Posted on August 11, 2021 in Child Custody / Parental Responsibilities

Illinois law presumes that parents have the ability to adequately care for their children and provide a safe living environment. Consequently, anyone who has established parentage or paternity of a child is entitled to certain parental rights. Among these rights is the right to be awarded “parenting time” or time with the child. However, some parents will need to take steps to gain parental rights. Furthermore, some circumstances may lead to the restriction or termination of a parent’s parental rights.

When Does a Parent Have a Right to Visitation?

Parenting time, which used to be called “visitation,” is the time that a parent watches his or her child and cares for the child’s everyday needs. Divorced parents allocate parenting time in their parenting plan. However, in order to be entitled to parenting time, unmarried fathers may need to establish paternity. Paternity may be established by signing a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity (VAP) upon the child’s birth or through a judicial or administrative process.

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 Posted on July 29, 2021 in Family Law

As a business owner, you may assume that your business assets are completely separate from your marital property, but this is often not the case. According to Illinois law, business assets acquired by a spouse during their marriage are typically considered to belong to the marital estate. Even business assets owned before a marriage can be at risk of becoming commingled with marital assets and losing their separate identity. One way to ensure that your business assets remain your own is to address them specifically in a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement with your spouse.

Prenuptial Agreements for Business Owners

If you are planning to get married and you already own a business or professional practice, that business will still be considered your non-marital property once you get married. However, a prenuptial agreement can provide an additional safeguard to ensure that it stays that way throughout your marriage. Beyond designating your ownership rights to the property, your prenuptial agreement can also include other provisions that may be beneficial to you and your partner.

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 Posted on July 07, 2021 in Family Law

When we hear the term “guardianship,” we often think of children. However, Illinois law also provides legal avenues for someone to receive guardianship of a disabled adult. If you have a loved one with a disability that renders him or her unable to care for himself or herself, you may be interested in getting guardianship of that person. Although the law uses the word “disability,” when referring to guardianship of an adult, the criteria for what constitutes a disabled person is more inclusive than you may assume.

How Does Illinois Define a Disability for the Purposes of Guardianship?

There are several different types of guardianship in Illinois. When someone acts as a guardian for an adult, they may assume responsibility for that person’s medical, financial, and/or day-to-day decision-making. Illinois courts only grant guardianship of an adult if that person meets the legal definition of disabled. A disabled adult is someone who cannot make and communicate reasonable decisions about his or her personal affairs. This incapacitation may be due to:

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 Posted on June 23, 2021 in Divorce

Divorce is never easy, but sometimes a divorce can get hostile and ugly things are said between partners. If the conversations regularly become violent, threatening, or inappropriate, a spouse may want to record phone conversations in order to prove to a court that the other spouse is a danger to themselves or their child. 

Often, a spouse will want to record these conversations secretly, out of fear that the offending spouse will clean up their act if they believe someone may be listening. They may worry that the harassment will continue if they cannot prove that the inappropriate actions are taking place.  

Illinois is a Two-Party State

No matter how serious your concerns are about threatening phone conversations, in Illinois, you cannot secretly record a phone conversation legally. This is because Illinois is a two-party state. In a one-party state, only one party participating in a phone conversation of two or more people has to know the conversation is being recorded in order for it to be legal. But in a two-party state, all the parties to the conversation must know and consent to be recorded in order for the call to be legal. 

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 Posted on June 15, 2021 in Divorce

Divorce is frequently cited as one of the five most stressful life events. No matter how long you’ve been married, deciding to get divorced is often accompanied by many complex emotions. Although divorce is increasingly common, it is not a decision to be taken lightly, and its potential impact on spouses, children, pets, and assets must all be considered. Fortunately, with the help of a lawyer, you can plan ahead and prepare yourself for the process to make it go as smoothly as possible. 

Have a Long-Term Strategy

Widespread academic research and collective wisdom both attest to the negative effect divorce can have on everyone involved. Speaking dispassionately, most people would tell you that a commitment to reducing conflict in divorce is crucial for minimizing the negative impact, especially on children. However, when spouses are in the midst of difficult or hostile divorce negotiations, it can be hard to have a long-term strategy and remember that the process of divorce doesn’t last forever – even if it seems like it might!

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 Posted on June 02, 2021 in Property Division

If you have a dog, cat, horse, bird, or another pet, you most likely do not think of your pet as mere property. You may even consider your pet part of the family. However, under Illinois divorce law, pets are classified as property and subject to the same asset division laws as vehicles, bank accounts, and other types of property. Fortunately, the law was updated in 2018 to reflect the fact that pets are more than mere possessions.

What Happens if Divorcing Spouses Disagree About Pet Ownership?

Understandably, many people have strong feelings about their pets. This can make deciding who should keep the pet after a divorce extremely difficult. Spouses are encouraged to negotiate a property division arrangement that works for them. However, property division concerns are not always able to be resolved out of court. If a divorcing couple cannot reach an agreement on pet ownership, the court may need to make a decision on the spouses’ behalf.

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 Posted on April 29, 2014 in Uncategorized

A lot of people go through life within a perpetually confused or ambivalent state because things aren’t so bad. In this state of confusion, they cannot be asked to make a determination, so they will rationalize remaining with their partner, waiting around for something to occur that will make it clearer as to if they ought to keep the marriage together or not.

For other people, a fear of the unknown is merely too daunting; therefore, they become numb or make themselves busy to make life with their spouse bearable (for instance, by alcohol/drug addiction, workaholism, and excessive spending). In a few instances, this fear of leaving isn’t about unknown circumstances, instead, it’s the known which paralyzes them.

If you are tired of sacrificing your happiness and are ready to move ahead with your divorce, contact our Chicago divorce attorney office at (312) 884-1222 for a free consultation.

Most of the individuals who divorce have had an idea that their relationship was over before they started to really separate physically. When asked of these individuals what the reason was for not exiting sooner, the main reason given is, ‘because of the children.’ There isn’t any doubt that all parents who have stated this believe wholeheartedly that it was a selfless and noble reason to remain. Sacrificing their happiness and staying seems as if it’s the right thing to do.

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 Posted on April 28, 2014 in Uncategorized

What should occur at the initial meeting?

It’ll depend upon what is happening within the divorce case. In a few cases, divorce papers already have been filed, whereas in additional cases, the partners already have discussed divorce and pledged to utilize a collaborative divorce process, instead of all out ‘litigation’ (which means to fight it out in court). Lastly, a few clients are faced with an emergency - their partner might be draining the bank account, anticipating the divorce, or they might be the victim of domestic abuse and have to have instant protection from the court. The circumstances of the client is going to dictate what’s discussed and which actions are taken as a consequence of the initial meeting.

Though typically, a client walks in with general questions in regard to a recently-filed or an impending divorce, and the majority of attorneys will assess the various processes of divorce which are available (litigation, mediation, and collaborative law) and explain the steps for each.

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 Posted on April 22, 2014 in Uncategorized

Whether you refer to it as a divorce or separation, deciding that you want to split is a decision which never should be taken lightly. There’s always a time in which space is required between your partner and you, and space occasionally can be a healthy decision. It permits both parties to have the ability to rationally consider the ideal method of handling the duty at hand, and to talk about a possible compromise. There’s never a clear indication of when the ideal time is to end your marriage; therefore, taking ‘one final shot at mending your relationship’ is something you might have to attempt many times.

If, after exhausting all these possibilities and you still feel that divorce is inevitable speak with one of our Chicago divorce attorneys at (312) 884-1222 for a free consultation.

Therefore consider this: If you’re considering separation, determine how your partner and you might take time apart, without having to make any spontaneous decisions, and taking the time to consider solutions. Unsure how much time you should take? As long as it takes! There isn’t any reason to dive head first into a separation or a divorce, therefore just play it out, then see how it goes, it can’t get any worse as you already feel you are at the end of the rope.

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 Posted on April 15, 2014 in Uncategorized

In the plainest terms, uncontested divorce will mean that the partners have the ability to agree upon the major factors included in getting divorced, involving:

• How they’ll share parenting responsibilities and parenting time

• The duration and amount of child support

• The duration and amount of spousal support

• The division of property

• The division of debt

If they have the ability to get to an agreement, they often can file paperwork without a court appearance, and as soon as the mandatory time period (set by the state law) has passed, the divorce is final.

Not all uncontested divorces are the same, and not all uncontested divorces run smoothly. The process is smoothest as the couple has no minor kids and very few assets, involving no real property. Also it works best if each partner is self-supporting or able to easily become self-supporting. A few states have simplified procedures obtainable for couples within this kind of situation. However, these types of procedures are stringently limited and are only available for marriages which were relatively short usually 5 years or less.

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