Posted on December 12, 2019 in Divorce

Getting divorced involves expenses that are necessary for completing the process in a way that meets your needs. For instance, you need to hire a divorce attorney so that you have an experienced legal professional who makes sure that your divorce agreement takes full advantage of the law and does not contain errors. Hiring a divorce coach may seem like a less necessary expense, especially if you are worried about your budget. However, there are several reasons why a divorce coach is worth the investment:

1. A Divorce Coach Can Focus on Your Personal Life: Who should you contact when you have pressing questions about how your divorce will affect your personal life? Friends and family can be compassionate but likely do not have the experience to provide you solutions. Your attorney’s primary job is to work on the legal aspects of your divorce. Asking them to also be your divorce coach is not the best use of their time or your money. Your divorce coach is trained to be your resource for how to handle the personal and emotional aspects of your divorce.

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 Posted on December 09, 2019 in Child Custody

When one spouse believes that the other spouse wronged them during their marriage, they may want their divorce agreement to be a way to punish their spouse. Illinois divorce laws do not assign blame to either party for actions such as infidelity, but the court may favor the “victim” spouse when dividing marital properties if the cheating spouse used marital assets to pay for the affair. Parenting time is not a commodity that you withhold from your spouse to punish them. You must base all of your parenting decisions on what is best for your children, and obstructing parenting time without court approval can have civil and criminal consequences.

Allocating Parental Responsibilities

When you try to punish your co-parent by limiting or denying their access to your children, you are also punishing your children by hurting their relationship with their other parent. Denying parenting time is appropriate only when you can prove that your co-parent is a danger to your children. Abusive behavior by your co-parent is the most obvious example of proof, but your co-parent’s infidelity is not evidence by itself that they are a bad parent.

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 Posted on December 09, 2019 in Divorce

 Posted on December 09, 2019 in Divorce

Marriage may look bright and shiny on the outside, but it can be a difficult relationship to maintain over the years. As people change, sometimes their partners do not change alongside them. No couple stays the same throughout the entirety of their marriage. For some couples, this can lead to new adventures throughout life’s stages, while for others, it can cause them to grow apart with no hope for reconciliation. Every marriage is unique, but there are a few common denominators that experts have found to be frequent causes of divorce.

Money, Money, Money

In the past, many couples got married at a young age, meaning that they often did not have much money to their names. This has shifted in the last decade, as millennials decide to wait a little longer before tying the knot. Money troubles are common for young couples looking to start a life together. Rather than taking the time to build up a fair amount of savings, these couples can find themselves struggling to pay their bills, putting their relationship on the back burner. Although this is common with younger couples, those who get married later are far from exempt from financial issues. Some are used to being independent and find it difficult to share finances with their partner, while others run into hard times financially due to a job loss or medical care costs. Regardless of the reason, disagreements regarding money are common for all couples, and they can sometimes make or break a relationship.

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 Posted on December 05, 2019 in Divorce

More than a million people from around the world immigrate to the U.S. and become permanent residents each year. Many people are attracted to the opportunity for a better life, while others may be following a job offer or looking for a change. It is common for couples and families to make the move together with no intention of leaving the U.S. What happens when a couple who was married in another country decides to divorce while living in the U.S.? The divorce laws of the state in which they live will determine how the divorce will proceed.

Where Do You Divorce?

You file for divorce with the court system of your permanent residence and not the court system of the country where you were married. This applies when you immigrated to the U.S. from another country and when you emigrated from the U.S. to another country. For people who have moved to Illinois from another country, you should understand these rules about divorce:

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 Posted on November 30, 2019 in Property Division

Retirement assets grow in importance as marital property the longer you are married. If you divorce after several years of marriage, they could be one of the most valuable properties you own. As with all marital properties, you must include your retirement benefits as part of your division of property, and figuring out how to do so will be one of the most complicated parts of the divorce process. In general, there are four steps to determining how you will divide your retirement benefits as part of your divorce agreement:

1. Valuing Your Benefits: To start, you need to know the current value of your retirement benefits. Retirement accounts are classified as defined contribution plans and defined benefit plans. It is easier to determine the value of a defined contribution plan because it is an individual account that you are paying into. With a defined benefit plan, your retirement benefits are part of a group account that will pay you based on a formula, and estimating its value is based on your life expectancy and the account's interest rates.

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 Posted on November 28, 2019 in Child Custody

Divorcing or separated parents in a dispute over their parenting time are often looking for something that will give them an advantage over their co-parent. Pointing out flaws in your co-parent’s character feels like a strong argument for giving you a greater share of parental responsibilities. However, character attacks are not always effective in a parenting case and may instead backfire on the accuser. You will be best served during your parenting case by demonstrating the strengths of your own character and only bringing up your co-parent’s lack of character if you can explain actual ways that it is harmful to your children.

Importance of Character

Someone’s character is relevant when a court rules on the allocation of parental responsibilities if it concerns their morality and judgment. Illinois law states that providing moral and ethical guidance is one of the roles of a parent. An immoral parent may fail in that role by demonstrating a lack of morality or not teaching their children the difference between right and wrong. Other parents show a lack of good judgment that puts their children in danger or neglects their upbringing. You can express your concerns about your co-parent’s character to the court, but the court will find your claims more credible if you present third-party evidence, such as:

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 Posted on November 27, 2019 in Divorce

 Posted on November 27, 2019 in Divorce

The financial aspects of divorce can be an additional stressor for those in the process of ending their marriage. For some, this stress comes from worrying about the cost of divorce. But for couples who have money to spare, their extensive assets can actually be the root of the divorce anxiety. During divorce, couples who have a high net worth have a few different issues that many other couples typically do not have to worry about. If you are going through a high net worth divorce, here are a few mistakes you should try your best to avoid:

Concealing Assets From Your Spouse

Trying to hide assets from your spouse is not uncommon in high net worth divorces. This is possibly one of the worst mistakes you can make, because not only is it unfair, but it is illegal. During divorce negotiations, you are required to be completely truthful with your spouse and their attorney. If you do not fully disclose all aspects of your finances during the discovery process, including the income you earn, the assets you own, and the debts you owe, you could end up paying a lot more than what you would have originally, causing you to lose the assets you were trying to protect.

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 Posted on November 26, 2019 in Divorce

When you and your spouse have decided that your marriage is over, it feels like there is little reason to delay getting a divorce. You may be eager to complete your divorce and move into the next stage of your life. Prolonging your marriage can be just as stressful for your children as your divorce will be because they can tell that you are unhappy and your relationship is strained. However, a short delay in starting your divorce could ultimately pay off if you need time to prepare yourself.

Financial Security

In the rush to complete a divorce, some people do not spend enough time considering how they will support themselves – in both the short term and long term. As a newly single adult, you will be paying for all of your living expenses without the benefit of your spouse’s income. As a result, you will need to figure out:

• A new budget for yourself
• Ways that you can cut down on your expenses

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 Posted on November 22, 2019 in Annulments

In most situations, the only way to end a marriage is to divorce your spouse. However, you may be able to annul the marriage if you can prove that it was never valid. The advantage of an annulment is that you will not have to divide your properties or pay spousal maintenance because the marriage never legally existed. The disadvantage is that there is a deadline to request an annulment and you will have to put more work into arguing why your marriage should be annulled. With a divorce, you only need to prove irreconcilable differences between you and your spouse. With an annulment, you must prove one of the following conditions:

1. Lack of Consent: A marriage is invalid if one of the parties was unable to legally consent to the marriage. This could be because you were intoxicated or mentally incapacitated when agreeing to the marriage or if you were married under duress or fraudulent circumstances. Once you realize that your marriage lacked your consent, you have 90 days to get your marriage annulled.

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 Posted on November 20, 2019 in Child Custody

 Posted on November 20, 2019 in Child Custody

In the midst of the holiday season, families across Illinois are planning how to spend time together during Christmas and New Year's. In addition to the vacations surrounding these days, there are plenty of other holidays and special days throughout the year that can be fought over by parents who are no longer married. Parenting plans are required by all Illinois couples who are divorced and have children. These legal plans must contain a parenting time schedule that is followed throughout the year. Also included in the parenting plan is how holidays will be spent between the two parents. The holiday parenting time schedule will usually supersede the normal parenting time schedule, so it is important for you and your ex to agree on one that works for you.

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