Posted on July 08, 2014 in Child Support

Illinois law grants the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (specifically, the Division of Child Support Enforcement) with the authority to disclose information about “deadbeat” parents. These are parents who are delinquent in making child support payments, and who have accumulated past-due amounts of $5,000 or more. Their pictures, biographical information, and child support debt can be found online.

While having your child support delinquency advertised online is certainly embarrassing, it can also have a negative effect on future employment and other financial opportunities. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Illinois takes child support delinquency seriously, which is why state officials take a tough approach to punishing “deadbeat” parents.

Failure to support is a separately defined offense. A person is guilty of this offense when he or she:

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 Posted on July 02, 2014 in Family Law

Society encourage parents or guardians to care for minors because the law recognizes that children under the age of 18 typically lack the ability or capacity to manage their own affairs or to live independently. This is not true across the board, though. The law also recognizes that some minors grow up faster than others and need the legal authority to provide for themselves. The Emancipation of Minors Act provides mature minors between 16 and 18 years old with the means to obtain that legal authority.

A minor may petition for emancipation in the county in which he resides or is found, where he possesses property, or in which a pending court action could affect his interests. It is important to note that a parent, guardian or friend may also petition on the minor’s behalf, but that the minor must consent. The petition must set forth:

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 Posted on June 19, 2014 in Divorce

While Illinois law values the institution of marriage, it also recognizes that marriage does not always work out. Thus, Illinois residents may seek a court judgment to dissolve their marriage. The petitioner (the party filing for divorce) may have to prove one of the following grounds for dissolution of marriage:

• The respondent (the party responding to the divorce petition) was impotent;
• The responding party had a wife or husband living at the time of the marriage (bigamy);

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 Posted on June 17, 2014 in Alimony / Maintenance

Being a stay-at-home mom or dad can be just as much a full-time job as being a corporate attorney, high school teacher, physician’s assistant, or any other profession. And yet, those who work as full-time parents and/or homemakers might be sensitive to the fact that they are not breadwinners and, actually, bring in no income at all. Consequently, the stay-at-home spouse might feel like a dependent.

Illinois law, however, considers marriage a “joint enterprise," which means it recognizes the contributions that a stay-at-home parent and/or homemaker made to the marriage. If the marriage ends in divorce, the law does not penalize the parent who traded a professional career for caretaker responsibilities in the home. While this does not mean that a divorced homemaker would not have to get a job, it does mean that the court considers the party’s future employment opportunities and homemaker contributions when dividing the marital property and determining whether he or she is entitled to alimony (or maintenance) payments.

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 Posted on June 12, 2014 in Child Custody

Divorce by itself is complicated enough. If there are children involved, a potentially messy process becomes even messier. One of the most important issues to be resolved is child custody. Will the parents share custody? Will one parent have sole custody? Will the non-custodial parent have visitation rights? While the parents may express their wishes regarding the child custody arrangement, ultimately the court will award custody based on what is in the best interests of the child.

Deciding Between Sole Custody and Joint Custody 

When one parent has sole custody, this parent has the legal right to make all major decisions regarding the child. Those decisions include where to send the child to school and what type of medical treatment to seek. The other parent may be granted visitation rights. This arrangement might suit a family that was already accustomed to “single parenting” (for example, if one parent stayed at home with the children while the other parent worked). But just because one parent was the family’s breadwinner does not mean this parent cannot – or should not – seek sole custody. Again, the decision comes down to what is in the best interest of the child.

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 Posted on June 10, 2014 in Annulments

Like a divorce, an annulment ends a marriage. But unlike a divorce, an annulment treats the marriage like it never happened, which may be important to you for religious or other personal reasons. There is a short time frame in which to secure an annulment, so if you are considering this option then you need to act quickly.

In Illinois, there are four circumstances in which a court will enter a judgment declaring the invalidity of a marriage (colloquially referred to as an annulment). Note that a different timeframe attaches to each circumstance.

1. A party lacked capacity to consent to the marriage when the marriage began. The inability to consent could stem from mental incapacity, infirmity or the influence of drugs or alcohol. Incapacity also exists if a party was induced to enter into the marriage by fraud, force or duress. Either party, or the legal representative of the party who lacked capacity, may petition for a declaration of invalidity. The petition must be filed within 90 days of the petitioner knowing about the described condition.

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 Posted on June 05, 2014 in Divorce

Recently, gay rights advocates have had a lot to cheer about in regards to recent rulings. On May 19th, a federal district court ruled that Oregon’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The following day, another federal district court ruled that Pennsylvania’s statutory ban on same-sex marriage was also unconstitutional. As court and legislative battles wage in other states across the country, it is clear that momentum favors the gay rights movement.

Last year that momentum carried over into Illinois, which no longer defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The marriage equality bill that the governor signed into law officially took effect on June 1, 2014. For many Illinoisans, this victory was long overdue. While gay couples already had the option of entering into civil unions, they did not enjoy the same options as straight couples. Gaining the right to marry means that all married couples – gay or straight – now have the same benefits and responsibilities under the law.

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 Posted on June 03, 2014 in Children and Divorce

Family dynamics are complicated. It is not uncommon for a parent to seek visitation rights following a divorce. However, a parent might not be the only family member who wants these rights.

After a divorce, a grandparent, great-grandparent or sibling might want visitation rights as well. There might also be other situations when a family member would petition for visitation, such as when he or she has been unfairly denied by one of the child’s parents.

If one parent has unreasonably denied visitation to a grandparent, great-grandparent or sibling, then one of these individuals may petition for visitation rights. In order for the petition to succeed, one of the following circumstances must exist:

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 Posted on May 29, 2014 in Child Support

NOTE: A new law defining how child support is calculated in Illinois goes into effect in July 2017. For more information, please visit our Child Support page.

When a couple divorces, there are many legal arrangements to be made: how to divide marital property, whether one spouse will pay alimony, and re-writing wills and other legal documents that named a former spouse as a beneficiary, among others. Arguably, however, the most difficult decisions arise when there are children involved. Will one parent have sole custody or will the parents share custody jointly? And if awarded joint custody, which parent will have residential custody?

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 Posted on May 27, 2014 in Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements

The number of couples entering into prenuptial agreements is trending upward in the United States. That trend correlates with consistently high divorce rates and a growing societal acceptance of such agreements. A 2010 poll revealed that 44 percent of single and 49 percent of divorced Americans believe in prenuptial agreements (colloquially known as prenups). Moreover, among the divorced, 15 percent regret not having one.

Acceptance of prenuptial agreements is spreading across cultures. For example, while prenups are not formally recognized in England or Wales, that might soon change. Divorce lawyers in those countries have reported that their clients are increasingly expressing interest in prenups. Furthermore, a government adviser recently recommended introducing a marital agreement form as part of a divorce system overhaul.

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