Posted on December 06, 2021 in Divorce

The decision to pursue a divorce is usually not an easy one. However, if your relationship with your spouse has broken down, ending your marriage may be the best option for you, your children, and your family. Rather than living in a tension-filled home and dealing with the stress of regular arguments or disagreements over finances and child-related issues, you can make plans to leave this situation and live a happier, more fulfilling life. As you get ready to end your marriage, you can make the process easier by taking steps to prepare for the divorce process and ensure that you will be ready to address the legal and financial issues involved in ending your marriage.

1. Start Saving Money

Your divorce itself will involve a number of expenses, including legal fees, court costs, and money that will be paid to the attorney you hire to represent you. As you prepare to make changes to your living arrangements, you may also encounter a variety of other expenses. You may need to address moving costs and put money toward rent or mortgage payments, utilities, purchasing new furniture or appliances, and other household expenses. To ensure that you will have the financial resources you need, you can begin saving money ahead of time. However, it is important to understand that the money you save will be considered marital property, and you may be required to divide these funds with your spouse along with other assets that the two of you own together.

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 Posted on December 03, 2021 in Divorce

A divorce will affect spouses in multiple ways, and they will need to address a wide variety of issues as they make sure they will be able to move forward successfully and establish new lives separate from each other. However, a person who relies on their spouse to provide for their family’s financial needs may be concerned about their ability to provide for themselves following their divorce. This can be a significant concern for stay-at-home parents, since a person who does not work outside the home may worry that they will need to seek employment and make arrangements for childcare. In some cases, these issues may be addressed through spousal maintenance (also known as alimony) in which one spouse will pay financial support to the other following the couple’s divorce.

Eligibility for Spousal Maintenance

Following a divorce, both spouses should be able to maintain their standard of living. While spouses will need to make some adjustments, they should each be able to continue living in a way that they were used to while they were married. Divorcing parents will want to avoid upending their children’s lives and making major changes that could affect children’s emotional health and their ability to succeed in school or live comfortably at home. To avoid these types of disruptions, a stay-at-home parent should be able to continue serving in this role after ending their marriage.

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 Posted on November 30, 2021 in Cohabitation

Couples who are in a long-term relationship will usually choose to get married. However, there are many couples who live together, share income and expenses, have children, and enjoy the same type of relationship as a married couple without uniting together in a legal partnership. Couples may choose to do so because they do not see the need for a religious wedding ceremony, because they wish to maintain some independence, or for a variety of other reasons. A couple that wishes to remain unmarried will need to understand how this will affect their rights and responsibilities, including how matters will be handled if they choose to break up in the future. Those who are looking to protect their rights and interests may want to consult with a family law attorney to address these issues.

Rights of Partners in a Breakup or a Divorce

Some states recognize common-law marriage, and if a couple lives together for a certain amount of time, they will be considered to be legally married. However, Illinois is not one of those states, and unmarried couples will not be afforded the same rights as married spouses. This means that if an unmarried couple ends their relationship, issues may be addressed differently than they would during a married couple’s divorce.

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 Posted on November 30, 2021 in Family Law

Originally published: June 12, 2019 -- Updated: November 30, 2021

UPDATE: If a guardian ad litem has been appointed in your divorce or child custody case, you will not only need to understand the procedures they will follow as described below, but you will need to prepare for how you will work with the GAL to address your children’s needs and best interests. When answering a GAL’s questions or responding to their requests, it is important to do the following:

• Be honest and cooperative - You will want to answer all of the GAL’s questions honestly while demonstrating that you can provide for your children’s best interests. Be sure to answer the GAL’s phone calls or emails promptly, and work with them to make arrangements for visiting your home and observing you while you are with your children. Your goal will be to demonstrate that you are a good parent who wants what is best for your children.

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 Posted on November 19, 2021 in Divorce

Even though smartphones are a relatively recent invention, they have become an essential part of many people’s daily lives. Using a phone to send text messages, perform online searches, look up directions, and complete other activities can be very convenient, but one of the primary benefits these devices offer is the ability to connect with and communicate with others. Browsing social networking sites such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter, sending messages to friends and acquaintances, and posting photos, videos, and status updates are all activities that people do on a daily basis. However, for those who are going through a divorce, these activities may have some unintended consequences. By understanding how certain uses of social media may affect the divorce process, you can avoid doing anything that may make it more difficult for you to end your marriage quickly and efficiently.

Social Media “Don’ts” During Your Divorce

As you work to resolve the issues that must be addressed when ending your marriage, you will want to be sure to avoid the following:

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 Posted on November 17, 2021 in Legal Separation

Married couples who are experiencing relationship issues have multiple legal options. For some couples, legally terminating their marriage through divorce may be the best solution for everyone involved. However, a couple may not be ready to take this irrevocable step, or they may wish to maintain certain benefits that come with being married. Legal separation may be an alternative option in these cases. When determining which approach to take, a couple will need to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of each option.

Pros and Cons of Divorce and Legal Separation

A divorce will dissolve a couple’s marriage, ending their legal partnership and allowing spouses to go their separate ways. While a legal separation will address many of the same issues as a divorce, a couple will continue to be legally married. The processes followed during divorce and legal separation are similar, and in both cases, a couple will need to reach agreements on issues such as the division of marital property, child custody, and spousal maintenance. If they cannot agree on certain issues, a family court judge may decide how these matters should be handled.

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 Posted on November 17, 2021 in Child Custody

When a child’s parents are no longer together, they will need to determine how issues related to child custody will be handled going forward. Married parents who choose to divorce or unmarried parents who are separated will need to create a parenting agreement that details how they will make decisions related to their children and a schedule for the parenting time that children will spend with each parent. In some cases, a parent may be concerned about their children’s health and safety when they are in the care of the other parent, and they may believe that restrictions on parenting time may be appropriate, including supervised parenting time.

Situations Where Supervision May Be Needed During Visitation

While Illinois law presumes that parents are fit to care for their children and that they have the right to reasonable amounts of parenting time, there are some situations where a parent may believe that certain restrictions should be placed on the other parent. These restrictions must generally be based on evidence that a parent’s actions may place children at risk of suffering physical or emotional harm. Examples of cases where parenting time restrictions may be needed include:

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 Posted on November 13, 2021 in Divorce

When a couple gets married, they usually expect to stay together for the rest of their lives. However, things do not always go as planned, and divorce may become a possibility. In some cases, a couple may plan for the eventuality of divorce by creating a prenuptial agreement before they get married. For those who had not created a prenup, a postnuptial agreement can be created at any time during the couple’s marriage, and it can make decisions about how certain matters will be handled in a potential divorce, including issues related to the division of property or spousal maintenance. By understanding when this type of agreement can be beneficial, spouses can determine how best to protect their rights and ensure that they will be prepared to address legal issues if they decide to end their marriage in the future.

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 Posted on November 11, 2021 in Child Custody

When parents get divorced, decisions related to child custody will be some of the most important issues that they will need to address. In a previous blog, we looked at how a joint parenting agreement will need to include details about legal and physical custody of children. However, in addition to these larger issues, a parenting plan will need to address multiple other details about how parents will work together to raise their children going forward. By understanding what a parenting agreement will include, parents can make sure they will be prepared to address ongoing concerns related to their children in the years to come.

Additional Terms of a Parenting Agreement

In addition to making decisions about the allocation of decision-making responsibilities and including schedules for parenting time, a parenting agreement will address issues such as:

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 Posted on November 05, 2021 in Child Custody

While many couples are able to remain happily married from the date of their wedding until the death of one or both spouses, a significant percentage of marriages end in divorce. Many of these couples have children together, and during the divorce process, they will need to determine how custody of their children will be handled. Even though they will no longer be united together in a legal relationship, most divorced parents will still have to work together to make sure their children will be able to grow up and lead happy and healthy lives. By understanding what shared custody looks like, parents can prepare for the years to come and make sure they will be able to meet their children’s needs going forward.

Sharing Legal and Physical Custody in Illinois

In the majority of divorce cases, parents will both play an ongoing role in their children’s lives. Situations where one parent maintains sole custody of children are rare, although this may be appropriate in situations involving domestic violence or other cases where children’s physical or emotional well-being may be at risk. However, it is also relatively rare for custody to be divided exactly down the middle, with children spending equal amounts of time in each parent’s home and parents always collaborating to make decisions about how children will be raised. Most cases are somewhere in between these two extremes, and parents can craft a parenting plan that will make sure they both play a prominent role in their children’s lives.

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