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Recent Blog Posts
When Do Divorced Parents Need to Pay Child Support For Their Adult Children?
Divorced or unmarried parents of minor children in Illinois often believe they will be able to stop making child support payments when their youngest child turns 18. Many parents are surprised to learn that child support can continue past the age of legal adulthood in several circumstances. If you are paying or receiving child support and have questions about whether payments might be extended past your child’s 18th birthday, read on to learn about circumstances in which a parent may need to pay child support for an adult child. Then, contact an Illinois family law attorney with experience in child support matters for further answers to your questions.
The Child is Still in High School
If a child has turned 18 but has not yet finished high school, child support payments will continue until the child either graduates or drops out of high school. However, if the child is over 18 and decides not to finish high school, the parent making payments will need to file a motion with the court requesting that payments be terminated. Ending payments without permission from the court can result in owing back child support and legal consequences.
Does “Permanent” Alimony End if My Ex Gets Remarried in Kane County, IL?
When a couple in Illinois gets divorced, alimony - technically known as “spousal maintenance” - is sometimes negotiated or awarded if a court deems it appropriate. For couples who have been married for a long time, spousal maintenance is more common. Spousal maintenance may be awarded permanently or indefinitely if a divorcing couple was married 20 years or longer. However, this does not mean that the spousal maintenance will actually need to be paid forever; certain actions on the part of the recipient can terminate payments. If you are paying alimony in Illinois and you know your ex is engaging in behaviors that would permit you to stop making payments, read on.
Why is Permanent Alimony Ordered By a Court?
Although it is less common now, traditional marriages of the past often consisted of a spouse who earned all or most of a family’s money and a spouse who cared for the children and the home. After several decades of such an arrangement, the non-working spouse will often struggle to find sufficient employment or education to support themselves after a divorce. Although paying alimony forever may feel unfair to the person making payments, Illinois courts see this as necessary for ensuring the spouse who gave up their career and educational advancements to support a marriage is not left penniless because that marriage ended.
Can I Get My Parental Rights Back After They Have Been Terminated?
Illinois family judges take parental rights seriously and only terminate them against the wishes of the parent in the most serious cases. Abuse, neglect, or abandonment can make it dangerous for a child to live with a parent in their home and Illinois DCFS must sometimes take action against a parent’s and even a child’s wishes. Unfortunately, this means that if your parental rights have been terminated, it is very unlikely that you will get them back, even if you have taken extensive measures to improve your circumstances.
However, it is sometimes possible to reverse a parental rights termination and reunite a child with his or her parent. An experienced Illinois family law attorney can talk to you about your situation and help you understand your options.
Clear and Convincing Evidence
Most states never allow parents whose parental rights have been terminated the option to reinstate those rights. However, Illinois law states that parental rights can be reinstated if a motion has been filed by the child or by DCFS that is supported by “clear and convincing evidence” that reinstating parental rights would be in the child’s best interests. While this may sound open to interpretation, it is a strict burden of proof that must be met before a judge will reinstate parental rights. In addition to providing clear and convincing evidence that reinstating parental rights would be in the child’s best interests, the following conditions must also be met:
Breaking the News of Divorce to Your Children: Three Strategies for a Productive Conversation
Telling your children about divorce is, for many parents, the worst part of the entire process. The idea of facing your child’s disappointment, tears, and confusion can feel overwhelming at best. But it is important to plan this conversation carefully; first, because it is inevitable, and second because your children will likely remember this conversation for many years to come. Like any other difficult task that must be done, planning ahead and creating a strategy can minimize negative feelings and make the conversation much more productive. Here are three tips to help you break the news of your Illinois divorce to your kids.
Create a Constructive Narrative
While you and your spouse know the nitty-gritty details of your divorce, your children do not need to know them - and, depending on their age, probably should not know them. Instead of sharing the hurtful and embarrassing things you and your spouse have done to hurt each other, create a constructive narrative that allows you to explain the situation to your children without revealing the hairy details. In this case, giving the exact truth is less important than helping your children feel supported and reassured.
Three Tips for Managing Your Credit In Your Kane County Divorce
One of the most difficult challenges of an Illinois divorce is dividing your marital assets and debts. Any property, money, vehicles, loans, credit card debt, or other financial instrument or asset that you acquired during your marriage must be divided. While property division has to be fair, there is no guarantee that your financial situation after divorce will be easy; divorce is notoriously difficult on a person’s net worth, as well as their credit score. If you are considering divorce, here are three tips for managing your credit as you go through the divorce process.
Get to Know Your Credit Report
Many people do not think twice about their credit report during their marriage, especially if their spouse has good credit and manages the family finances. But this can be risky, especially if you do not have your own credit history. There are many free, easy-to-use resources available for accessing your credit report. Become familiar with every account on your credit report and start finding ways to build your individual credit.
Getting Back to Normal After Your Illinois Divorce is Finalized
Many people get divorced after many years or even decades of being married. Even if a marriage is unhappy, for most people there is a certain level of predictability, stability, and companionship that comes with being married. An Illinois divorce upends all of those things, even as it can free a spouse from a stifling, distant, or abusive relationship.
In addition to the significant changes of divorce, the fear of being alone is often as compelling as the fear of remaining in an unhappy marriage forever. If you are considering divorce and wondering whether you can adjust to the single life again, know that millions of people have done so happily - and when you are ready to finalize your divorce, here are four steps that could help you.
Actively Socialize
One of the challenges of divorce is that it breaks up family and friend groups, leaving both spouses with fewer social connections than they had during the marriage. To make up for this, you may have to take a more active role in forming new social connections than you have in many years. Divorced singles often find meaningful friendships at church, support groups, and game nights. When someone asks you over for dinner, say yes - and invite people into your home as well.
Three Types of Non-Marital Relationships and How to End Them in Illinois
Until fairly recently, the vast majority of men and women entered into heterosexual marriages at a young age and stayed married to one person for the rest of their lives. However, with the advent of no-fault divorce, over the last 50 years and particularly over the last 20 years, societal expectations of what is considered marriage have expanded and far fewer people are even getting married to begin with.
Although marriage rates may be declining, people are still engaging in relationships just as they always have. Yet when relationships are not formalized as marriages, leaving the relationship can get complicated because couples do not always know how to protect their interests while breaking up. Here are three non-marital relationships and how they end in Illinois.
Civil Union
Couples can no longer enter into civil unions in Illinois. However, there are still many couples who are in civil unions who eventually decide to separate. Civil unions dissolve much the same way that marriages do; couples have property rights and must divide their marital assets and debts. Likewise, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements for civil unions are enforceable as long as they are legally sound.
Is My Kane County Professional Practice Marital Property?
All marital property needs to be accurately valued and fairly divided before an Illinois divorce can be finalized, and while that may sound straightforward in writing, in reality it can be quite complicated. One type of property that tends to be the most complicated is that of a small business or personal practice.
Professionals spend many years and countless resources obtaining an education and building their careers, and the prospect of having the fruits of those labors divided in a divorce can be devastating. If you are an attorney, doctor, accountant, or another similar professional and own your own practice or share a small business with a business partner, you likely have questions about how your divorce could change the way you do business.
How Can Collaborative Divorce Benefit My Children?
Parents who get divorced in Illinois are frequently concerned with the potential effect the divorce could have on their children. After all, research suggests that children whose parents are divorced often struggle with many aspects of life, including their own intimate relationships later in life. However, when done carefully and thoughtfully, divorce does not need to be a traumatic experience for children. Collaborative divorce offers a cooperative, mutually respectful way for parents to separate while keeping their children’s best interests in mind. Here are three ways collaborative divorce could benefit your children.
Less Conflict
One of the hardest parts of a divorce is the conflict. Children frequently get caught between arguing parents and may feel like they have to choose a “side.” This can be confusing and deeply disheartening for children, who naturally love and respect both of their parents. Collaborative divorce is so focused on reducing conflict that every person involved is committed to reaching a resolution - even the attorneys. In fact, if collaborative efforts are not successful, the entire process dissolves and parents must seek new attorneys. This ensures that everybody is motivated to cooperate and find the best possible solution.
What Can I Do if My Ex is Constantly Changing Our Parenting Schedule?
Parenting often requires parents to be flexible and make up or change arrangements as they go. Children frequently get sick, injure themselves, and change their minds about what they want to do, making even the best plans difficult to follow. However, when parents get divorced, their parenting time schedules are legally enforceable court orders. Although parents who get along can reasonably agree to temporarily modify their parenting agreement from time to time, a parent who consistently refuses to drop off or pick up children on time or at all can be very taxing. If you are struggling to get your ex to follow the terms of your Illinois parenting plan, read on.
Talk To Your Ex
The first thing you need to do is try to have a conversation with your ex to find out why they are not following the terms of the parenting plan. The best way to do this is over email, where responses can be easily recorded, emotionally neutral, and used as evidence later if necessary. If your ex has a good reason for violating your parenting time schedule, such as a work problem or car issues, you may be able to work together on a short-term solution. Using a mediator may help. However, if your ex either does not respond, is hostile, or does not have a legitimate reason for modifying the parenting schedule, you may need to escalate your response.
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