Posted on May 07, 2019 in Child Support

The continued payment of child support is a serious matter in Illinois. Your co-parent can take you to a family court to enforce your child support agreement if you miss payments. A court that finds you in contempt of your child support agreement can use wage garnishment or the seizure of other property or funds in order to repay the money that you owe. As further punishment for your lack of payment, Illinois can suspend your driver’s license until you pay the child support in full.

Suspension Policy

Both Illinois courts and the Department of Child and Family Services have the authority to request your driver’s license suspension if you have not made any child support payments for at least 90 days. In either case, the Illinois Secretary of State’s office receives the request and will notify you of your pending suspension, to start in 60 days. At that point, you have two options:

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 Posted on May 01, 2019 in Child Custody

The equal right to parental responsibilities after a divorce assumes that the children will be safe with both parents. Unfortunately, some divorced parents put their children in danger because of their personal behavior and lifestyle choices, such as substance abuse or frequent partying. It is your responsibility to protect your child if you have reason to believe that your co-parent is a threat to your children’s safety. You may need to file a court order to change the allocation of parental responsibilities. However, you must present evidence of your co-parent’s dangerous behavior.

Forms of Danger

It is not enough to say that your co-parent has a drinking problem or behaves recklessly. You must focus on how your co-parent’s actions are putting your children in danger. There are clear ways to connect your co-parent’s irresponsible behavior with his or her parenting ability, such as:

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 Posted on April 24, 2019 in Divorce

Divorce has the unfortunate tendency to bring out the ugly side in some people because they feel hurt and stressed out by the end of their marriage. Your spouse may react by becoming angry and spiteful during the process. The anger may be obvious if your spouse has frequent outbursts or accuses you of wrongdoing. It can also be more subtle if your spouse is unwilling to negotiate and seems more interested in hurting you than reaching an agreement. There is little you can do to change your spouse’s behavior, but you can try to make the best of the situation with these tips:

1. Respond to Anger with Calm: You may be angry at your spouse for his or her behavior, but showing your anger will make the situation worse. Stick to constructive conversations and ignore your spouse’s provocations that are meant to drag you into an argument. Let your attorney speak on your behalf if you find yourself losing your calm. Remind yourself that the divorce process will eventually end and you can limit your contact with your spouse after that.

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 Posted on April 20, 2019 in Divorce and Finances

People who have filed for divorce are less likely to talk to others about their personal finances, according to a recent CNBC survey. Amongst the survey respondents who were divorced, 56 percent said that they rarely speak with family members about their money. Only 27 percent of all the survey respondents gave the same answer. There is nothing wrong with financial discretion when talking to family members. However, divorcees put themselves at risk if they do not talk to anyone about their financial troubles.

Reason for Silence

People dislike sharing their financial concerns with friends and family because they may be embarrassed about their situation. Unfortunately, divorce causes financial trouble for some people because:

• They are primarily relying on their individual incomes to support themselves;
• They lost some of their marital properties as part of the divorce;

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 Posted on April 17, 2019 in Child Support

Divorce can disrupt the financial plans from your marriage, including savings you have accumulated for your child’s college expenses. If you have been making regular contributions to a college fund, you may worry about how you will continue to afford them on your individual income while also supporting yourself and your child. You should discuss your college savings plan with your spouse during your divorce negotiations, including who will control any existing savings and how to ensure that the money goes towards your child.

Types of Plans

Savings accounts from your marriage, such as a retirement plan, are considered marital assets because they are funded with marital income. Even if you keep control of the entire account after your divorce, you may need to compensate your spouse for half of the value of the account. A court may exclude your college savings account from your marital property if it classifies the account as a fund set aside for your children. The best way to do this is by creating a plan that is meant for college savings, such as a:

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 Posted on April 13, 2019 in High Asset Divorce

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos recently announced the terms of his divorce from his wife of 25 years, MacKenzie. The divorce is expected to be the most valuable in history because Bezos’s net worth of more than $110 billion makes him the richest man in the world. As part of the divorce:

• Jeff Bezos will keep 75 percent of the couple’s stock in Amazon and voting control for all of their stock;
• MacKenzie Bezos’s share will be about four percent of Amazon’s total stock, valued at $35 billion; and
• Jeff Bezos will receive all of the couple’s interest in the Washington Post and Blue Origin.

As a result of the divorce, MacKenzie Bezos will be the third-richest woman in the world. As astounding as the details of the agreement are, it may be just as impressive that the divorce has been amicable. The couple reached a quick agreement and has complimented each other publicly throughout the process. You could argue that it is easy to cooperate when both spouses are guaranteed to still be amongst the richest people in the world. However, a high asset divorce can just as easily create conflict between the spouses.

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 Posted on April 11, 2019 in Divorce

Studies on the likelihood of divorce often look at factors on a personal level, such as an individual’s income, education, employment, and maturity at the time of marriage. A recent study from the University of California at Irvine instead looked at how society as a whole affects the likelihood of divorce. The researchers collected divorce data from 84 countries from 1970 to 2008. They did not include the U.S. in the study because they considered its statistics to be an outlier, but the findings of the study can still be applied to the U.S.

The global divorce rate more than doubled during the study period, increasing from 2.6 divorces per 1,000 marriages to 5.5 divorces per 1,000 marriages. Countries in Northern and Western Europe generally had the highest divorce rates, while divorce rates were lowest in Southern Europe, Latin America, and Eastern Asia. Divorce rates greatly varied amongst countries in regions such as Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia. Some countries bucked their regional trends, such as Cuba having a high divorce rate and Ireland having a low divorce rate. Researchers found five common characteristics in many of the countries with high divorce rates:

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 Posted on April 04, 2019 in Children and Divorce

Some spouses have the unfortunate timing of divorcing while the wife is pregnant. Pregnancy is an emotional time for both expectant parents, though the excitement usually draws them closer. Having a child puts stress on the parents, which their relationship may be unable to withstand. In other cases, the decision to divorce just happens to coincide with the pregnancy. Illinois law does not prevent spouses from divorcing while expecting a child. However, pregnancy can change the nature of divorce, especially if it will be the couple’s first child.

Parenting Factors

Illinois law assumes that the husband is the father of any child conceived or born during a marriage. Only a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity by another man or a paternity test could break that assumption. Because the spouses will be co-parents after the divorce, their agreement must include:

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 Posted on April 02, 2019 in Divorce

Taking a vacation after completing your divorce can be therapeutic. You have built up a lot of stress during the process and may need a short period of time when you can relax and enjoy yourself. It is easier to avoid reminders of your divorce by getting away from your familiar home environment. Visiting a new location may inspire a fresh perspective on your life after divorce. You can decide for yourself when the best time will be to take that vacation and where you should go. Here are four tips for making vacation plans after a divorce:

1. Identify What You Enjoy: Vacations can be very busy or very relaxed. Some people enjoy visiting new places and seeing the sites. Others like physical activities that are intensive or leisurely. You may prefer sitting on a beach or finding a quiet place where you can disconnect. This vacation should focus on what you enjoy, whether that is activity or inactivity.

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 Posted on March 29, 2019 in Divorce

Common sense says that you should not embark on a life-changing event such as starting a new career at the same time as you are going through a divorce. Doing both will divide the time and energy you need to devote to each, as well as pile stress on yourself. However, one change can beget another, and getting a divorce may cause you to reconsider your current career and whether it is meeting your needs. Starting a career change during a divorce can be good or bad timing, depending on the reasons for the change.

Positives

There are typically three reasons that someone wants to change their career during their divorce:

• They need a better-paying job in order to be financially independent of their spouse;
• The work hours of their current job will make it difficult for them to have regular parenting time with their children; or

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