Posted on August 05, 2022 in Divorce

The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy reports that about 15 percent of married women and 25 percent of married men admit to extramarital affairs. An even higher percentage admit to non-sexual "emotional affairs." While some marriages can survive adultery, an affair often spells the end of a marriage. If you are getting divorced because you or your spouse cheated, it is important to understand how this can affect the divorce.

Illinois Laws Regarding Marital Infidelity and Divorce

Each state has its own divorce laws. As of 2016, Illinois is a no-fault divorce state, meaning there are no fault-based grounds for divorce. When you fill out your divorce paperwork, you will cite "irreconcilable differences" as the grounds for the split. Infidelity does not automatically influence the court’s decisions regarding the division of marital property, spousal support, child custody, or other divorce issues. However, there are certain situations in which an affair can impact the divorce outcome.

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 Posted on August 02, 2022 in Divorce

Everyone who falls in love hopes that the relationship will last forever. Sadly, however, statistics show that this is simply not the case for every couple. Countless issues, from financial dishonesty to adultery, can lead to marital breakdown. Some couples are able to overcome these types of challenges while others cannot. Only the individuals involved in a marriage can determine if their relationship is salvageable. This blog will evaluate some of the signs that may indicate that divorce is on the horizon.

Indications Your Marriage May Be Over

Most marriages that end in divorce experience a slow breakdown over time. There may be one or two major events such as a cheating spouse that hasten the relationship’s collapse, but most marriages slowly burn out due to issues such as:

• Differing priorities – People change, and sometimes, a marriage cannot survive these changes. For example, if one spouse wants children and the other wants to remain childless, the two may have a hard time reconciling these differences.

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 Posted on July 29, 2022 in Divorce

Same-sex marriage has been permitted in all fifty states since June 2015. Homosexual couples have the same rights as heterosexual couples. They can get married, draft prenuptial agreements, get divorced, and be subject to child support and spousal support orders. However, divorce and family law issues are sometimes more complicated when spouses are the same gender. Read on to learn about LGBT divorce in Illinois and how you can get the legal help you need when divorcing a same-sex spouse.

Getting Divorced When You Are in a Same-Sex Marriage

Same-sex couples follow the same divorce procedures as opposite-sex couples. One spouse files for divorce by submitting a petition for dissolution of marriage to the court. The other spouse (called the respondent) responds to the divorce petition. The spouses may be able to negotiate an agreement on the terms of their divorce and avoid taking the case to court. Their respective attorneys will provide legal guidance and assist in negotiations. The couple may also decide to attend divorce mediation to discuss divorce issues like property division, spousal maintenance, and child custody. If the spouses cannot reach settlement, the case may advance to trial.

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 Posted on July 26, 2022 in Divorce

When one spouse makes significantly more money than the other, the higher-earning spouse may be required to pay alimony to the lower-earning spouse in a divorce. In Illinois, alimony or spousal support is referred to as spousal maintenance. A spouse may be required to pay maintenance if the couple agrees to maintenance terms during divorce negotiations or the court orders a spouse to pay maintenance. A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement may also define spousal maintenance terms.

Traditionally, alimony was seen as a man’s responsibility. However, high-earning women are subject to the same spousal support laws as men. Acclaimed singer Mary J. Blige recently opened up about her experience paying alimony to her ex-spouse after divorce. Her story provides insight to celebrities and non-celebrities alike.

Wealthy Wives May Be Forced to Pay Spousal Support to Their Husbands

Hip-hop artist Mary J. Blige has been an internationally renowned singer for decades. Her net worth is in the millions. However, she admits that alimony obligations stretched her finances extremely thin. When Blige divorced her husband in 2017, she was ordered to pay a whopping $30,000 a month to her ex-husband. Originally, her ex requested four times that amount.

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 Posted on July 21, 2022 in Family Law

When a mother gives birth to a baby, there is no dispute as to the woman’s motherhood. However, determining paternity is not as simple. There are many different reasons that paternity may be unclear. Sometimes, a woman unexpectedly gets pregnant and is unsure of who the father is. Other times, an extramarital affair leads to confusion about paternity. A father may claim that he is the child’s father even if the mother knows this is untrue. Alternatively, a mother may believe that one man is the father of her child but he denies paternity.

If you are involved in a paternity dispute, you may understandably be filled with questions. Among these questions may be the question of whether DNA testing will be used to establish paternity.

Genetic Testing to Determine Who a Child’s Father Is

When paternity is unknown or disputed, one of the only ways to find out for sure is to conduct genetic testing. By evaluating the child’s DNA and comparing it to the presumed father’s DNA, paternity can be confirmed or denied with a negligible margin of error. According to the Cleveland Clinic, DNA paternity tests are 99.9 percent accurate.

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 Posted on July 20, 2022 in Domestic Violence

Intimate partner violence is shockingly common. The CDC estimates that approximately one in five women and one in seven men have been physically abused by an intimate partner at some point in their lives. Abuse may come in the form of physical violence, psychological manipulation, emotional abuse, or financial exploitation. Whatever the form it comes in, no one ever deserves to be abused by a romantic partner.

If you were threatened or abused by a boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse, or ex, you may want to consider getting an emergency order of protection.

What a Protection Order Can Do For You

Illinois courts offer several different kinds of protection orders. An emergency order of protection (EOP) is designed to be effective immediately. Often, petitioners can get an EOP on the same day they request it. Furthermore, EOPs are offered on an “ex parte” basis. This means that a formal hearing with both the petitioner (abuse victim) and respondent (abuser) is not required for the court to issue an EOP. If you are being abused by a current or former romantic partner, your partner does not need to be present for you to receive an EOP.

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 Posted on July 15, 2022 in Family Law

Most people have heard of prenuptial agreements, but fewer have heard of postnuptial agreements. A postnuptial agreement is very similar to a prenup, but it is completed after the couple is already married. Like prenuptial agreements, postnuptial agreements describe the spouses’ property rights and financial obligations in the event of divorce or death of a spouse. The reasons that couples utilize postnuptial agreements are varied and each situation is different. This blog will discuss the most common reasons married couples draft postnuptial agreements and what you can do to get started if you are interested in setting up a postnuptial agreement.

Postnups May Be Used for Financial or Personal Reasons

Postnuptial agreements or “postnups” have become increasingly popular in recent years. More and more couples understand the benefit of establishing their financial rights and responsibilities in an official, legally enforceable document.

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 Posted on July 14, 2022 in Child Custody

When parents divorce, they must contend with many difficult issues. If the parents want to share custody, they just decide how to divide parenting duties. In Illinois, the time a parent spends caring for his or her child is called parenting time. A parent’s right to make decisions about his or her child’s education, medical care, and other important matters is referred to as the allocation of parental responsibilities. Divorcing parents who want to share parenting time must decide which days each parent will care for the child. They will also need to determine how to handle parenting time arrangements for birthdays, holidays, school vacations, and other special occasions.

Considerations for Shared Custody in Illinois

If you and your child’s other parent can agree on a parenting time schedule, you can design whatever schedule works best for you and your child. As you make your parenting time schedule make sure to consider:

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 Posted on July 11, 2022 in Divorce

Finances play a major role in any divorce case. When a married couple divorces, they will divide their shared property and debt equitably. Each spouse’s income and assets also influence child support, spousal support, and other aspects of the divorce.

Some spouses try to sway the divorce in their favor by lying about their financial circumstances. They may underreport income, hide assets, or inflate debts or expenses in an effort to secure a more favorable outcome. Business owners and spouses who are self-employed have nearly countless opportunities for this type of financial deceit. However, a skilled divorce lawyer can find evidence of hidden assets and income and fight for a fair divorce outcome.

Underreporting Income in an Illinois Divorce

Divorcing spouses are required to submit financial disclosures to the court that list their assets and income. However, some spouses are not truthful about the amount of money they make. Self-employed spouses and entrepreneurs may have an easier time lying about income than traditional w-2 employees. However, any individual may find sneaky ways to underreport income.

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 Posted on July 07, 2022 in Divorce

Whether it is a house, condominium, townhouse, or apartment, your home is more than just a living space and deciding how to handle ownership of the marital home during divorce is no easy task. Your home may have great personal and financial value to you and your family. As you explore your options in preparation for divorce, consider the following factors regarding the marital home.

How to Handle the Marital Home in Your Illinois Divorce

Real estate properties are classified as either marital or non-marital. Most of the time, the family home is a marital asset. However, if one spouse owned the home before getting married or inherited the home, it may be classified as non-marital property.

If your home is a marital asset, both spouses have a right to a share of the home’s value. In this case, you have a few different options:

• One spouse keeps the home and buys out the other spouse’s equity. – One of the most common scenarios in a divorce is for one spouse to keep the marital home and the other spouse to move out. If a couple has children, the parent with the majority of the parenting time may keep the home to provide stability for the children. When one spouse keeps the home, the other spouse is compensated for his or her share of the home’s equity with other marital assets.

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