Posted on August 25, 2022 in Family Law

Physical abuse, emotional abuse, psychological manipulation, and financial exploitation are just some of the forms of domestic violence suffered by individuals in Illinois and across the country. Domestic violence is shockingly common. Sadly, many people suffer in silence because they are not aware of the resources and legal tools at their disposal.

If you are a victim of domestic violence, you may be wondering whether or not you should hire a lawyer. Family law attorneys experienced in domestic violence matters can help you navigate complex legal issues like protective orders, child custody, and property division during divorce. An attorney’s job is to advocate for you and ensure your rights are not violated.

Taking Legal Action After Domestic Abuse

If you are unsure of whether a lawyer can benefit your particular situation, consider the following factors:

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 Posted on August 19, 2022 in Family Law

Child-related matters in a divorce are often some of the most contentious aspects of a divorce case. They are also some of the most consequential aspects of the divorce. When divorcing parents disagree about the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time, a guardian ad litem may be assigned to the case. The guardian ad litem evaluates the circumstances of the custody dispute, investigates both parties, interviews family members and caretakers, and makes an informed recommendation to the court about the case outcome. Working with a GAL can sometimes be uncomfortable. He or she may need to ask personal questions, investigate the parents’ homes, and interview teachers or other people important to the child’s life.

If a guardian ad litem was assigned in your divorce or child custody case, here are a few tips to help you make the most of the situation.

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 Posted on August 15, 2022 in Divorce

If you are like many people, you are not familiar with the term “divorce coach.”  Divorce coaching is a relatively new service that is becoming more and more popular. Ending a marriage can take a massive toll on a person. Divorce can be so overwhelming that some divorcing individuals make mistakes or agree to unfair divorce terms just to get the process over with. A divorce coach provides emotional support and practical guidance to divorcing spouses and helps them navigate the major life changes that accompany divorce. If you are getting divorced, here are five reasons to consider working with a divorce coach.

You Need Help to Get Through this Stressful Life Experience

The Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory is a scientific tool first published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research that is used to predict stress-induced health problems. Divorce is listed as the second-most stressful life event on the inventory, just beneath death of a spouse. If you are going through a divorce, you need someone to help you manage this stress.

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 Posted on August 05, 2022 in Divorce

The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy reports that about 15 percent of married women and 25 percent of married men admit to extramarital affairs. An even higher percentage admit to non-sexual “emotional affairs.” While some marriages can survive adultery, an affair often spells the end of a marriage. If you are getting divorced because you or your spouse cheated, it is important to understand how this can affect the divorce.

Illinois Laws Regarding Marital Infidelity and Divorce

Each state has its own divorce laws. As of 2016, Illinois is a no-fault divorce state, meaning there are no fault-based grounds for divorce. When you fill out your divorce paperwork, you will cite “irreconcilable differences” as the grounds for the split. Infidelity does not automatically influence the court’s decisions regarding the division of marital property, spousal support, child custody, or other divorce issues. However, there are certain situations in which an affair can impact the divorce outcome.

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 Posted on July 21, 2022 in Family Law

When a mother gives birth to a baby, there is no dispute as to the woman’s motherhood. However, determining paternity is not as simple. There are many different reasons that paternity may be unclear. Sometimes, a woman unexpectedly gets pregnant and is unsure of who the father is. Other times, an extramarital affair leads to confusion about paternity. A father may claim that he is the child’s father even if the mother knows this is untrue. Alternatively, a mother may believe that one man is the father of her child but he denies paternity.

If you are involved in a paternity dispute, you may understandably be filled with questions. Among these questions may be the question of whether DNA testing will be used to establish paternity.

Genetic Testing to Determine Who a Child’s Father Is

When paternity is unknown or disputed, one of the only ways to find out for sure is to conduct genetic testing. By evaluating the child’s DNA and comparing it to the presumed father’s DNA, paternity can be confirmed or denied with a negligible margin of error. According to the Cleveland Clinic, DNA paternity tests are 99.9 percent accurate.

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 Posted on July 14, 2022 in Child Custody

When parents divorce, they must contend with many difficult issues. If the parents want to share custody, they just decide how to divide parenting duties. In Illinois, the time a parent spends caring for his or her child is called parenting time. A parent’s right to make decisions about his or her child’s education, medical care, and other important matters is referred to as the allocation of parental responsibilities. Divorcing parents who want to share parenting time must decide which days each parent will care for the child. They will also need to determine how to handle parenting time arrangements for birthdays, holidays, school vacations, and other special occasions.

Considerations for Shared Custody in Illinois

If you and your child’s other parent can agree on a parenting time schedule, you can design whatever schedule works best for you and your child. As you make your parenting time schedule make sure to consider:

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 Posted on July 07, 2022 in Divorce

Whether it is a house, condominium, townhouse, or apartment, your home is more than just a living space and deciding how to handle ownership of the marital home during divorce is no easy task. Your home may have great personal and financial value to you and your family. As you explore your options in preparation for divorce, consider the following factors regarding the marital home.

How to Handle the Marital Home in Your Illinois Divorce

Real estate properties are classified as either marital or non-marital. Most of the time, the family home is a marital asset. However, if one spouse owned the home before getting married or inherited the home, it may be classified as non-marital property.

If your home is a marital asset, both spouses have a right to a share of the home’s value. In this case, you have a few different options:

• One spouse keeps the home and buys out the other spouse’s equity. – One of the most common scenarios in a divorce is for one spouse to keep the marital home and the other spouse to move out. If a couple has children, the parent with the majority of the parenting time may keep the home to provide stability for the children. When one spouse keeps the home, the other spouse is compensated for his or her share of the home’s equity with other marital assets.

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 Posted on June 28, 2022 in Family Law

When people think of abuse or domestic violence, they may picture a battered individual with visible injuries. Although physical abuse is one type of domestic violence, it is not the only type of abuse men and women may be subjected to. Threats, intimidation, scare tactics, stalking, and harassment are just some of the ways an abuser may hurt someone without physically injuring them.

Fortunately, Illinois law reflects the fact that abuse does not always involve punching or kicking. Other forms of psychological and emotional torment also fall under the category of abuse. Victims have the right to seek legal protection against abuse through an order of protection. In many cases, getting an order of protection is the best way to prevent further abuse, harassment, and violence from escalating.

Understanding The Timeline of Abuse

Abusive relationships often follow a pattern. At first, the relationship is pleasant and respectful. However, over time, the abuser becomes more and more controlling and violent. The abuser starts using verbal abuse like insults and yelling to destroy the victim’s self-esteem. He or she isolates the victim from friends and family, uses gaslighting and other psychological tactics to confuse the victim, or purposefully embarrasses the victim. These types of emotional and mental abuse tactics are often the precursor to physical violence. If you or a loved one are currently suffering from this type of non-physical abuse, do not wait until the situation escalates to take action.

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 Posted on June 23, 2022 in Divorce

Only a few short decades ago, telephones were landlines physically wired to a person’s home. Phones were used for making phone calls and little else. Nowadays, we use smartphones for calls, text messages, social media, searching the internet, shopping, and even paying our bills. Most people’s cell phones contain a shocking amount of personal information. Consequently, many divorcing spouses wonder how and when cell phone information can be used in divorce proceedings.

Gathering Text Message and Call Logs in a Divorce Case

The portion of the divorce in which both parties gather information is called discovery. Discovery often involves depositions, interrogatories, requests for production of documents, and other formal requests for information. Accessing evidence like tax documents or bank account statements is usually easier than gathering cell phone records. Unless a spouse willingly hands over cell phone data, which is unlikely in a contentious divorce, the most common way to get cell phone records is through a subpoena.

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 Posted on June 14, 2022 in Divorce

As high-income individuals getting divorced can attest, having money does not solve all of your problems in life. In fact, affluence can make divorce much more complex – especially if a spouse is not honest about income, assets, and debts. Forensic accounting is a process used in high-asset divorce cases to uncover hidden assets and other forms of fraud.

If you are getting divorced and suspect your spouse is transferring funds, concealing assets, misrepresenting income, or otherwise lying about money, forensic accounting may be useful in your divorce case.

Hidden Assets and Undisclosed Income in a Divorce

Spouses may use many different tactics to falsify financial information in a divorce. For example, a spouse who wants to avoid sharing assets with the other spouse in a divorce may hide money in offshore accounts or transfer funds to a co-conspirator. Some distort the value of the marital estate by undervaluing assets of great worth like antiques or fine art. Business owners may alter business financials to make the business appear less profitable than it actually is or use business investments to hide personal assets. These types of unlawful tactics undermine the divorce process and prevent the other spouse from receiving a fair divorce settlement or award. Financial fraud may reduce the amount of money a spouse receives in child support or spousal maintenance and lead to an inequitable division of marital assets.

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