Domestic Abuse and Divorce

 Posted on February 19, 2015 in Divorce

Divorce can result from many different issues, but one of the most serious thing s that may cause a divorce is domestic violence. Domestic violence can take many different forms, and many people do not understand what is currently considered domestic abuse. The issue of domestic violence affects people of all genders, and people who suspect that they may be be victims of it should understand the definition. They should also understand their options in the event that they choose to seek a divorce from their partner.

What Is Domestic Abuse

Domestic abuse is a term that has different meanings for different people. The National Domestic Violence Hotline has a variety of different behaviors for different situations. In a sense, all of the behaviors relate to a person's controlling, possessive aspects. However, there are certain things that a partner may do that can trigger concerns about domestic abuse. These include:

• Physical violence such as choking, hitting, slapping or beating;

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The Interaction of Divorce and Bankruptcy

 Posted on February 17, 2015 in Divorce

Divorce and bankruptcy are often intertwined events in people's lives. The added stress of mounting debt or a lost job can hasten the end of a difficult marriage. The two processes are also both somewhat similar from a legal standpoint, at least as far as they are both legal proceedings designed to divide a set amount of property, albeit quite differently. However, the fact that these two processes involve property division becomes important for how they interact. Yet, how they interact also depends on whether the bankruptcy comes before or after the divorce.

Bankruptcy before Divorce

Filing bankruptcy before the divorce may have some advantages, but it can also necessitate making decisions about the bankruptcy during the divorce.

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The Benefits of Prenups for Second Marriages

 Posted on February 12, 2015 in Divorce

People often ignore the possible benefits of prenuptial agreements, thinking of them as documents that only the wealthy need. Even some people who do think they would benefit from a prenup avoid them because they are nervous about how their future spouse will react to the idea. While all couples should consider the potential upside of prenups, there is one group of couples who can find them particularly useful: couples entering into second or third marriages.

These couples often see specific benefits from prenups for a variety of reasons. First, the couple is likely to consist of people who are more well-established in life and who already have their own finances. Second, the couple's members may have children from prior marriages whose interests need protecting. Third, the notion of a prenup may be more palatable to people who already understand the realities of a divorce.

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Mental Illness and Divorce in Illinois

 Posted on February 11, 2015 in Child Custody

Divorce can often be a trying experience, but adding a mental illness to the process can often make things difficult. In fact, one study shows that marriages where one spouse has a mental illness are 20 to 80 percent more likely to end in divorce, depending on the illness in question. Of course, the exact way a mental illness will affect a divorce depends greatly on a variety of factors, such as the way the illness is managed and the type of illness. If the disease is well-managed and under control, then it may not affect the divorce much at all. However, poorly managed mental illnesses or those that affect the safety of people close to the mentally-ill spouse can take a more central role in the process.

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Cohabitation Agreements: Property Rights for Unmarried Couples in Illinois

 Posted on February 05, 2015 in Asset Division

While marriage is still a major cultural institution, shifting attitudes have led to a rise in unmarried couples living together. Some of these couples see marriage on the horizon, but others do not feel the need to formalize their relationship through ceremony. In fact, the 2010 Census showed a 13 percent increase in unmarried cohabitation between 2009 and 2010 alone. Unfortunately, Illinois law has yet to catch up with these changing attitudes. The state does not recognize common law marriage or other similar default property rights. This can be a problem when couples split up or when one of them passes. Fortunately, the law does still provide some options for proactive couples. Couples can enter into cohabitation agreements that mark out specific rights that they want the government to recognize. Additionally, there are special options in cases where the couples choose to purchase a house together.

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Having the Prenup Conversation

 Posted on February 03, 2015 in Divorce

Everyone going into a marriage expects it to last forever. They would not be entering into it if they did not. Yet, the reality is that a large portion of marriages fail. Unwinding a marriage through the divorce process can be time-consuming, expensive, and emotionally draining. Fortunately, Illinois law provides couples with the opportunity to protect themselves from this hassle beforehand. The state allows couples to prepare prenups, short for prenuptial agreements or premarital agreements. These agreements allow couples to agree on issues of property division and spousal support in advance of the marriage in case a divorce ever happened.

Despite these benefits, many people approach the subject of prenups with some trepidation. The documents have a stigma that people are planning for the divorce or they do not have faith in the marriage. However, that is not what prenups are about. They are simply preparation for a rainy day. It is does not take a lack of faith to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

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Understanding the Pretrial Conference

 Posted on January 29, 2015 in Divorce

Regardless of all the legal movies that portray the trial as the climax of a long legal dispute, trials are actually exceedingly rare in the United States legal system. Well over 90 percent of all lawsuits settle rather than going to trial, and divorce cases are no exception to that rule. In fact, a report by CBS news suggests that only five percent of divorce cases end in a trial. This is because settlements tend to benefit everyone. They shorten the process for the parties, give the spouses more control over the outcome of their case, and they lighten the load on the legal system. Although a case can settle at any time, one of the most common ways cases settle is after a pretrial conference.

What the Pretrial Conference Is

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The Time Value of Money in Divorce

 Posted on January 27, 2015 in Divorce

Suppose a stranger offered you $100 now or $100 in a year, which would you choose? Almost everyone would take the $100 now because of an intuitive understanding of something economists refer to as the “time value of money.” Money now is worth more than the same amount of money later, not just in the sense that instant gratification is nice, but in terms of actual financial worth.

Understanding why this is true and how to compare money across time can be important for divorce cases. After all, a person's intuition is enough to know that $100 is better than $100 later, but what about $100 now or $150 in a year? More realistically, what about a decreased child support payment in exchange for paying a greater share of the child's college expenses?

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Illinois Passes Aggressive Revenge Porn Law

 Posted on January 22, 2015 in Divorce

Divorce is often a time of strong, turbulent emotions for many people. These sorts of strong, negative emotions can often cause people to do things that they come to regret later. One increasingly common thing that people, especially jilted husbands, have begun doing in the wake of divorce is posting “revenge porn,” nude or revealing pictures of their soon-to-be ex-spouses on the internet. Until recently, revenge porn was a classic case of the law failing to keep up with the rapid pace of technology. People having their pictures posted were short on legal recourse. That is no longer the case. Illinois recently passed one of the most aggressive revenge porn laws in the country. The law criminalizes the posting of revenge porn, and has an exceedingly broad reach.

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Eavesdropping Law: Recording Conversations in Illinois

 Posted on January 20, 2015 in Divorce

Over the past few years, Illinois has gained some notoriety in legal circles for having one of the strictest eavesdropping laws in the country. In fact, the law, which governs the recording of conversations, was so strict that the Illinois Supreme Court eventually struck it down because of civil rights concerns. It prevented citizens from recording police while they were on duty, which many civil rights advocates believe helps keep police from abusing their authority. Following that decision, the Illinois Legislature drafted and passed a new law that was designed to avoid those civil rights concerns, while still protecting people's privacy. This new law is important for people going through divorce because many people unwittingly violate this law by recording their spouse in an attempt to gather evidence for their future divorce case.

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