Posted on January 15, 2019 in Uncategorized

In divorce, sometimes the grief of the loss of a marriage is so overwhelming that clarity and rational thought are difficult to maintain. This period is frequently referred to as an "emotional roller coaster" because emotions run the gamut from sadness to anger and even moments of joy. Brains are unable to act rationally and irrationally simultaneously; therefore, when emotions run high, logic becomes potentially non-existent. Clients coping with a particularly stressful divorce often find relief after consulting with a divorce coach.

What is a Divorce Coach?

A divorce coach is a mental health professional trained to assist you and your spouse find effective ways of communicating to nurture healthy discussions regarding children, finances, and other aspects of divorce. A divorce coach is not a therapist, but rather someone that asks questions that help overcome divorce roadblocks.

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 Posted on January 11, 2019 in Divorce

Divorce is more than a logistical process that determines who gets what properties and how you share responsibility for your children. For you, it is an emotional and personal process that will at times make you feel uncertain about your life and your future. Divorce is a new and frightening experience for most people, and it can be helpful to have someone who is knowledgeable to guide you through the process. That is why a growing number of divorcees find it empowering to have a divorce coach.

What Is a Divorce Coach?

A divorce coach is a professional who works with divorce clients on handling their emotional concerns and guides them towards being a constructive part of the divorce process. A divorce coach is part of your divorce team that includes your attorney. Divorce coaching has grown as a profession in recent decades, and there are programs that train divorce coaches how to handle real-life scenarios that occur in divorces. Finding a Certified Divorce Coach should assure you that you are working with someone who understands how to help you.

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 Posted on January 07, 2019 in Alimony / Maintenance

State divorce laws will not allow you to gain an advantage in support payments by quitting your job or not searching for a job. Your child support and spousal maintenance can be based on what you are realistically capable of earning. Courts will not offer much sympathy to people who try to cheat the system by creating an artificial need for support. If you are capable of working, you are expected to keep your job or try to find one.

Leaving Your Job

Courts determine child support and spousal maintenance payments based mostly each spouse’s income. Thus, a spouse could seemingly reduce his or her child support obligation and qualify for spousal maintenance if he or she was unemployed. You will not fool the court if you voluntarily leave your job in order to gain an advantage. The court will instead base your income on what you are capable of earning. However, there is a difference between quitting a job and leaving a job because it conflicts with your parenting time. As a single parent, you may need to look after your children during the hours you normally work. A court may be understanding in this situation but will expect you to look for another job that fits your schedule or to find childcare services.

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 Posted on January 07, 2019 in Divorce

It is no secret that money and finances are at the heart of many marital struggles. However, a recent study indicates that student loan debt is responsible for destroying a significant number of marriages. If these debts are to blame for a rift between you and your spouse, you are not alone. Fortunately, in marriage, you have a built-in partner to help you deal with the problem.

This article discusses both the statistics of student loan and divorce, as well as how you can avoid becoming part of this statistic:

An Unaffordable Necessity

In the generations before us, college and post-graduate education was an affordable addition to primary education; although, most high school graduates were able to find a stable career right out of school. Today, even entry-level positions may require some higher learning. Unfortunately, when demand increased for knowledge so did the cost. What once was an affordable option, is now an unaffordable necessity.

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 Posted on January 02, 2019 in Children and Divorce

Telling your children about your divorce will be as difficult of a conversation for you as when you and your spouse first discussed divorce. Both are stressful and emotional, but your conversation with your children may be more upsetting for you depending on their reaction. Just as with your spouse, it will help to plan your conversation with your children. This will be a traumatic milestone in their lives, and you should avoid thoughtless mistakes that will make the experience worse than it needs to be.

Timing

You should tell your children about your divorce soon after you have made your decision, but a slight delay may be necessary to find an optimal time and place. Ideally, the conversation should:

• Include both parents and all of your children together; and
• Take place when none of you have any immediate responsibilities afterward, such as the beginning of a weekend.

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 Posted on December 31, 2018 in Divorce

An amicable divorce is often healthiest for both parties, but there is such a thing as being overly nice to your spouse during the process. Some divorcees give up too much during the negotiations or do not ask for enough information from their spouse. The process may have been peaceful, but the divorcee ended up with an agreement that did not meet his or her needs. Being amicable during your divorce means being reasonable and calm, but you must be willing to advocate for yourself.

Why People Are Too Amicable

Spouses should try to conduct an amicable divorce because they want to reach a fair and timely resolution. People who seek a quick divorce with little discussion or arguments may instead be motivated by:

• Wanting to finish the divorce quickly because the process is uncomfortable;
• Having a natural tendency to avoid conflict with others;
• Being concerned about pleasing others;

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 Posted on December 31, 2018 in Divorce

While no two divorces are identical, they all have one thing in common: they are complicated and stressful. Experts suggest that the only event more stressful than divorce is experiencing the death of a spouse or a child. Even if you and your spouse experience an amicable, mutual separation, and there are only minor disagreements, the process itself is made up of many legal facets that must be resolved before it can be finalized. From child-rearing to finances, the division of a marriage into two separate lives can become troublesome. As if that were not enough, some brand-new divorce laws become effective as of January 1, 2019.

If you are considering divorce now or in the future, these new laws may affect your situation:

Spousal Maintenance Will No Longer Be Tax Deductible

Before 2019, spouses ordered to pay spousal maintenance or alimony were given a substantial deduction during tax season. This deduction often eased the sting of a monthly payment. Experts believe that now, spouses may argue to pay less in alimony as a result.

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 Posted on December 27, 2018 in High Asset Divorce

Forensic accountants investigate personal and business financial records and analyze the information that they find. Divorce attorneys often work with forensic accountants in complex and contested cases. You may question whether you need the added expense of a forensic accountant for your divorce, but there are several reasons why hiring one is vital when going through a high-asset divorce:

1. Your Marital Properties Are Numerous and Diverse: Are you confident that you could name all of your marital assets if someone asked you to? Your spouse may have luxury items, properties, business interests and benefits accounts, some of which you have never seen. Forensic accountants know which properties are common in a high-asset divorce and how to find them.
2. Differentiating Between Marital and Non-Marital Properties Is Complicated: Claiming that properties are non-marital allows your spouse to exclude them from the division of property. However, a property that only your spouse uses is still a marital property if he or she used marital money to purchase or maintain it. Forensic accountants can track how your spouse paid for a property that he or she claims is non-marital. If it is marital property, then your spouse must compensate you if he or she wants to keep it.

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 Posted on December 24, 2018 in Child Custody

You are most likely to use a subpoena during your divorce when you need your spouse to turn over important documents related to your marital finances. Using subpoenas on potential witnesses has become less common in Illinois since the state made all divorces no-fault cases. When spouses needed to prove fault in a divorce, they called on character witnesses to support claims of infidelity or immorality. Character witnesses can still be useful during a divorce when you are trying to establish the allocation of parental responsibilities.

What Witnesses Provide

You may be concerned about leaving your children alone with your spouse if he or she can be irresponsible or abusive. However, a court may believe your own testimony on the subject to be biased because you could benefit from portraying your spouse as an unfit parent. A third-party witness would support your claims by testifying that he or she saw your spouse:

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 Posted on December 19, 2018 in Divorce

Your spouse’s addiction can take a toll on your marriage and eventually lead to divorce. You may feel guilty about leaving your spouse when he or she needs help, but your own health and safety are also important. You spouse may:

• Betray your trust in order to feed his or her addiction;
• Squander your money to pay for the addiction;
• Be less physically or emotionally intimate with you;
• Behave erratically or violently; or
• Put you and your children in dangerous situations.

Your spouse’s addiction will affect how you settle your divorce and what your spouse is likely to receive from the agreement.

Parental Rights

Your spouse may have a limited allocation of parental responsibilities if he or she is still dealing with addiction. A divorce court must consider each parent’s fitness when dividing parenting time. A person with addiction problems may be an unfit parent because he or she may:

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