Posted on October 17, 2016 in Family Law

The Social Security Administration provides disability benefits for individuals who qualify to receive them. This coverage is known as Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Parents who receive SSDI can also receive coverage for their children to help cover the costs of raising a child while being too disabled to earn a sufficient income. Like all other forms of income, one's SSDI benefits can be affected by his or her divorce. This can, in turn, affect your child's SSDI coverage. If you are an SSDI recipient with a minor child who receives SSDI coverage and you are considering filing for divorce, discuss this with your divorce lawyer.

How Divorce Affects SSDI Benefits for Minor Children

Any biological child, adopted child, or stepchild under the age of 18 or up to age 19 if he or she is a full-time student can receive coverage of up to 50 percent of his or her parent's SSDI benefits amount as long as the child is not married. This type of coverage is known as auxiliary benefits. In certain cases, the grandchild of an SSDI recipient can also receive auxiliary SSDI benefits.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on October 13, 2016 in Divorce

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) can provide a divorcing couple with an efficient, reduced-conflict path to a mutually-satisfying divorce settlement. However, it is not the right choice for every couple. Sometimes, divorcing through an ADR method like mediation or collaborative law can seem like the right choice, but then prove to be impossible for the couple to complete once they actually begin the process. When this happens, the couple must explore other options for completing their divorce. Sometimes, a couple can try ADR again with greater success. In other cases, litigation is the right choice.

Try Working With Another Mediator

When you choose to divorce through mediation, you and your spouse work with a mediator, a neutral third party professional, to reach a mutually agreeable divorce settlement. Mediators are human beings and, as such, not every mediator is a good fit for every couple. You might feel like your mediator has a bias or is not guiding your divorce discussions in a way that makes you feel empowered. If this is the case, it is perfectly acceptable to stop the process and restart it with another mediator.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on October 10, 2016 in Child Custody

Teenagers make mistakes. Sometimes, these mistakes result in misdemeanor charges, like a shoplifting or underage possession of alcohol charge. In some cases, an adolescent can face a felony charge. As a divorced parent with a shared parenting time and parental responsibilities agreement, you might wonder what your role is regarding your child's criminal record.

In Illinois, charges, convictions, and penalties for minors are handled by the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice. If your child has been charged with a crime, start working with a criminal defense lawyer who specializes in juvenile offenses to handle his or her case. This is not the only lawyer you should contact, however. Speak with your family lawyer as well to determine your rights and responsibilities as a parent and how your child's conviction will, if at all, affect your current arrangements.

Determine a Strategy With the Other Parent

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on October 06, 2016 in Family Law

Although same-sex marriage is legal throughout the United States and Illinois law was recently amended to allow same-sex parents to become legal parents to any child born or conceived during their marriage, there are still certain issues that same-sex parents can face that do not affect heterosexual parents or, if they do affect heterosexual parents, do not affect them as widely or as profoundly. In the divorce process, same-sex couples are treated identically to heterosexual couples – or ideally, should be. Sometimes, a biased judge can make unfair rulings, requiring the couple to take time to appeal the ruling in order to receive fair treatment. If you are a parent in a same-sex relationship who is divorced, preparing to divorce, or working through another legal issue like modifying an established court order, discuss any specific issues you might face with your family lawyer before you proceed.

Legal Parentage of Your Children

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 28, 2016 in Divorce and Finances

In a marriage, all assets and debts accrued while the couple is married are considered to be marital property. This includes any debt following purchases made primarily or solely for one partner's benefit, such as a new vehicle or a college education for one of the spouses. The only exception to this rule is if the couple has a prenuptial agreement in place that designates one partner as the sole owner of a specific asset or debt or if one partner receives an asset through inheritance or a gift. In these latter scenarios, the asset or debt is singly-held property and treated the same way as an asset or debt or she held when he or she entered the marriage. When your property is divided during your divorce, it is divided according to the doctrine of equitable distribution. This means that your assets and debts are assigned to you and your partner according to your needs and contributions to the marriage.

How the Court May Divide Your Debt

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 26, 2016 in Children and Divorce

If you have been divorced for many years, you are probably fairly comfortable navigating the world of parenting after a divorce. If you are recently divorced, you might still be trying to determine what works and what does not work in this field. Co-parenting is a collaborative effort and the decisions you and your former partner make are generally driven by your child's academic, social, and medical needs. For many Illinois families, a young adult attending college after high school is one of the events that requires careful planning and cooperation between divorced parents.

Although your son or daughter is legally an adult at this age, it is not uncommon for you and your former partner to continue to support him or her financially. In fact, there may be a clause in your divorce settlement requiring one or both of you to contribute to his or her college expenses. But even if the financial aspect of your roles as parents in your child's college education is squared away, there are other issues you need to clarify. Who will drop your child off to campus? In which home will he or she stay during school breaks? How will expenses outside tuition and fees that your child incurs be handled?

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 21, 2016 in Child Custody

As divorced parents, it is your job to cooperate and work together for your child's benefit. But what if you and your spouse disagree on the course of action that would best benefit your child? For example, if your child suffers from a mental or physical health problem, you might want to research alternative treatment options or a specific type of therapy, while your former spouse wants to stick to traditional treatment methods. Watching your child suffer can be heartbreaking and fighting with your former spouse about how to help your child can be frustrating.

Parental Responsibility Allocations Determine Each Parent's Say in the Child's Treatment

In Illinois, the court develops a parenting time agreement and an allocation of parental responsibilities for divorcing couples with children. These replaced the terms “legal custody” and “physical custody” when the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act was revised in 2015.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 19, 2016 in Child Custody

No two school years are the same. As your child grows, his or her academic, social, and personal needs change and as he or she moves through different grade levels and schools, so do the schedules with which he or she must conform and the opportunities he or she can pursue. As a parent, it is your job to facilitate your child's academic success. If you have a parenting time agreement with your former partner, be sure to discuss the following with him or her as the new school year starts. Having these discussions beforehand can prevent confusion and conflicts later.

Extracurricular Activities

Your child might be interested in a new extracurricular activity, which might change his or her schedule or need for financial support. Talk to your former partner about this activity to determine whether it would be feasible for your child to pursue it and if so, how you will need to alter your existing schedule or child support agreement for it.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 15, 2016 in Divorce

When you file for divorce, your whole life changes. You might move out of your home or have to cancel your credit card and bank accounts, then reopen accounts in your own name. During the court processes of a divorce, it can be easy to ignore your personal needs, especially your health.

Going through a divorce can take a toll on your physical health as well as your mental health. In fact, certain specific health problems are linked to divorce. If you are considering filing for divorce or you have already done so, you may be susceptible to developing any of the following conditions. Speak with your healthcare provider about the divorce and any changes to your health so he or she can properly address them.

Cardiovascular Disease in Women

If you are a divorced woman, you have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease than a married woman. This phenomenon is linked to your increased stress level, which can cause you to suffer from inflammation for a prolonged period of time.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 13, 2016 in Divorce

There are a lot of factors that affect a couple's likelihood of divorcing. These factors include the age of each partner when the couple married, each partner's education and income level, and whether the couple has the same socioeconomic and cultural background.

Other factors are not quite as obvious. For example, the genders of the couple's children. You might not think that your child's gender has any effect on your likelihood of divorcing, but research has found that parents of daughters have a slightly higher divorce rate than parents of sons.

Do not assume that just because you have a daughter, you will get divorced. Correlation does not imply causation, when whether your marriage will end in divorce or not hinges much more greatly on your ability to communicate effectively with your partner to resolve the conflicts that arise. If you are experiencing problems in your marriage, speak with an experienced divorce lawyer to determine all of your options. If you have exhausted all efforts to repair the issues you face, filing for divorce might be the healthiest option for all members of your family, regardless of their gender.

Continue Reading ››