Posted on November 04, 2013 in Divorce

Divorce is one of the most difficult times that a person can go through. Though divorce is extremely common—according to the Center for Disease Control, the number of divorces and annulments has continued to increase since 2009, after slowing slightly during the Great Recession—some feel a stigma upon marital dissolution. Often, there are complicated matters to deal with, such as child custody or joint parenting. “Shared physical custody is increasingly common in divorce courts across the nation,” Parenting magazine reports. Though this can be good for children of divorce, it can be all the more difficult for divorcing parents.

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 Posted on March 26, 2013 in Divorce

George Washington once said, "Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence." His advice is informed and should be heeded when entering into a high-asset divorce. Failure to do so can result in undesired consequences for the process as a whole. True, good friends and loyal family members can help you to navigate your divorce with grace and dignity. But friends and loved ones who are not quite so true can complicate your divorce proceedings and compromise your ability to obtain the settlement terms you desire.

Unfortunately, high-asset divorces sometimes bring out the worst in friends and loved ones. Those around you may be more concerned about how your divorce settlement terms will affect them than how they will affect you. They may even be inclined to act upon their concerns in ways that affect your divorce process.

For example, say that a relative is named in your joint will with your current spouse. If that relative believes that he or she will not be named in your newly single estate plan but will remain a beneficiary in your spouse's new will, that relative may actually try to influence your divorce settlement to ensure that you receive fewer assets. It is hard to believe that individuals would behave this way, but it happens more often than you would think.

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 Posted on February 28, 2013 in Divorce

Sometimes the divorce process inspires an understandable need to vent. Venting can be both cathartic and healthy. But it is critical that should you need to vent about your former spouse that you choose to do so away from social media and the Internet in general. The subject of social media and divorce is becoming increasingly complex. But as more and more divorce attorneys seek to obtain damning evidence about others via the Internet, your best policy is to stay away from social media during your divorce, child custody battle or other family law dispute.

Ideally, it is best to temporarily shut down your accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and other social media sites. Doing so may feel temporarily isolating, but by doing so you insulate yourself from potential liability based on activity on these accounts. Even something so harmless as "checking in" at a nice restaurant for your birthday might be perceived by opposing counsel and the court as evidence that you tend to spend money frivolously, which could impact the terms of your eventual divorce, child custody and child support agreements.

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 Posted on December 07, 2012 in Divorce

Most divorce proceedings are not the subject of devious behavior. However, sometimes spouses either intentionally or unintentionally fail to disclose various assets to their former spouse and to the court. Whether these assets are intentionally or unintentionally hidden, it is imperative that they be uncovered. Failure to take all marital assets into account when constructing a divorce settlement arrangement can ultimately harm both parties.

How do you go about finding hidden assets? First, you need to know what you're looking for. Various purchases and rewards are considered assets, even if they are not big ticket items. For example, frequent flyer miles might not strike you as an asset per say. However, they have value and thus must be disclosed.

Other resources you might not ordinarily consider to be assets include outstanding time from a time share program, tax refunds, hobby collections of any value and patents, royalties and copyrights. Basically, any resource you have access to that has or reasonably could have outstanding monetary value in the future should be disclosed during divorce proceedings.

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 Posted on November 23, 2012 in Child Custody

Research recently published in the social work journal Family Relations indicates that when co-parents focus their relationship on the needs of their children, a more satisfying custody arrangement is experienced by all affected family members. Meaning that when parents who are divorced or otherwise not parenting under the same roof put their differences aside for the benefit of their children, these parents benefit from this effort as well.

It can be difficult to know exactly how to go about putting aside your differences and focusing on your children's needs. After all, in the immediate aftermath of divorce especially, the differences between co-parents can seem overwhelming and all consuming. In order to redirect focus away from tension and onto children, parents are advised to put time and thought into creating a parenting plan.

A parenting plan can outline whatever child-related issues would benefit from being communicated about in advance. For example, the parenting plan can discuss how parents will share time with their children during the holiday season and how disputes about extracurricular activities will be solved.

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 Posted on October 26, 2012 in Divorce

Many people have heard of prenuptial agreements but may be less familiar with the idea of postnuptial agreements. Both are used as tools to define the marital assets of each spouse in the event of a divorce. Postnuptial agreements, however, are drafted after a marriage instead of before like a prenuptial agreement. According to a recent survey, postnuptial agreements are becoming more popular.

The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) found that over half of family law attorneys have seen a rise in postnuptial agreements over the past three years. In particular wives seem to be requesting such agreements more frequently, with over a third of lawyers polled noting a rise in women seeking postnuptial agreements. The survey showed, however, that men still seem to be the party more likely to initiate a request for a postnuptial agreement.

"It is interesting to note the increase in wives requesting postnups, because often one of the most common motivators for these agreements is a dramatic change in the financial status of one or both partners during the marriage," explained the president of the AAML. He also explained that postnuptial agreements may help spouses deal with conflicts about assets which may threaten a marriage.

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 Posted on September 12, 2012 in Child Custody

The bond between grandparents and grandchildren is a very special one. Most grandparents would do just about anything for their grandchildren. For many grandparents this involves contributing financially to their grandchildren's upbringing. Even when grandparents support their grandchildren financially or in other ways, however, at times their rights to spend time with their grandchildren may be limited by the children's parents, leaving grandparents unsure where to turn.

Two different trends are currently going on. One is that more grandparents are now financially supporting their grandchildren than ever before. According to AARP, 25 percent of grandparents spend over $1,000 each year on their grandchildren. Over a third reported helping to cover their grandchildren's daily living expenses.

The other trend is regarding grandparents' rights, which have not been growing at nearly the same rate as their financial contributions. In fact, since the 2000 U.S. Supreme Court case of Troxel v. Granville, parents have been given more rights to determine when and if their children are allowed to see their grandparents. This can lead to a very frustrating situation for many grandparents desperate to visit with their grandkids.

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 Posted on September 04, 2012 in Child Custody

It is the time of year when many students are experiencing those first-day-of-school jitters. Most parents want to do everything they can to ensure their children start the school year off successfully. For divorced parents, there are additional issues that need to be taken into account to ensure things go smoothly for the entire family.

Many of the issues below may be addressed in your Illinois parenting agreement. For those that are not, it may be helpful to communicate with your ex about these matters prior to the school year commencing.

Plan your children's schedules and routines: Discuss how the children will get to and from school and various activities. Review upcoming events on the school calendar and coordinate it with your parenting schedule to ensure children will be able to attend important school functions.

Discuss how expenses will be divided: Plan out who will handle shopping for back to school outfits and supplies, and how these expenses will be split. Also consider expenses for sports, lessons and field trips. Make sure you are both on the same page about how much money will be spent and who will be paying for what.

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 Posted on July 23, 2012 in Child Support

Today our society is more global than ever before. It is not uncommon for children to live in a different country than their parents due to a divorce or other circumstances. Earlier this month, the U.S. House passed legislation which would make it easier for state child support enforcement programs to collect payments from parents living outside of the country.

The measure given approval in the House is a move towards ratifying a 2007 international child support treaty. The purpose of the treaty is to facilitate cooperation and information sharing between countries for the purpose of securing financial support payments.

The measure's sponsor, Rep. Rick Berg (R- ND) explained the goal of the legislation, "This bill is about empowering states, which operate the child support enforcement program, to do more to help families, and most importantly, children."

Although the 2007 Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance was signed by the European Union, the United States and other countries, only Norway has since ratified it. If approved by the U.S. Senate, this measure would provide the language required for implementing it.

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 Posted on July 19, 2012 in Child Support

Most new parents will tell you that raising a child is expensive, but rarely do you hear an actual dollar amount. The federal government, however, recently released its annual report laying out the specific costs of rearing a child.

The report is prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and used by states in calculating financial guidelines for child support and foster care. The report found that parents who welcomed a little bundle of joy into their families in 2011 can expect to spend almost $300,000 in the next 17 years.

Did you catch that the cost calculation stops after 17 years? That means the $300,000 doesn't even include the cost of college. That amount was also based on middle-income families earning $59,410-$102,870 before taxes. For higher earners the cost of a child was $490,830, and it was $212,370 for the lowest income households.

According to the report, it is the least expensive to raise a child in rural areas and the most expensive to rear a child in the urban northeast.

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