Posted on July 25, 2017 in Child Custody

A child’s birthparents are presumed by law to have parental rights and responsibilities, unless the parents choose to waive those rights. In some situations, Illinois can also involuntarily terminate a parent’s rights, if it determines it is in the child’s best interest. A parent who has lost his or her rights is no longer entitled to parenting time or decision-making powers. If both parents have lost their rights, the child is eligible for adoption by another adult. However, parents can go to court to contest the termination of their rights. Illinois courts will likely prefer maintaining a parent’s rights unless specific circumstances are met.

Fitness

A case for terminating a parent’s rights starts with the claim that the parent is unfit. Illinois law lists several factors that can make a parent unfit, including:

• Abandonment;

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 Posted on July 23, 2017 in Divorce

Illinois is a no-fault divorce state, meaning the only reason spouses can give for divorce is irreconcilable differences. Even if it is not the legal reason, fault-based actions still cause couples to seek divorce. Infidelity is just as damaging to a marriage as it was when Illinois accepted it as grounds for divorce. There are obvious reasons why couples divorce after infidelity. It is a betrayal of a relationship that elicits an emotional response. Infidelity may be the cause of irreconcilable differences between spouses. The cheating spouse may be dissatisfied with the marriage, and the victim spouse may feel unwilling to continue the marriage. While infidelity is often fatal to a marriage, some couples do not divorce. There are reasons couples stay together after infidelity, but some have more merit than others.

Remorse and Forgiveness

When faced with a crisis of betrayal, some couples choose to fight for their marriage instead of letting it die. If a couple wants to fix their marriage, they both must put aside their pride:

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 Posted on July 20, 2017 in Paternity

An advancement in reproductive technology has created new paternity conflicts that end up in court. When a woman has saved frozen fertilized embryos but the potential father no longer wants to have a child, does the woman still have a right to use the embryos? This situation can arise when spouses divorce, a couple breaks up or the sperm donor changes his mind. State courts have in some cases allowed the women use the embryos, despite the prospective father’s objection. A verbal agreement can be enough to enforce a woman's right to the embryos.

Frozen Fertilized Embryos

Cryopreservation of fertilized embryos has existed for decades, but the survival rate of the embryos has increased in recent years. Women choose to freeze their embryos because:

• They can decide when they will become pregnant;
• They are unsure whether they want children or how many they want to have; or

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 Posted on July 14, 2017 in Property Division

Properties are categorized during a divorce as being marital or non-marital. Marital properties must be equitably divided between the spouses, but non-marital properties are exempt. A spouse has an incentive to identify non-marital properties in order to protect them. Spouses often share their most valuable assets, which may make them marital properties. However, a court may rule that a trust made in one spouse’s name is non-marital property, even if the other spouse was named as a beneficiary. Revocable trusts can protect money and properties from division during a divorce.

Understanding Trusts

A revocable trust, also known as a living trust, is an estate-planning document that allocates assets to beneficiaries without the need for probate court. The grantor puts income and properties into the trust, which is administered by a third-party trustee. Though the trust owns the assets, the grantor has control over them while alive. Upon the grantor’s death, the assets are distributed per the trust’s instructions. A spouse is often a primary beneficiary of a trust, but Illinois law automatically revokes a former spouse’s beneficiary status after completion of a divorce. If the trust was established for the sole purpose of benefiting the spouse, a divorce will revoke the entire trust.

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 Posted on July 11, 2017 in Divorce

Fathers who put on weight and lose muscle tone are said to have “dad bods.” However, it may be more accurate to say they have “husband bods.” A recent study published in “Social Science & Medicine” found that married men tend to have a higher body mass index than men who are single or recently divorced. Statistics showed that men put on weight after marriage and becoming a father. Men lost weight immediately before and after divorce. The results support two social science theories about the effect marriage has on men’s health.

Marital Market Theory

The marital market theory claims that single and married men have different incentives to maintain their health and fitness:

• Single men feel motivated to stay in shape in order to attract a mate; and
• Married men feel secure in having a spouse and no longer need to attract someone with their physical appearance.

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 Posted on July 06, 2017 in Legal Separation

Some couples who are considering divorce choose separation as an alternative. A legal separation involves many of the same financial and parenting provisions of divorce without dissolving a marriage. During the separation, spouses have time to consider whether they want to go through with a divorce. A full separation is still a legal process that involves creating a formal agreement that a court must approve. Instead, couples may try an in-house separation, which some call semi-separating. Spouses who semi-separate can behave as if they have separated without the obligations of a legal separation.

Forms of Semi-Separation

Spouses have several ways that they can live separately within the same residence. A court may recognize a couple as being legally separated while living together, as long as they make an effort to divide their finances and responsibilities. Semi-separating eases a couple into a more complete separation by starting with their social interaction. Semi-separation may occur in phases, such as:

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 Posted on June 27, 2017 in Divorce

Divorce can dredge up negative emotions from both parties because marriages often end due to a conflict between spouses. Anger directed at the other spouse is a common emotion that divorcees may express. It may naturally subside as the former spouses have minimal interaction with each other. However, anger can persist with divorced parents, who are connected through the allocation of parental responsibilities. Anger can be a destructive emotion that you must address during and after your divorce.

Problems with Anger

The process of getting a divorce can cause you to feel depressed and anxious. Anger, in a way, is comforting because it allows you to blame your spouse for your negative emotions. Feeling some anger is natural and can be tempered. However, letting your anger grow out of control will hurt yourself and those around you:

• Anger can hinder your ability to make rational decisions during divorce negotiations and as a co-parent after the divorce;

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 Posted on June 22, 2017 in Property Division

Divorcing spouses are required to divide their marital property as part of the settlement. It is important to accurately value all of your assets to ensure that you are getting an equitable share. There are tangible and intangible ways you can assign worth to assets, and understanding them is key to successfully negotiating your division of property. If the court is forced to decide on the division of property, it may not know the personal importance you place on assets that seem less valuable. When assessing the value of your marital property, there are four questions that you should answer.

Which Properties Are Shared?

Before assigning values to your properties, you need to identify your marital properties that will be subject to division. Courts typically consider marital properties to be those that:

• Are purchased or received during the marriage; or

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 Posted on June 20, 2017 in Divorce

Completing your divorce and moving on to the next stage of your life can cause a mix of emotions – some of them good. You may feel relief from marriage being over and excitement about your future. However, divorcees can be caught off guard by unexpected negative emotions. You feel refreshed and optimistic one day and depressed and doubtful the next. You may think, “Divorce is what I wanted, so why do I feel sad?” Even when a divorce frees you from an unhappy marriage, it is natural to mourn the end of your marriage and fear the changes in your life. Understanding these emotions is one of the final steps in healing from your divorce.

Common Emotions

How you react after a divorce may be similar to the commonly known five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Rather than the death of a person, you are experiencing the death of your marriage, which was the most important relationship in your life to this point. However, your post-divorce grief does not always follow an ordered flow chart. People’s divorces differ, so their emotions differ, as well. Common negative feelings after a divorce include:

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 Posted on June 15, 2017 in Divorce

After an Illinois court issues its final judgement on a divorce settlement, either party has the right to appeal the decision. However, many attorneys will caution you against appealing your divorce. You may want to appeal your divorce settlement in order to get a more favorable deal, but an appellate court will reject your appeal if that is the only reason. The purpose of a divorce appeal is to prove the trial court erred in its interpretation or application of the law. Divorce appeals are costly and successful only in rare cases.

Process

In Illinois, a person has 30 days to file an appeal after the court rules on the divorce settlement. The appellant must write a detailed brief, explaining why the lower court’s judgement should be overturned. In some cases, the appellate court may allow oral arguments. Once all the evidence has been presented, the appellate court will decide whether to uphold the original ruling, overturn it or send the case back to the lower court.

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