Posted on April 17, 2015 in Family Law

Establishing paternity of a child is important for several reasons, both emotional and financial. The most obvious financial reason to prove a child’s paternity is to qualify for court-ordered child support payments. In most cases, without proof of paternity a court will not be obliged to require child support payments. According to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, once paternity is established, a child has legal recourse and rights. Among these are insurance benefits, veteran benefits, and social security benefits, when applicable. Without proof of paternity, a child may not be able to qualify for half of the state-sponsored money to which he is entitled.

There are also health reasons that a family would want to prove paternity of a child, according to state officials. Among these is the family’s ability to access health records that can reveal genetic dispositions to certain diseases or conditions. Without a paternity test, doctors may miss crucial information to treat and take care of patients.

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 Posted on April 07, 2015 in Divorce

Getting a Divorce is never an easy process. Contested divorces, in particular, can be stressful and emotionally demanding. Disputes often arise when spouses cannot agree on property division, child custody, or child support. Another common hurdle for new divorcees is adapting to an unfamiliar lifestyle. Spouses must manage new bank accounts, cope with living on a single income, and deal with the often painful reality of losing a marriage. This article will discuss a few coping strategies for new divorcees.

Adjusting to a New Financial Life

According to Fox Business, financial considerations should be a top priority for divorced and divorcing spouses. For some, getting used to living on one source of income can be challenging—especially if one has to provide for children or elderly family members.

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 Posted on March 18, 2015 in Family Law

With so many complex laws, financial burdens, and emotional hurdles, divorce is never an easy process. While it may be hard enough when two people end their marriage, the breakup of a family with children can be even more arduous. In particular,'child custody and child support agreements involve a number of intricate laws. What happens, however, when neither parent can provide for the child?

Every divorce case is unique; therefore, it is helpful to seek the advice and help of a legal professional. Family members may seek guardianship or custody'of a child because they feel neither biological parent can look after the child's best interests. In these cases, a qualified attorney can explain how a family member may be able to legally pursue guardianship or custody.

The Illinois court system determines custody and guardianship based on the children's best interests. Most cases result in at least one biological parent retaining custody of the children, and often, both parents will share custody. If neither parent is willing or able to properly care for children, another family member or friend may file for guardianship of the children. Under Illinois law, filing for guardianship is much easier and available in more situations than filing for custody.

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 Posted on March 05, 2015 in Child Custody

When parents decide to divorce, how they handle it and the family changes, including custody and visitation arrangements,'that follow can strongly impact how well a child adjusts to those changes. Will the child still feel secure despite those changes or will they feel as if their whole world is falling apart?

One of the areas which can be the hardest for children of divorce is that they now have two places to call home. Two houses, two beds, two set of rules, two toy boxes, etc. Often, along with these 'two' of everything, comes a change in routine. Their time may be equally divided between Mom and Dad's homes now, or they may have certain nights and every other weekend with one parent, depending on what type of child custody agreement parents work out.

In order to best help a child with this transition, parenting experts suggest taking an active approach to the new situation. While the specifics of every case are unique, there are certain steps the parent who is establishing a new home can take to make his or her child more comfortable in two homes.

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 Posted on February 20, 2015 in Child Custody

If you have children, the relationship between you and your spouse does not end with divorce. Regardless of custody or visitation arrangements, children deserve the love, support, and presence of both parents in their lives. A divorce does not alter the reality that the responsibility of meeting your child's needs belong to both you and your ex. Difficult though it may be, you and your child's other parent will need to maintain, at minimum, a cooperative coexistence in order to provide appropriate parental relationships that will benefit your child throughout his or her life.

Advice for divorced parents is everywhere, usually focused on things you must absolutely NEVER do. Unfortunately, lists of maxims are typically oversimplified, and often, many of these 'self-help' articles lack constructive alternatives to the actions they decry. The challenge, obviously, is that no two post-divorce family situations are identical. Each case carries a unique set of circumstances and factors which must be considered when discussing coparenting details.

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 Posted on February 05, 2015 in Divorce

More than 4 million Americans enter into marriage every year, of which, virtually all do so with the hope and expectation of building a life with a partner they love and trust. It is an unfortunate reality that half of those marriages or more fail to live up to that expectation, ending in separation and divorce. Many divorcing couples, however, are surprised to realize in hindsight that their romantic relationship may have revealed clues that their marriage was actually in trouble.

While not necessarily true in other cultures throughout the world, Western culture places a large degree of importance on sexual attraction between partners in a marriage. Author, psychologist and television personality, Dr. Phil McGraw maintains 'the belief that sex is not important is a dangerous and intimacy-eroding myth. [Sex] allows us to experience a quality level of closeness, vulnerability and sharing with our partners. 'A healthy sexual relationship with your spouse bodes very well for the overall health of the marriage.

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 Posted on January 26, 2015 in Child Custody

Separation and divorce are difficult in the best of situations. Unresolved issues, whether legal or emotional, can place a great deal of stress on both spouses and often lead to contentiousness and hostility. For a couple with children, these feelings can, unfortunately, spill over into proceedings related to the children's welfare such as child custody or child support hearings.

Too often, parents are tempted to use children as leverage in an effort to benefit from the proceedings. In such cases, the well-being of the children can seem to be ignored by either parent determined not to let the other side 'win. To prevent the children from becoming a secondary concern, Illinois law permits the presiding judge in any child-related proceeding to appoint an attorney to look after the best interests of the child.

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 Posted on January 16, 2015 in Divorce

Illinois is one of many states that allow a couple to dissolve their marriage without either party being considered at fault. Of course, there are many situations in which a couple may divorce on fault grounds, but a large number of couples find themselves in a broken marriage without meeting any of the criteria necessary for an at fault divorce.

The advent of no-fault divorce in the United States began to take shape in the 1960s and 70s. At the time, a person wishing to get divorced was required to prove that something harmful was occurring in the marriage, such as infidelity, cruelty, or abuse. In cases where such things were occurring, they could be difficult to prove. In cases where such things were not occurring, it was common for individuals to lie and commit perjury to facilitate the divorce. Divorce courts and attorneys were seen to be complicit with such behavior and, therefore, drew a level of disdain from the rest of the legal community.

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 Posted on December 20, 2014 in Divorce

In August of 2014, the Illinois legislature enacted a measure to help standardize orders regarding alimony or, as it is legally known in Illinois, spousal maintenance. Maintenance orders were originally intended to protect a financially dependent partner recover after divorce, but as the average American marriage has evolved, many believe the law lagged behind. Specifically, there has been growing concern that awards were becoming less predictable due to number of variables involved and the wide discretion afforded to judges by the current law.

Set to go into effect on January 1, 2015, the new law amends the existing statute to provide a formula for calculating both the amount of a maintenance award and its expected duration. Prior to the amendments, the court had full discretion and only precedent upon which to determine the specifics of a support order. Taking into account such considerations as income, assets, and needs of the family, as well as health and educational factors, each presiding judge's perspective would be inevitably colored by his or her own experiences and tendencies. Subsequently, the resulting orders reflected the individuality of the court. The amended law hopes to minimize the variation and establish expected baselines for spousal maintenance in Illinois.

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 Posted on December 06, 2014 in Family Law

The Internet age has presented a whole new generation of temptations to those in a committed relationship. Twenty years ago, a discreet affair may have been carried on through discreet letters, phony late-night work meetings, or at the expense of a spouse who traveled often. Today, a smartphone and a Facebook account may be all that is necessary to disrupt a marriage.

Researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne recently conducted a study which looked at the way individuals in relationships may use social media technology to keep in touch with 'back burners. The study defined a back burner as 'a desired potential or continuing romantic/sexual partner with whom one communicates but to whom one is not exclusively committed. Put another way, the research observed how Facebook and text messaging can be used to create a romantic back-up plan.

What survey found was that men maintain back burners nearly twice as much as women, but on average, respondents reported 'romantic or sexual conversations with two people' other than their spouse or partner. Many may be quick to shrug off the findings as mainly harmless chatting that does not rise to the level of actual cheating. However, emotional infidelity can be just a damaging to a relationship and is now being included in sex research studies. ''If you're rushing away from the dinner table with your family to check your email, it's affecting your relationship,' says Helen Fisher, biological anthropology professor at Rutgers University.

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