Many people dread divorce as a complicated or expensive process that involves lawyers and months of conflict. While many divorces require more complicated unwinding to ensure that both parties receive a fair outcome, Illinois law also allows for a simpler method of divorce. This method of divorce, known as a Joint Simplified Dissolution of Marriage, is a quicker way to get a divorce, provided that a couple meets certain qualifying standards. Importantly, proceeding through this simplified process for a divorce, rather than through the ordinary channels, waives many legal rights, so it is important for people considering this divorce process to consult with family law attorneys to learn about all of their options and the rights that they are sacrificing in exchange for this speedy resolution.

Qualifying for Joint Simplified Divorce

Qualifying for a Joint Simplified Dissolution of Marriage, also referred to as a Joint Simplified Divorce, requires a couple to meet numerous standards. In order to qualify for such a resolution, a couple must:

Every young couple wants to find a way to divorce-proof their marriage, but a new study has revealed that the decisions they make just as they are getting married can have a major impact on their likelihood of divorce. New research from the Emory University Department of Economics looked at how much a couple spent on wedding rings and on their weddings over all to see if those expenditures had any effect on the couple's divorce risk. It turns out that despite the fact that many people dream about expensive, fairy tale weddings, such spectacles actually increase the marital failure rate.

The Study's Findings

The researchers used surveys to collect data on thousands of U.S. residents who either were married or had been married, and then examined the data to see if there were any trends between wedding expenses and divorce rates. They found several. For instance, people who bought expensive engagement rings, classified by the study as costing between $2,000 and $4,000, were 30 percent more likely to divorce as compared to people who spent more modestly on their rings, opting for one costing between $500 and $2,000. Interestingly, the trend does not continue for people who spent less than $500 on an engagement ring.

One of the most important pieces of legislation passed in the last few years is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, sometimes referred to as Obamacare. This legislation revamped the American healthcare system in a variety of ways. Many of these changes have important ramifications regarding divorce and the Affordable Care Act. For instance, the Act subsidizes healthcare premiums for certain individuals based on their income level, but the particular income level changes based on whether a person is married or single. Additionally, some people fear filing for divorce because they rely on their spouse's health insurance. The law provides other options to people looking for health coverage.

The Open Enrollment Period

The Affordable Care Act created insurance exchanges that allow people to sign up for health insurance policies. To take advantage of these marketplaces, a person has to sign up during the open enrollment period. The next open enrollment period, which is good for coverage beginning in 2015, runs from November 15th, 2014 to February 15th, 2015. One of the main benefits of these exchanges is that people can qualify for subsidies and tax credits to reduce the cost of their health insurance. These subsidies are based on income level, and the requisite income level changes based on a person's tax filing status, whether they are single, married, or head of household. Because a person's eligibility for cheaper healthcare changes depending on their marital status, it may benefit people who are considering both getting a divorce and getting health insurance to coordinate their divorce so that they can try to qualify for better subsidies on the exchanges by getting a divorce before the end of the next open enrollment period.

Given the expense and difficulty that can be associated with traditional divorce litigation, many people have begun seeking out alternative divorce strategies. Consequently, other techniques like divorce mediation and collaborative divorce have become more common over the past few decades. This has led to some confusion among people seeking divorces about whether these are different techniques and what the differences might be. The techniques are similar in that they both seek to avoid a long, drawn-out court battle, but there are key differences between mediation and collaborative divorce that may make each of them a better fit for different couples.

Divorce Mediation

The most important feature of divorce mediation is the existence of the mediator. A mediator is a neutral party who participates in discussions with the spouses, and helps them reach agreements on the contested issues like a divorce. While mediators share some similarities with judges, they are private parties, and they have no power to make any decisions in the case. All they can do is talk to the parties and try to help bring them together. The issue of representation is also a key feature of divorce mediation. The spouses are allowed to hire attorneys to advise them, but there is no obligation to do so. These features tend to help keep costs down, and they make mediation a good option for a couple that can still talk civilly and possibly reach a resolution without needing to employ more drastic measures. The downside to mediation is that there is no way to force an agreement, so if the couple cannot come together on an issue, they may find themselves starting all over again in court.

Relationships that began online are a growing trend today, especially among divorcees, but there are pitfalls that people entering into these relationships should be aware of. A new joint study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan and Stanford reveals that relationships that begin online are more likely to end in divorce than comparable relationships that began traditionally. This new research, which is being published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, contradicts older research that was done on the subject at the University of Chicago, which was sponsored by the online matchmaking service eHarmony.

What the Study Found

The study examined the love lives of over 4,000 people over a two-year period. Of the people surveyed, almost 3,000 were either married or in a romantic relationship. Of those, almost 10 percent had met online. The participants were surveyed over the course of the study as well as at its beginning and end. The researchers compared the relationship statuses of those couples during the duration of the study. Over the first year, the couples that began online were 28 percent more likely to end the relationship than those that began using more traditional methods. As for divorce, by the end of the two-year study, eight percent of married couples who had met online had divorced. By comparison, only two percent of offline marriages had ended.