Category Archives: Divorce
Parenting Plans: A New Take on Custody Agreements
In a divorce situation, making arrangements for the custody and care of your children will be among the most difficult decisions to be made. Regardless of your feelings toward your ex-spouse, your children still deserve the best efforts of both parents in providing for them. For this reason, many divorced parents are recognizing the importance of a parenting plan that they have jointly negotiated rather than relying solely on a judge’s interpretation of the law.
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Fixed-Term Spousal Maintenance Will Soon Be an Option
In August of 2014, the Illinois legislature passed a bill, which Governor Pat Quinn signed into law, amending the current provisions regarding spousal maintenance. Sometimes known as alimony in other jurisdictions, spousal maintenance represents the support an individual may be required to provide to their ex-spouse following a divorce. The changes enacted this summer will go into effect on January 1, 2015, and are considered by many to have been long overdue.
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Invalidating a Prenuptial Agreement
The average age at which Americans marry for the first time continues to rise to record levels. This, combined with the increasing number of second and third marriages, means that couples are bringing more of their individual lives with them when they marry. Each spouse, on average, has had more time to pursue business interests and accumulate wealth, for example, than they may have had a generation or two ago. As such, prenuptial agreements are also becoming increasingly common, as individuals seek to protect specific assets or interests in the event the marriage fails.
Custody and Visitation: Post-Divorce Holiday Planning
If you believe what you see in department stores, the holiday season has been in full swing for months. At this point, Ebenezer Scrooge himself could hardly deny that the holidays are now right around the corner. For divorced parents, it may be a season of unpredictable emotions as they find themselves trying to negotiate holiday plans and arrangements for their children. Stress, anger, and resentment may threaten to overshadow the happiness and joy of the holidays for those who are not prepared.
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Children of Divorce: A Family Approach to Discussing Divorce
Divorce can be a sensitive subject, especially when delivering such heartbreaking news to kids. While divorce means the dissolution of a marriage, when children are involved, positive guidance should be upheld by both parents. When parents work together, children of divorce have a much easier time adjusting.
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Discernment Counseling: Innovative Marriage Counseling Focuses on Couples Both Individually and Together
The idea of marriage counseling is often met with mixed feelings from people who have experienced it and people who are considering it as an option. With typical marriage counseling, the couple attends sessions together with a counselor in order to work through marital problems and other issues affecting the marriage.
How Mediation Contributes to a Healthy Divorce
Research has shown that divorce is on the decline in the last few decades, but there were still 33,789 total divorces and annulments in Illinois in 2011, 2,310 which occurred in DuPage County. There are various emotions that arise during the course of divorce proceedings. Guilt, anger, and sadness are all overwhelming and can affect day-to-day life at any moment. How can one deal in a healthy way with the dissolution of a marriage?
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Gray Divorce Is on the Rise
Divorced Americans age 50 or older currently outnumber widowed individuals in the same age group for the first time. The American Community Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, reports that more than 15 percent of the population over age 50 are divorced, while about 13.5 percent are widowed. The divorce rates in other age groups seem to have stabilized in over the last few years, but with “gray divorce,” the rate has risen dramatically.
Child Custody: Could You Handle Your Child Choosing Your Ex?
A family dealing with divorce must account for many considerations. The divorcing spouses need to decide who will keep the family home, which in turn decides who needs to find a new place. Property and assets must be divided equitably, and arrangements made regarding the children. When making decisions regarding child custody in Illinois, the court is expected to at least consider the wishes of the child as to which parent with whom they wish to live. For many divorced parents, it can be very difficult to find out that their child’s preference is the other parent.
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Infidelity: Could Your Partner Be E-Cheating?
For married couples, few obstacles are more difficult to overcome than infidelity. A straying partner can destroy trust and cause deep seated resentment that takes years to heal, if it ever truly does. In many cases, a single instance of cheating is enough for one partner to seek a divorce, and in Illinois, adultery is considered legitimate grounds for divorce. What may be more difficult, though, is deciding what constitutes infidelity in your relationship and how to recognize the signs it may be happening to you.
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