Posted on March 19, 2021 in Domestic Violence

There is no doubt that COVID-19 has touched every aspect of our lives. School children attend classes remotely, businesses are shut down or forced to operate via video conferencing, and many people are unable to visit relatives in hospitals and nursing homes. One way in which the coronavirus may also be impacting Americans is through an increase in domestic violence. Unfortunately, many victims have stayed silent about the mistreatment they have suffered because they are ashamed, they fear retaliation, or they do not know the legal options that are available to them. If you or a loved one are a victim of domestic violence, read on to learn about the legal protections available to you in Illinois.

Quarantine May Make it Harder for Victims to Get Help

Physical, emotional, mental, sexual, and financial abuse often takes place behind closed doors. Abusers frequently use control and manipulation to prevent their victims from leaving or reporting the abuse. When victims and abusers are quarantined in the same home together, the abuse and control may escalate. TIME Magazine reports that police departments are seeing increases in domestic violence cases across the country. In one hospital, wounds that were related to domestic violence from March 11 to May 3 of 2020 exceeded the number of domestic violence wounds from the same time period in the previous two years combined.

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 Posted on March 17, 2021 in Child Support

As any parent can tell you, children are expensive. Between education and childcare, housing, groceries, healthcare, and other child-related costs, raising a child without financial assistance from the child's other parent can be a major struggle. Parents have a moral responsibility and a legal obligation to provide for their child's needs. Unfortunately, some parents try to evade this responsibility. If you are a single parent, and your child's other parent is not paying child support, there are steps you can take to get the financial assistance you and your child deserve.

Establishing a Child Support Order in Illinois

If you and your ex have casually agreed on a child support arrangement, unfortunately, there is not much that the courts can do to enforce this arrangement. That is why it is important for any divorced or unmarried parent to get an official child support order from the court. If your child's father is not paying child support, but he never signed a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity or otherwise established his legal relationship with your child, you will need to establish paternity before you can get a child support order.

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 Posted on March 15, 2021 in Property Division

Divorce can make some people act in irrational or even malicious ways. One example of this is when a spouse purposely destroys the other spouse's property. A resentful spouse may set fire to the other's belongings, throw out important documents, or sell valuables for cash. If your spouse has destroyed your property or wasted assets during or immediately prior to your divorce, it is important to take steps to protect yourself and your property. It is also important to educate yourself about your legal options moving forward. You may be able to recoup the value of the destroyed property through a dissipation claim.

Get a Financial Restraining Order to Protect Your Assets During Divorce

If your spouse is intent on seeking vengeance through selling your property, destroying your assets, or emptying joint bank accounts, you need to take immediate action to protect your finances. One option is to request a temporary financial restraining order. This is a court order that prevents both you and your spouse from making unusual financial transactions or significant purchases. A financial restraining order freezes joint accounts and protects marital assets. The order also prevents the spouses from spending, transferring, selling, or hiding funds or property.

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 Posted on March 10, 2021 in Child Custody

If you are unmarried or divorced, and you have children, you may share parental responsibilities and parenting time with your child's other parent. In situations like this, parents are subject to certain rules and procedures when they move. The laws in Illinois regarding parental relocation changed significantly in 2016. Now, if a parent wants to move, and the move meets certain criteria, they may need to get court approval. Whether you are unmarried, divorced, or plan to end your marriage soon, it is important to be aware of parental relocation laws.

Defining “Relocation” According to Illinois Law

Before the changes to Illinois family law, the parent who was the “primary residential parent” could move anywhere in the state without getting permission from the other parent or the court. However, if they wished to move outside of Illinois – even if the move was only a few miles away – they needed to take certain legal steps.

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 Posted on March 05, 2021 in Divorce

Sometimes, when a couple decides to get a divorce, both spouses are on the same page. In other situations, a spouse may be caught totally off guard when he or she is served with divorce papers. Regardless of what led up to this moment, once you have been served with a divorce petition, you need to take several important actions. You may understandably be very upset about what has happened, and you may be tempted to ignore the petition or even throw it away. However, doing so will only worsen your situation.

Read the Petition Entirely

The first step you should take after receiving a petition for the dissolution of marriage is to actually read the document. This may seem obvious, but many people jump to conclusions without reading the entire petition. The document will explain that your spouse is requesting a divorce. It will likely include statements and requests about the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time, spousal maintenance, property division, and other divorce-related issues. Once you understand what your spouse is asking for, you can respond appropriately.

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 Posted on March 03, 2021 in Family Law

The silver lining in any divorce is the hope for a better future. Many divorced individuals eventually meet someone new and get remarried. If you have previously been married, and you are now planning to marry for a second or subsequent time, you are probably busy planning the wedding and building a life with your new partner. However, it is essential that you take the time to consider how your remarriage can impact the terms of your previous divorce. It is also important to start thinking about the unique issues that may be present in a second or third marriage.

Spousal Maintenance Typically Terminates Upon the Recipient's Remarriage

Per Illinois law, spousal maintenance or alimony terminates if the recipient gets remarried. In addition, spousal maintenance usually terminates once the recipient begins cohabitating with a new partner. If you plan to remarry, you must inform your ex. If you do not tell your ex, and he or she pays you maintenance after you are remarried, you may be forced to reimburse him or her for any maintenance you received after the date of your marriage.

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 Posted on February 26, 2021 in Family Law

As any married individual can attest to, it is not always easy to know when a marriage is truly over. You may be unhappy in your relationship, but you may still have a glimmer of hope that you and your spouse can resolve your differences. However, even if you are not yet ready to pursue a divorce, you will likely still need to address key issues related to your finances and your children. In situations like these, a legal separation may be the right choice. Read on to learn about the purpose of legal separation in Illinois as well as the differences between legal separation and divorce.

Understanding The Process of Getting Legally Separated in Illinois

There are many misunderstandings about what it means to be legally separated. A legal separation does not simply mean that you and your spouse are living separately; instead, it is an official legal status. During a legal separation, you and your spouse can establish arrangements about the same issues that you would need to address during a divorce. You may then submit your agreements to the court, and these agreements will become legally-binding court orders. During a legal separation, you can formally address:

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 Posted on February 23, 2021 in Divorce

In today's modern world, we can pay our bills, conduct work meetings, do our taxes, and complete other important tasks all from our home computer or smartphone. If you are thinking about divorce, you may be interested in your options for an “online divorce” or “do-it-yourself divorce.” These options often seem attractive because they have low up-front costs and appear simpler than a traditional divorce. However, many people find that DIY divorces end up being disastrous.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Do-it-Yourself Divorce

A quick search of the term “online divorce” results in thousands of results for allegedly quick and easy ways to end your marriage online. Unfortunately, divorce is rarely a quick and easy process. There are certainly some things you can do to make the divorce process easier, but no divorce is completely painless. The main advantage of DIY divorce or online divorce services is that they often have a low starting fee. However, many people find that the financial harm resulting from a hasty divorce greatly outweighs these savings. When you use an online or DIY divorce service, you miss out on the personalized legal guidance you gain from working with an attorney. You may make mistakes or oversights that result in avoidable stress, financial losses, and legal headaches.

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 Posted on February 19, 2021 in Collaborative Law

If you are getting divorced in Illinois, you and your spouse must resolve several issues before your marriage can be legally dissolved. Depending on your situation, you may need to reach an agreement about how to divide marital property and debt, how to allocate parental responsibilities, whether a spouse will receive spousal maintenance or alimony, and more. If you are unable to reach an agreement about one or more of these issues, your case could go to trial. Divorce litigation is often a stressful, expensive, and combative process. One alternative to divorce litigation that has helped many couples reach an out-of-court settlement is collaborative divorce.

Working With an Attorney Without Being Adversarial

Thanks in large part to movies and TV shows, many people assume that involving lawyers in a divorce automatically means that the case will lead to a contentious courtroom battle. This is not the case with collaborative divorce. As the name implies, a collaborative divorce is rooted in cooperation and respect. Collaborative divorce may be right for you if you want to have legal guidance and support from a lawyer, but you want to avoid a highly adversarial litigation process.

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 Posted on February 16, 2021 in Child Custody

In Illinois law, the terms “child custody” and “visitation” are no longer used. Parenting duties now consist of parental responsibilities and parenting time. This change was made in large part to present parenting tasks as a spectrum as opposed to one parent being the “custodial parent” and the other parent as merely “visiting” the child. However, there are still cases in which it may be in the child's best interests for one parent to have most – if not all – of the parental responsibilities and parenting time.

The Allocation of Parental Responsibilities

The term “parental responsibilities” refers to how parents will make significant decisions about the child's life. Per Illinois law, significant decisions are decisions pertaining to:

• Education

• Extracurricular activities

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