Posted on October 24, 2014 in Divorce

Lawsuits are full of procedural requirements to make sure that both sides get a fair hearing, and divorce suits are no different. One of these procedural requirements is known as “service of process.” This is a step that happens early in the suit and is designed to alert the other party to the fact that they are now involved in a lawsuit. It involves delivering the other party a copy of the court filing that started the case, along with a summons to appear in court.

This is, naturally, a necessary step in any legal proceeding because the other side needs to be aware that it is happening for them to come in and tell their side of the story. However, this part of the process is also rife with opportunities for abuse. There are some parties who attempt to avoid service by dodging the person sent to deliver the papers in an effort to delay the start of the case indefinitely. While the law does have a variety of tools to combat that sort of behavior, a New York family law judge just added another one that is perfect for the 21st Century

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 Posted on October 20, 2014 in Divorce

Divorce is a process with many different moving parts, and people going through it often focus on the major ones, issues like child custody and property division. While these are absolutely life-altering decisions, there are other, smaller questions that can still be incredibly important. One such question is which parent gets to claim the child as a dependent after the divorce. While this seems to be a fairly minor point of tax law, it is actually quite important. According to IRS regulations for 2013, a person's being able to claim the dependency exemption could save them almost $4,000, and that is just for a single child. The answer to this question turns out to be a little complex and it depends on both IRS rules and Illinois law.

The IRS Answer

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 Posted on October 16, 2014 in Child Custody

The American court system is set up to be adversarial in nature, which means that it pits the two parties in the courtroom against each other. Unfortunately, this is the same system that American courts use in divorce, which can lead to spouses getting involved in bitter fights as they try to assert their rights against each other. This setup often obscures the third party being affected by the divorce, the children. Children in a divorce have some rights too, though often limited ones, and it is important to understand these rights during the process. For instance, in some circumstances, Illinois law gives children the right to be represented by an attorney or a guardian ad litem, a lawyer who has their best interests in mind. Additionally, children have a right to be heard in child custody proceedings, although this right is often misunderstood.

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 Posted on October 13, 2014 in Child Custody

One of the central issues of any divorce is that of child custody. However, despite its importance to everyone involved, many people do not fully understand the different types and components of custody. For instance, the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act allows for either joint or sole custody.

These two types of child custody relate to whether one or both parents have custody of the child, and they cover related issues like shared parenting time. Beyond this distinction, the law actually recognizes two different types of custody, physical custody and legal custody. Each of these two different types of child custody are important because each provide different rights with respect to the child.

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 Posted on October 09, 2014 in Same Sex Marriage in Illinois

On Monday, October 6th, the United States Supreme Court rejected petitions from five separate states requesting that the Court make a final ruling on the issue of same-sex marriage in the United States. This decision is a victory for same-sex marriage advocates since the petitions were appealing five appeals court rulings upholding same-sex marriage in Indiana, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Utah, and Virginia. This rejection surprised many experts who were expecting the Court to take at least one of these cases, possibly to issue a final decision on same-sex marriage, especially since the Court had issued a stay preventing these marriages from going forward while it deliberated. With these petitions denied, marriages in these states can now go forward.

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 Posted on October 06, 2014 in Uncategorized

Ordinarily, divorce proceedings are handled in a single hearing. This means that there is a single proceeding in which the court both enters an official judgment dissolving the marriage and settles issues like property division and child custody. However, there are certain circumstances under which the court can hold two separate hearings, one to dissolve the marriage officially and another to settle the practical issues like property division. These sorts of proceedings, known officially as bifurcated judgments, are allowed under Illinois family law 750 ILCS 5/401(b). Yet, the law only allows for these sorts of split judgments under a limited set of circumstances, and even when they are allowed, they come with a set of pros and cons that need to be weighed.

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 Posted on September 29, 2014 in Divorce

Stay at home parents can face unique disadvantages in divorce, despite the fact that, according to U.S. Census data, there are tens of millions of stay at home parents taking care of children across the country. Stay at home parents often run into trouble following a divorce because they chose to give up careers to take care of their families. However, this can leave them without options to support themselves after the divorce.

In the past, this was less of an issue because permanent alimony was more common, but recent changes to the law have made temporary alimony a more likely outcome. Such alimony is designed to allow the stay at home spouse time to get back on their feet and reenter the workforce.

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 Posted on September 24, 2014 in Divorce

There is a new trend in family law aimed at protecting people's relationships with their pets. Prenuptial agreements related to pet custody are now being referred to by some as "pre-pups." These new agreements stem from a variety of factors. First, many are choosing to marry and start a family later in life. As a result, couples are embracing a joint pet as a stepping stone along that path.

However, according to a CBS report, this new trend is causing pet owners, overwhelmingly dog people, to try and protect their relationship with their pets once the relationship with their significant other ends. Second, the law treats pets as personal property for the most part. This means that shared custody and visitation—ideas that were developed for children—do not have legal relevance to pets. Hence, people need to make private agreements to mimic those ideas.

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 Posted on September 19, 2014 in Divorce

While everyone acknowledges that divorce can be difficult on children, new research reveals that a family's income level may play a role in just how much children are affected by divorce. A new study by researchers at Georgetown University and the University of Chicago, and being published in the journal Child Development, posits that young children of wealthy families may be more adversely affected by their parents' divorce than similarly situated children of less well-off parents. The study's authors did not focus on the causes of the difference, but they did put forward several theories.

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 Posted on September 15, 2014 in Illinois family lawyer

When people discuss cohabitation, they often focus on young couples who have moved in together as a step before marriage or similar couples who think marriage is unnecessary. However, there is a new demographic now entering into cohabiting relationships with more and more frequency: senior citizens. In fact, according to U.S. Census data reported by The Washington Times, the number of cohabiting seniors has nearly doubled from 2000 to 2008, rising from 1.2 million to 2.2 million.

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