people over 50 are two times as likely to divorce as they were in 1990. While the divorce rate for young and middle aged couples has remained relatively steady over the past 30 to 40 years, the number of “grey divorces” is rising quickly. What could be driving a growing number of older married couples towards divorce? A recent study sheds some light on the issue.

Experts have tracked the increasing number of grey divorces over the past few years, and discovered some interesting results. While the popular consensus is that divorce is increasing across the board for every demographic, in reality, the divorce rate in the US has only changed slightly over the past 30 years or so. Basically, most marriages today are as likely to end in divorce as they were in the late 80‘s. This is not the case, however, for couples 50 and older. Statistics show that of people getting divorced, nearly 1 in 4 of them is over 50 years old. Nearly 1 of every 10 divorcees is over 64. Those numbers are double the divorce rates of seniors in 1990, and experts predict the trend will continue to grow. Are seniors becoming unhappy later in life?

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 Posted on November 25,2015 in Divorce

If you are going through a divorce, or preparing for one, you likely have a divorce support team. This team includes your divorce attorney, supportive friends and family members, and possibly other help like therapists or counselors. If you are worried about costly divorce mistakes, or are hoping to ensure you get a fair divorce settlement, consider adding a financial adviser to your team. People often assume that financial advisers are only necessary for high net worth divorces, when complicated financial situations make splitting assets difficult. Yes, a financial adviser, or even a team of financial experts, is likely needed for high net worth divorces, but there are plenty of everyday divorce situations in which having a financial adviser is beneficial as well. If you and your spouse are heading for a divorce, or are already in the middle of one, it may be in your best interest to hire a financial adviser.

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 Posted on November 19,2015 in Divorce

If you have very young children and are facing divorce, you may be worried about the impact that separating from your spouse will have on them. Infants and toddlers have a very limited understanding of the world around them, and will likely not understand what is happening. They can, however, still be significantly impacted by stressful events like divorce. Regardless of the child’s understanding of the divorce situation, changes in a child’s environment and relationships with their parents can affect early development. Divorcing parents, with toddlers and infants, should be aware of the affects the transition can have on their child, and understand how to help them cope.

Birth to 8 Months

Even the youngest of infants can pick up on the emotions of their parents. Despite being unable to understand what a divorce entails, small infants often mirror their parents' feelings. If a parent is depressed or sad due to their divorce, their infant will likely feel depressed or sad as well. At this early stage, infants do not have much control over their own emotions, so they are easily influenced by their parent’s mood. Infants can not express their emotions by communicating, so distressed infants will likely become more fussy and are less easily comforted when a stressful event is going on in their parents' lives.

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 Posted on November 17,2015 in Division of Assets

Millions of married couples purchase homes together. With two combined incomes, couples are able to afford nicer and larger properties, and many intend on settling down and starting a family together. Although the real estate market is down from its peak a few years ago, purchasing a home is still extremely expensive, and most couples take out a joint mortgage. While the intention may be to pay off the home together over time, that is not always the outcome. If you and your spouse are facing a divorce, what happens with your shared mortgage? There are a few different options from which to choose, depending on your individual situation.

Illinois is an equitable division state, meaning that any marital property is to be divided fairly between both parties. This includes, but is not limited to, cars, furniture, bank accounts, and your shared home. In most cases, the home will be in both spouses' names, as it is often necessary to combine incomes to qualify for a mortgage. This means that both spouses are entitled to a portion of the equity value, and are both responsible for any shared mortgage debt. This is risky. No matter what your divorce agreement says, if both names remain on a mortgage, both spouses, even when separated, are responsible for paying off the debt. Lenders do not abide by divorce agreements, and, therefore, are able to go after any party still listed on the mortgage note. Couples have a few different options on how to handle their shared mortgage, depending on their financial and personal situations.

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 Posted on November 12,2015 in Divorce

Tough economic times are leading America’s poorest married couples to choose separation over divorce, a recent study reports. Divorces are costly for many reasons. While legal fees play a part, other factors like shared health insurance plans and if the couple has children play a role in keeping disadvantaged couples together. With divorce on the rise in America, it makes sense that economically disadvantaged couples are still splitting up, but choosing the cheaper alternative of long term separation over divorce.

Longitudinal Research

The study, conducted by researchers at Ohio State University, surveyed 7,272 people between 1979 and 2008, all of whom were married at some point throughout the survey period. A large majority of the couples who separated reported getting a divorce within three years of their break up. Approximately 15 percent, however, separated but did not get a divorce for at least 10 years after their separation. The study’s authors noticed that, of the 15 percent that remained married despite being separated, a large majority were economically disadvantaged. They simply could not afford to get a divorce. Many in the married but separated group had lower levels of education, tended to be Hispanic or African American, and had young children. “In every measure we had, including family background, income and education, those who remain separated are more disadvantaged than those who end up divorcing,” one of the study’s authors reported.

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 Posted on November 10,2015 in Divorce

Going through a divorce can leave you emotionally and financially battered. On top of the emotional struggles of a divorce, high legal fees and other divorce costs can take quite a toll on your finances. If you are going through a divorce, you might be making costly mistakes that could hurt you in the future. Transitioning from a lifestyle supported by two incomes to handling everything on your own is difficult enough. Skip adding any extra hardships by taking some fairly simple precautions.

Be Careful When Splitting Your Assets

Dividing property fairly may seem obvious, but a surprising number of post-divorce individuals feel they did not get their fair share of marital assets, or were left with a larger burden of shared debt. Be careful when splitting your assets, and be sure to ask for that to which you are entitled. Many people are willing to settle for less because they feel their spouse contributed more, or feel guilt from initiating a divorce and do not want to ask for too much. Fortunately, Illinois is an equitable distribution state. Therefore, if you and your spouse cannot agree on fair terms for asset distribution and are forced to go to court, a judge will divide assets fairly. Be sure that you and your spouse are also fairly dividing your debts. Many people find themselves stuck with a larger amount of debt than their ex after divorce, making it even more difficult to become financially stable as a single person.

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 Posted on November 05,2015 in Visitation

Blended families, where there is a mix of children from previous relationships as well as children from the current relationship, are increasingly common. While blended families can help instill a sense of stability in children, they can also take a lot of work. One common issue is the existence of multiple parenting time schedules for different children. Trying to sync schedules with everyone can be a nightmare.

Stay Flexible

The first principle in trying to get all of the children on a workable schedule is to remain flexible. You will often have to ask another parent to make a special accommodation for you. When asking for a favor, the more flexible you can be on the timing, the more likely you are to get what you want. If you are flexible when you are asked by the other parent for a schedule change, the more likely he or she will be to accommodate your requests.

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 Posted on November 03,2015 in Family Law

The number of unwed parents in America has risen drastically over the past few years. A 2012 study, conducted by Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, reported that 1 in 4 babies in the U.S. are born to unmarried parents. While it was once assumed that birth outside of marriage meant that one parent was likely not present, the currently growing trend is for parents to cohabitate without getting married. On the surface, cohabitating couples look just like married ones. They live together, and both work together to support their children. As marriage becomes less and less important to generations of young Americans, experts predict many more couples will choose cohabitation over marriage in the future. Does cohabitation versus marriage have any impact on the health and well-being of children?

Cohabitation Gains Popularity

Since the late 1990’s, the number of parents living together, unmarried, has skyrocketed. In 1996, 1.2 million children lived with unwed parents. Jump to 2014, and that number has grown to over 3 million children. In the past, many couples faced religious and societal pressure to get married before moving in together or having children, so it makes sense that cohabitation was less common. Modern society is much accepting and less strict, so it is no surprise that parents are skipping marriage, choosing to cohabitate and have children instead. Other experts suggest the recession could be another cause for the higher numbers. They say the bad economy has led many couples to choose to wait to get married until money becomes less tight, but, in the meantime, life happens, and many find themselves living together with children.

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 Posted on October 31,2015 in Domestic Violence

One of the most troubling aspects of domestic violence is that victims are often reluctant to report anything. Many domestic violence cases are never reported, leaving the victims to fend for themselves with no help. Victims do not report domestic violence or assaults for many reasons; fear of retaliation from their abusive spouse, fear of financial repercussions, or a fear of not being believed by authorities.

While the State of Illinois has many programs and institutions in place to help victims and families involved in cases of domestic violence, the help is only available to those who can ask for it. In an effort to help spread awareness and put information in the hands of domestic violence victims, Illinois lawmakers have introduced a new proposed law. Soon, hair stylists and barbers could be on the front lines of the fight against domestic violence.

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