Posted on June 15, 2016 in Divorce and Finances

After you are married, any purchases you make, income you earn, and debts you take on are considered to be “marital property,” which means that you and your spouse are both responsible for and entitled to it. In contrast, debts taken on and purchases made prior to entering the marriage are known as “singly-held” property, which means that the individual who took them on is the only one responsible for them. Ideally, a married individual discusses his or her financial decisions with his or her spouse so the couple can make the decisions together. But we do not live in an ideal world and the reality is that a married individual can suddenly face collection attempts for debts that his or her spouse secretly racked up or a be held responsible for these debts during his or her divorce.

Prove That You Did Not Know about the Debt

Illinois is an equitable distribution state, which means that a married couple's assets and debts are divided among them according to the circumstances of their marriage and divorce. This is actually a better setup for individuals facing spouses' secret debts than how some states divide a couple's assets and debts, which is known as community property. In a community property state, all marital assets and debts are divided 50/50.

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 Posted on June 10, 2016 in Children and Divorce

Children do not cause divorce. However, conflicts regarding their care can drive a couple toward divorce. The most common causes of divorce in the United States are a lack of commitment to the marriage, infidelity, and continual conflict between the partners. These conflicts can be about how the money is handled, how the household chores are divided, or, as any parent knows, issues related to the couple's children. Sometimes, these issues are severe to the point that couples divorce because of ongoing difficulties related to the care of their children and an inability to work together to overcome these difficulties.

But how can you combat these difficulties in your marriage or discuss them without sounding like a monster? Nobody wants to blame their marital issues on their child but the truth is, raising children is difficult and often tests a couple's ability to work together constructively. Extreme behavior problems, difficulty integrating a spouse's child into your new marriage, a child's mental or physical disability, or a case of drastically different parenting perspectives can stress a marriage to its breaking point and result in divorce for a couple.

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 Posted on June 08, 2016 in Child Custody

Polygraphs, also known as “lie detector tests,” are a fairly common trope in talk shows and crime dramas. In these fictional depictions, the subject is wired to the test and asked questions about his or her alleged crime, usually as the wires of the test move rapidly back and forth on the result paper. But are polygraph tests really used this way? No. Today, most polygraph tests are computerized. They are also not admissible in most courts of law. This includes Illinois. If your former partner asks you to take a polygraph test, do not feel like you have to – the results of the test have no value in the courtroom. You might be advised to undergo such a test if you are facing an accusation of child abuse or domestic violence. Do not take the test unless you have discussed it thoroughly with your attorney. You are under no legal obligation to take a polygraph test in any circumstance, nor are the results of one admissible in court. Talk to your family lawyer about the possibility of using a polygraph as part of your parenting time evaluation.

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 Posted on June 02, 2016 in Divorce

If you and your spouse find yourselves constantly fighting, unable to agree about how you spend your money or how you run your household, or either of you has considered committing infidelity or even gone through with an affair, you might think your marriage is over. Sometimes, it is. But other times, a marriage can emerge stronger than it was before if both partners are willing to work together to fix what went wrong. It is important to consider certain strategies you can use to repair your marriage. Remember, fixing your marriage will require significant input from both partners and sometimes, divorce is inevitable even when a couple works hard to avoid it. If your marriage falls into this category, do not think of the divorce as a personal failure. Sometimes, a couple simply is not compatible.

Seek Professional Counseling

One of the best ways to get a handle on the actual issues at play in your marriage and advice about how to overcome them is to schedule a few sessions with a licensed marriage counselor. Marriage counseling is a type of therapy where a couple works with a professional counselor to identify and work through the problems that are plaguing their marriage, much like an individual with other mental health issues works with a psychological counselor to work through his or her own personal problems. Couples can have sessions with a marriage counselor together or individuals can meet with the counselor alone.

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 Posted on May 23, 2016 in Child Custody

It is unreasonable to expect a divorced individual to remain single for the rest of his or her life. As we move past a divorce and into the next phases of life, many of us find new partners. For a child, seeing his or her parent start to date, live with, or marry a new partner can be stressful. It can also be stressful for the child's other parent, who might feel resentment toward the new partner or oppose something about him or her, such as his or her religious practices or values.

If you find yourself uncomfortable with the idea of your child being around your former spouse's new partner, ask yourself why this is. You cannot simply prohibit this individual from being around your child because you do not like him or her. When your child is with his or her other parent, that parent can determine who is to be around the child. However, the court can place restrictions on your parenting time agreement if it determines that exposure to a certain individual is not in your child's best interest.

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 Posted on May 16, 2016 in Child Support

After a divorce, you could be required to make child support or spousal maintenance payments. These are meant, respectively, to cover the added expenses your former spouse faces as the primary parent of your children or to soften the financial blow that he or she suffered as a result of your divorce. Although you might feel like being required to make either or both of these payments is unfair, failure to make them is an act of contempt of court. If you cannot afford to make your spousal maintenance or child support payments, talk with your attorney about petitioning to the court to have your order modified. This is the correct way to handle your expenses, rather than allowing yourself to become delinquent. If you allow yourself to fall behind on your required payments, you could face court action such as wage garnishment, income withholding, and the loss of certain privileges until you pay the money you owe to your former spouse. Having a balance of unpaid child support or spousal maintenance is known as being in arrears.

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 Posted on May 11, 2016 in Child Custody

Maybe. When the court determines the appropriate parenting time agreement for a divorcing couple's children, it does so with the intention of creating an agreement that has the children's best interest in mind. This means that the court tries its best to create the parenting time agreement that gives the children the best opportunity to thrive physically, academically, mentally, and emotionally. The best parenting time agreement for a child also often tries to give the child a substantial amount of time with each parent so the child can maintain relationships with each of them as well as their extended families.

If you suffer from a mental disorder like depression or bipolar disorder, it can affect your ability to effectively parent your child. If it does, it may be considered when determining the right parenting time agreement for your child. Suffering from a mental health problem will not prevent you from having time with your child, but it can be a factor in the determination process if the court feels it could negatively impact your relationship with your child or your child's ability to succeed in your home.

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 Posted on May 04, 2016 in Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements

If you are considering getting married in the near future, you should also be considering signing a prenuptial agreement. This is especially important if you have children or any considerable assets such as a small business, real estate, or a savings. A prenuptial agreement is a document that states the terms that you will follow in the event of a divorce. It can also state how your assets are to be divided in the event of your death.

This second reason is the reason why many individuals who have children from previous relationships opt to sign prenuptial agreements – having one in place can help to ensure that your children receive the portion of your assets that you want them to receive. Talk to your fiance about drafting and signing a prenuptial agreement as you move forward with other pre-marriage decisions like whether you will have a religious wedding or a civil one, whether you plan to have children, and where you plan to live. It is important that any engaged couple come to a full understanding about where each partner stands on these "big" decisions before getting married.

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 Posted on May 02, 2016 in Divorce

A divorce can bring out many emotions in an individual. An individual going through the divorce process might feel anger, resentment, frustration, and sadness as well as more positive emotions, like relief, accomplishment, and a renewed optimism about the future. Sometimes, these emotions coexist, or an individual might even feel motivated about finalizing their divorce and moving on one day, then feel crushed about the end of their marriage the next. Emotions are not always logical, nor do they have to be.

But sometimes, the negative feelings that come with a divorce can turn into something more – a mental health disorder like depression. A divorce is a major change in an individual's life. It is not unnatural to feel depressed after going through a divorce, especially in an individual who did not initiate the divorce. If you find yourself feeling depressed in the weeks, months, or even years after your divorce is finalized, know that you are not alone. Find yourself a counselor or psychiatrist who can help you overcome your depression. You might even find a mental healthcare professional who specializes in working with individuals affected by divorce. Do not resign yourself to suffering from depression – you can get help and move on with your life.

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 Posted on April 28, 2016 in Paternity

Among the amendments to the Illinois Parentage Act that went into effect in January 2016, new guidelines were established to determine whether using DNA testing to determine paternity is in a child's best interest. This is because state lawmakers recognized that being a child's parent involves more than shared DNA, such as an established relationship and a history of supporting the child's personal needs. But this does not eliminate the value that genetic testing can have in cases where a child's parentage is disputed. Much like the set of factors used to determine the right parenting time arrangement for a child after his or her parents divorce, the court relies on the following set of 10 factors to determine whether a DNA test would be beneficial in a given paternity dispute.

Denial of a Motion for a DNA Test

These factors exist because under the revised law, the court has the right to deny a motion from a parent or alleged parent to use DNA testing to determine a child's paternity. The factors considered are as follows:

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